Keyboard shortcuts

There are several key bindings used by the CLI during recording and playback. Most of them can be customized in the config file.

Recording shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts are available when recording with asciinema rec:

shortcut	action	config file option	notes
ctrl+\	toggle the capture of a terminal	rec.pause_key	similar to "mute" on an audio call
ctrl+d	end the recording session	-	this is handled by a shell
-	add a marker	rec.add_marker_key	no default shortcut for this

Playback shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts are available when replaying with asciinema play:

shortcut	action	config file option	notes
space	toggle the playback	play.pause_key	pauses / resumes
]	jump to next marker	play.next_marker_key
.	step (when paused)	play.step_key	steps through a recording a frame at a time
ctrl+c	stop	-	ends the playback

Prefix key

You can define a "prefix key" for the recording shortcuts with rec.prefix_key option in the config file:

~/.config/asciinema/config

[rec]
prefix_key = C-a

This works similarly to a prefix key in GNU screen or tmux. By default there's no prefix key enabled.

Note

1. Prefix key doesn't affect the ctrl+d shortcut used for ending the recording session. That is because ctrl+d is a shortcut handled by a shell (making it exit), not by asciinema recorder.

2. There's no prefix key concept for the play command because there's no interactive process to forward the key presses during the playback, and therefore no risk of shortcut conflicts.