FLFlamehaven·Oct 26, 2025Submission
Show HN: FlashRecord – 2MB Python-native CLI screen recorder
Hi HN — I built FlashRecord, a tiny (≈2MB) Python-native CLI tool for screenshots and GIF recordings aimed at developers who want automation-friendly, scriptable screen capture without a GUI.
### What it is
- CLI-first and importable (import flashrecord) so you can plug it into scripts, tests, CI pipelines, or docs generation.
- Outputs GIFs (and screenshots) with a pure-Pillow/NumPy implementation of a CWAM-inspired compression pipeline (multi-scale saliency, temporal subsampling, adaptive scaling).
- Cross-platform (Windows/macOS/Linux), zero-config defaults, and production-ready with tests/docs.
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### Why it might be interesting
- Tiny install and no heavyweight GUI/tooling to manage.
- Designed for automation: generate evidence GIFs in CI, attach demo GIFs to PRs, or create tutorial assets from scripts.
- Compression focuses on pres
Read the rest
erving visually important regions while reducing file size dramatically in typical UI demos.
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Repo & license: https://github.com/Flamehaven/FlashRecord
— MIT licensed.
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I’m happy to answer technical questions, performance numbers, cross-platform quirks, or walk through the compression pipeline. Feedback, issues, and PRs welcome.
What it is
CLI-first and importable (import flashrecord) so you can plug it into scripts, tests, CI pipelines, or docs generation.
Outputs GIFs (and screenshots) with a pure-Pillow/NumPy implementation of a CWAM-inspired compression pipeline (multi-scale saliency, temporal subsampling, adaptive scaling).
Cross-platform (Windows/macOS/Linux), zero-config defaults, and production-ready with tests/docs.
Why it might be interesting
Tiny install and no heavyweight GUI/tooling to manage.
Designed for automation: generate evidence GIFs in CI, attach demo GIFs to PRs, or create tutorial assets from scripts.
Compression focuses on preserving visually important regions while reducing file size dramatically in typical UI demos.
Quick try (from source)
git clone https://github.com/Flamehaven/FlashRecord
cd FlashRecord
pip install -e .
flashrecord @sc # instant screenshot
flashrecord @sv 5 10 # 5s GIF at 10 FPS (interactive by default)
Repo & license: https://github.com/Flamehaven/FlashRecord
— MIT licensed.
I’m happy to answer technical questions, performance numbers, cross-platform quirks, or walk through the compression pipeline. Feedback, issues, and PRs welcome.