# atmos cast render

Use this command to render an asciicast recording to a publishable media file: animated GIF/MP4, a static HTML fragment, plain text with no ANSI codes, or a static PNG/JPEG image.

## Usage

```shell
atmos cast render <input.cast> [--gif <file>] [--mp4 <file>] [--html <file>] [--ascii <file>] [--png <file>] [--jpg <file>]
```

At least one output flag is required.

The animated formats (GIF, MP4) replay the recording over time. Atmos automatically installs the required managed renderers the first time you use them: `asciinema/agg` for GIF and `asciinema/agg` plus FFmpeg for MP4. The static formats (HTML, ASCII, PNG, JPEG) are rendered natively by Atmos with no external dependencies: the recording's output is laid out on a terminal cell grid, and the final content is emitted in the requested format.

MP4 rendering first produces a GIF with `agg`, then converts it with FFmpeg. This preserves `agg`'s terminal-rendering quality, but the MP4 can retain GIF palette constraints such as a 256-color palette.

ASCII output is a durable, diffable artifact: it is cheap to commit to git and can be consumed directly by other tooling (such as Atmos Pro) without an asciicast player.

## Arguments

- **`input.cast`** — **Required.** Path to the asciicast recording to render.

## Flags

- **`--gif`** — Write animated GIF output to this path. Atmos installs the managed `agg` renderer automatically on first use.
- **`--mp4`** — Write MP4 output to this path. Atmos installs the managed `agg` and FFmpeg renderers automatically on first use.
- **`--html`** — Write a static HTML fragment of the final terminal content to this path. The fragment contains inline-styled `<span>` elements suitable for embedding inside a `<pre>` block.
- **`--ascii`** — Write the final terminal content as plain text (no ANSI escape codes) to this path.
- **`--png`** — Write a static PNG image of the final terminal content to this path.
- **`--jpg`** — Write a static JPEG image of the final terminal content to this path.

## Examples

```shell
atmos cast render ./artifacts/demo.cast --gif=./artifacts/demo.gif
atmos cast render ./artifacts/demo.cast --gif=./artifacts/demo.gif --mp4=./artifacts/demo.mp4
atmos cast render ./artifacts/demo.cast --html=./artifacts/demo.html --ascii=./artifacts/demo.ascii
atmos cast render ./artifacts/demo.cast --png=./artifacts/demo.png --jpg=./artifacts/demo.jpg
```

You can also record and render in one step with the global `--cast` flag; the format is chosen by the file extension:

```shell
atmos list stacks --cast=stacks.png
atmos about --help --cast=about-help.html
```

## See Also

- [`atmos cast play`](/cli/commands/cast/play) — Replay a cast recording in the terminal
- [`atmos cast record`](/cli/commands/cast/record) — Record a VHS-dialect tape into an asciicast recording