Configuration

Config file

You can configure asciinema by creating config file at $HOME/.config/asciinema/config.toml. A system-wide config file at /etc/asciinema/config.toml may also be used to set defaults for all users.

Here's an overview of all available options for each configuration section.

~/.config/asciinema/config.toml

[server]

; asciinema server URL
; If you run your own instance of asciinema server then set its address here
; It can also be overriden by setting ASCIINEMA_SERVER_URL environment variable
url = "https://asciinema.example.com"

[cmd.rec]

; Command to record, default: $SHELL
command = "/bin/bash -l"

; Enable input (keyboard) recording, default: false
input = true

; List of environment variables to capture, default: SHELL,TERM
env = "SHELL,TERM,USER"

; Limit recorded terminal inactivity to max n seconds, default: off
idle_time_limit = 2

; Define hotkey for pausing recording (suspending capture of output),
; default: ^\ (control + backslash)
pause_key = "^p"

; Define hotkey for adding a marker, default: none
add_marker_key = "^x"

; Define hotkey prefix key - when defined other recording hotkeys must
; be preceeded by it, default: no prefix
prefix_key = "^a"

[cmd.play]

; Playback speed (can be fractional), default: 1
speed = 2

; Limit replayed terminal inactivity to max n seconds, default: off
idle_time_limit = 1

; Define hotkey for pausing/resuming playback,
; default: space
pause_key = "p"

; Define hotkey for stepping through playback, a frame at a time,
; default: . (dot)
step_key = "s"

; Define hotkey for jumping to the next marker,
; default: ]
next_marker_key = "m"

[notifications]
; Desktop notifications are displayed in several situations, e.g. when
; pausing/resuming the capture of terminal with ^\ keyboard shortcut.

; Should desktop notifications be enabled, default: true
enabled = false

; Custom notification command
; asciinema automatically detects available desktop notification system
; (notify-send on GNU/Linux, osacript on macOS). Custom command can be
; used if needed.
; When invoked, environment variable $TEXT contains notification text.
command = 'tmux display-message "$TEXT"'

A minimal config file could look like this:

[cmd.rec]
idle_time_limit = 2

Environment variables

ASCIINEMA_SERVER_URL

Specifies base URL of an asciinema server, used for uploading of recordings and live streaming.

This value can also be set in the config file as server.url.

If you self-host asciinema server then you should set the server URL to its base URL, e.g. https://asciinema.example.com.

ASCIINEMA_CONFIG_HOME

Specifies config directory path.

Defaults to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/asciinema if XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, otherwise defaults to $HOME/.config/asciinema.