/session-replay

Session Replay

Convert a Claude Code or Codex session JSONL file into an animated replay of the conversation. Supports GIF, MP4, and WebM output formats. Auto-detects the session format (Claude Code or Codex) from file content.

Usage

/session-replay [session-path] [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
session-path	Path to session JSONL file (default: most recent)

Options

Option	Description
--session-format	Input session format: claude, codex, or auto-detect (default: auto)
--show	Layers to include: user, assistant, tools, thinking (default: user,assistant,tools)
--turns	Turn range: 1-5 or 3 (default: all)
--output	Output file path (default: session-replay.gif)
--format	Output format: gif, mp4, webm (default: from --output extension)
--theme	VHS terminal theme (default: Dracula)
--speed	Timing multiplier (default: 1.0)
--max-duration	Max GIF duration in seconds (default: none)
--cols	Text wrapping width in chars (default: 80)
--rows	Text truncation height in lines (default: 24)

Workflow

1. Invoke Skill(scribe:session-replay) to run the full pipeline: parse session, generate tape, render GIF
2. If no session path given, list recent sessions from ~/.claude/projects/ for the user to pick
3. Show session date and first user message for confirmation
4. Parse, generate tape, render via Skill(scry:vhs-recording)

Examples

# Replay most recent session
/session-replay

# Replay specific session file
/session-replay ~/.claude/projects/.../session.jsonl

# Show only user and assistant turns, first 5 turns
/session-replay --show user,assistant --turns 1-5

# Include Claude's thinking in the replay
/session-replay --show user,assistant,tools,thinking

# Custom theme and faster playback
/session-replay --theme "Solarized Dark" --speed 1.5

# Cap GIF duration at 30 seconds
/session-replay --output demo.gif --max-duration 30

# Output as MP4 video
/session-replay --output demo.mp4

# Output as WebM video
/session-replay --format webm

# Override extension with explicit format
/session-replay --output replay.gif --format mp4

# Replay a Codex session (auto-detected)
/session-replay ~/.codex/sessions/latest.jsonl

# Force Codex format parsing
/session-replay session.jsonl --session-format codex

Supported Formats

VHS supports three output formats, selected by the file extension in --output or explicitly via --format:

• gif: animated GIF (default), good for docs and READMEs
• mp4: H.264 video, smaller files for longer replays
• webm: VP8/VP9 video, open format for web embedding

SVG output is not supported by VHS and is not available.

Output

Parsed 42 turns from session (12 user, 15 assistant, 15 tools)
Generated tape: /tmp/session-replay-1711234567.tape
Rendering via scry...
Done: session-replay.mp4 (18s, 960x540)

See Also

• Skill(scribe:session-replay): full skill reference
• Skill(scry:vhs-recording): terminal recording
• /session-to-post: convert sessions to blog posts