cinta

Animated terminal-capture GIFs for documentation — from inside pi. The agent writes the terminal script conversationally, you get a self-typing GIF in your colors and font.

Install

pi install git:github.com/sainzs/cinta

Requires Chrome (brew install --cask google-chrome) and ffmpeg (brew install ffmpeg). No API keys, no accounts — Chrome runs headless locally and the GIF never leaves your machine.

What it does

• Adds a cinta tool the agent calls with a terminal script (commands, output, streamed lines)
• Renders the script as a self-typing terminal session — Berkeley Mono Variable, pure black #000000, mint #00ffb2 (all overridable)
• Records it frame-by-frame in headless Chrome and assembles an optimized, infinite-loop GIF with ffmpeg
• Adds /cinta <text> so you can ask for a GIF without waiting for the agent to decide
• Writes hero.html (the regenerable source) next to every GIF

Usage

Ask for one in conversation:

make a cinta GIF of the install command and the model list, save to assets/

or drive it directly:

/cinta npm test passing, all 41 tests green

The tool's script vocabulary:

| Step | Shape | Renders as | |------|-------|------------| | cmd | { "type": "cmd", "text": "npm test" } | typed character-by-character after a $ | | out | { "type": "out", "text": "…", "cls": "ok" } | one output block (ok = mint) | | stream | { "type": "stream", "lines": ["…"] } | lines appearing one at a time | | gap | { "type": "gap" } | vertical breathing room | | done | { "type": "done" } | final mint block + blinking cursor |

Options

width, height, fps (default 12), scale (default 880px wide), plus colors and font overrides. Timing constants (typeMs, lineMs, afterCmdMs, endHoldMs) tune the pacing.

How it works

The script is replayed in a styled HTML page (not a real terminal — that's what makes it deterministic and stylable), screenshotted per frame by headless Chrome, and assembled into a GIF with a two-pass ffmpeg palette. Same approach as the augment-ai-provider hero, packaged as a tool.

In production

Used to generate the README heroes for badname, reckoner, registro, opencode-anthropic-auth-plus, santiagosainz-skills, and augment-ai-provider.

License

MIT