overthinkos/record

Record -- Terminal and Desktop Recording

Overview

ov eval record manages recording sessions inside running containers. It is one of the live-container verbs under ov eval (see /ov-eval:eval for the full family: cdp/wl/dbus/vnc/mcp/spice/libvirt/record). It supports two modes:

1. Terminal recording (asciinema) — Records terminal sessions as .cast files
2. Desktop video recording — Records full-screen video as MP4 files via pixelflux (selkies-desktop) or wf-recorder (sway-desktop)

All recording sessions are managed via tmux sessions with a record- prefix. This provides background execution, output monitoring, and clean start/stop lifecycle.

Quick Reference

| Action | Command | Description | |--------|---------|-------------| | Start recording | ov eval record start <image> [-n NAME] [-m MODE] | Start a recording session | | Stop recording | ov eval record stop <image> [-n NAME] [-o FILE] | Stop and optionally copy to host | | List recordings | ov eval record list <image> | Show active recording sessions | | Send command | ov eval record cmd <image> "command" [-n NAME] | Send command to recording terminal |

Commands

ov eval record start — Start Recording

ov eval record start <image> [--name NAME] [--mode MODE] [--fps FPS] [--audio] [-i INSTANCE]

Flags:

• -n, --name — Recording name (default: default). Multiple concurrent recordings supported
• -m, --mode — terminal (asciinema), desktop (video), or auto (auto-detect)
• --fps — Frames per second for desktop recording (default: 30)
• --audio — Include PulseAudio audio capture (desktop mode)

Auto-detection order: pixelflux-record → wf-recorder → asciinema

Output files (inside container):

• Terminal: /tmp/ov-recordings/<name>.cast
• Desktop: /tmp/ov-recordings/<name>.mp4

ov eval record stop — Stop Recording

ov eval record stop <image> [--name NAME] [--output FILE] [-i INSTANCE]

• Sends graceful stop signal (exit for asciinema, SIGINT for video recorders)
• Waits up to 5s for graceful shutdown, then force-kills
• -o, --output copies the recording file from the container to the host

ov eval record list — List Active Recordings

ov eval record list <image> [-i INSTANCE]

Shows all active recording sessions with name, mode, and file path.

ov eval record cmd — Send Command to Recording

ov eval record cmd <image> "command" [--name NAME] [-i INSTANCE]

Sends a command to the recording's tmux session. For terminal recordings, the command and its output become part of the .cast file. Convenience wrapper for ov tmux send <image> -s record-<name> "command" --enter. Sends a desktop notification when the command is dispatched (if a notification daemon like swaync is running).

Recording Tools

| Tool | Layer | Desktop | Protocol | |------|-------|---------|----------| | asciinema | asciinema (or dev-tools) | N/A | Terminal capture | | pixelflux-record | wl-record-pixelflux | selkies-desktop | selkies WebSocket capture bridge → H.264 → ffmpeg | | wf-recorder | wf-recorder | sway-desktop | wlr-screencopy |

Use Case: Terminal Demo Recording

# Start recording
ov eval record start openclaw -n demo --mode terminal

# Run commands (each appears in the recording)
ov eval record cmd openclaw "echo 'Hello World'" -n demo
ov eval record cmd openclaw "ls -la" -n demo
ov eval record cmd openclaw "ov --help" -n demo

# Or attach interactively
ov tmux attach openclaw -s record-demo
# ... interact, Ctrl-b d to detach

# Stop and save
ov eval record stop openclaw -n demo -o demo.cast

# Play back locally
asciinema play demo.cast

Use Case: Desktop Walkthrough Video

# Start desktop video recording with audio
ov eval record start selkies-desktop -n walkthrough --mode desktop --audio

# Run CLI commands (visible in recording)
ov eval record cmd selkies-desktop "git status" -n walkthrough
ov eval record cmd selkies-desktop "docker ps" -n walkthrough

# Interact with browser
ov eval cdp open selkies-desktop "https://github.com"
ov eval wl click selkies-desktop 640 360

# Stop and save
ov eval record stop selkies-desktop -n walkthrough -o walkthrough.mp4

Prerequisites

• Terminal recording: asciinema layer (or dev-tools)
• Desktop recording (selkies): wl-record-pixelflux layer (included in selkies-desktop metalayer)
• Desktop recording (sway): wf-recorder layer (included in sway-desktop metalayer)
• All modes: tmux layer must be present (for session management)

Implementation Notes

• ov eval record cmd uses the shared sendTmuxCommand() helper (also used by ov tmux cmd)
• Desktop notifications are sent via sendContainerNotification() on every ov eval record cmd dispatch (always-on, no --no-notify flag — recording context always benefits from notification)
• The notification chain: sendContainerNotification() → tries in-container ov eval dbus notify . → falls back to gdbus call → silently skips if neither available

Cross-References

• /ov-automation:tmux — Underlying tmux session management (recording sessions use record- prefix). ov tmux cmd uses the same sendTmuxCommand helper
• /ov-coder:asciinema — Terminal recording layer
• /ov-selkies:wl-record-pixelflux — Pixelflux video recording layer
• /ov-selkies:wf-recorder — wf-recorder video recording layer
• /ov-selkies:selkies-desktop-layer — Desktop metalayer with pixelflux recording
• /ov-selkies:sway-desktop — Desktop metalayer with wf-recorder
• /ov-infrastructure:dbus-layer — D-Bus session bus (required for notification delivery)
• /ov-selkies:swaync — Notification daemon (displays the notifications)
• /ov-eval:wl — Desktop automation (used alongside recording)
• /ov-eval:wl-overlay — Fullscreen overlays (title cards, lower-thirds, fades — compose with recording workflow)
• /ov-eval:cdp — Chrome automation (used alongside recording)

When to Use This Skill

MUST be invoked when the task involves:

• Recording terminal sessions or desktop video
• ov eval record commands
• Creating demo videos or walkthroughs
• Capturing asciinema sessions
• "How do I record my desktop?"
• "How do I make a demo video?"