⛵ Showcase: How are you using TermGIFforge?

[victorabarros]

Hi everyone 👋

I’d love to showcase how people are using TermGIFforge in the real world.

If you’re using TermGIFforge, please reply to this issue with:

• What you’re using it for (docs, READMEs, demos, blog posts, internal tools, etc.)
• Where it’s used (GitHub repo, website, docs — links welcome)
• Why it helps you compared to other approaches
• (Optional) The command or workflow you use to generate your GIFs

The goal is to build a public showcase to inspire others and highlight different use cases and workflows.
If you have feedback, ideas, or suggestions while sharing your setup, feel free to include them too.

Thanks for using TermGIFforge and for being part of the project! 🚀

[victorabarros]

Since I opened the thread, I’ll start by sharing how I use TermGIFforge 👇

What I’m using it for

Primarily for READMEs, documentation, and personal project demos. I use it to visually demonstrate CLIs, setup flows, and developer-facing workflows without relying on static screenshots.

Where it’s used

• NSQ Service (self-driven) – usage section in the README
  https://github.com/victorabarros/nsq-service-self-driven?tab=readme-ov-file#usage the encoded URL from http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif?commands=["Set FontSize 30","Set Height 800","Type \"clear && curl -fsSL 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/victorabarros/nsq-service-self-driven/refs/heads/master/README.md' | sed -n '11,24p'\"","Sleep 2s","Enter","Sleep 30s"]

• My GitHub profile README
  https://github.com/victorabarros/victorabarros/blob/master/README.md the encoded URL from http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif?commands=[ "Set FontSize 25", "Set TypingSpeed 80ms", "Type \"Visit \"", "Type \"https://victor.barros.engineer/\"", "Sleep 5s" ]

• TermGIFforge README (support section)
  https://github.com/victorabarros/TermGIFforge?tab=readme-ov-file#support the encoded URL from http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif?commands=[ "Set FontSize 25", "Set Height 900", "Set Width 700", "Sleep 1s", "Hide", "Type \"curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/victorabarros/victorabarros/master/scripts/btc_logo.sh | bash\"", "Show", "Sleep 1s", "Enter", "Sleep 10s" ] and http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif?commands=[ "Set FontSize 60", "Type \"I am happy to be honored with your support! S2S2\"", "Sleep 2s" ]

• Personal website demo page
  https://victor.barros.engineer/termgif the encoded URL from http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif?commands=[ "Set FontSize 27", "Set TypingSpeed 80ms", "Type \"Hi there, this is TermGIFforge! \"", "Sleep 1s", "Set TypingSpeed 0ms", "Space 4", "Set TypingSpeed 80ms", "Type \"A powerful API that transforms your terminal commands into captivating GIF animations.\"", "Sleep 2s", "Type \" Perfect for creating engaging \"", "Type \"demos\"", "Sleep 1s", "Backspace 5", "Sleep 100ms", "Type \"documentation\"", "Sleep 1s", "Backspace 13", "Sleep 100ms", "Type \"presentations\"", "Sleep 2s", "Type \".\"", "Type \" Check bellow the link to the codebase with more instructions.\"", "Sleep 5s"]

• UraBot project – how to run section
  https://github.com/victorabarros/ura-bot?tab=readme-ov-file#how-to-run the encoded URL from http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif?commands=["Set FontSize 25","Set Height 900","Set Width 900","Sleep 1s","Type \"# for automated tests, use 'make test-server'\"","Sleep 1s","Enter","Enter","Type \"# for local run with hot reload, use 'make debug-server'\"","Sleep 1s","Enter","Sleep 10s"]

Why it helps me vs other approaches

The main motivation behind creating TermGIFforge was to use VHS without having to install it locally.

I wanted:

• Zero local setup (no installing VHS, ffmpeg, fonts, etc.)
• A reproducible, cloud-friendly workflow
• Something easy to plug into docs, CI, or quick demos
• A cleaner, more convenient way to generate terminal GIFs anywhere

TermGIFforge lets me keep my machine clean while still getting the benefits of high-quality terminal recordings.

[RickCardoso]

Let me get started by saying something. In this AI era, where new and experienced developers are trusting more and more in AI agents, I feel like we're leaving the natural human knowledge sharing behind.

Recently I started to add created content to a webpage, in which my intention is to share thoughts, personal experiences and professional development knowledge. So I'm thrilled to see that there's a tool that can actually help me create interesting and vivid posts about programming. I intend to use it more and more as I share my content, instead of using boring formatted text to show terminal commands.

What I'm using it for (docs, READMEs, demos, blog posts, internal tools, etc.)

In my website for knowledge sharing and work READMEs.

Where it’s used (GitHub repo, website, docs — links welcome)

I added a cute little gif to my homepage and I intend to use more as I add more content to my blog. Work READMEs are all private.

Why it helps me compared to other approaches

Live gifs in documentation actually show the command working and are much more interesting than static content. Having an API for it is also incredible so that you don't end up with a bunch of assets created just for documentation, for instance.

(Optional) The command or workflow I use to generate my GIFs

In my homepage I created a couple of simple functions to help adding the GIFs to my React application:

const TEAM_GIF_FORGE_API_URL = 'http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif';

const formatCommand = (command: string) => {
  return command.replace(/"/g, '\\"');
};

/**
 * URL builder for the team gif forge API.
 * To encode ", you need to escape 2 backslashes and a double quote.
 * To encode ', you don't need to escape anything.
 * 
 * Example:
 * ```
 * const commands = [
 *   `Type \\"echo 'The Magic Happens Here'\\"`,
 *   'Enter',
 *   'Sleep 2s',
 * ];
 * const url = teamGifForgeUrl(commands);
 * ```
 */
export const teamGifForgeUrl = (commands: string[]) => {
  const encodedCommands = encodeURIComponent(`[\"${commands.map(formatCommand).join('\",\"')}\"]`);
  return `${TEAM_GIF_FORGE_API_URL}?commands=${encodedCommands}`;
};

[fmotas]

Hi! 👋

I’m using TermGIFforge to generate terminal GIFs for project documentation, specifically for a README of a real .NET console application.

What I’m using it for

• README documentation to demonstrate how a CLI tool is executed
• Showing command flow and expected output in a visual way

Where it’s used

• GitHub repository: https://github.com/fmotas/cartola
• The terminal GIF is embedded directly in the README to document the CLI usage

Why it helps compared to other approaches

• GIFs communicate CLI behavior much more clearly than static screenshots
• Using TermGIFforge avoids screen recording tools and video editing
• The hosted API makes it easy to generate terminal GIFs without local setup or environment dependencies

Workflow used to generate the GIF

I generated the GIF using the public API by simulating the terminal flow with echo commands, following the documented approach to avoid environment-specific issues.
The workflow I used was:

http://terminalgifapi.com/api/v1/gif?commands=["Type \"echo dotnet run\"","Enter","Sleep 800ms","Type \"echo Fetching Cartola scores...\"","Enter","Sleep 800ms","Type \"echo Round 38 - Total Points: 72.45\"","Enter","Sleep 1200ms"]