gif-for-cli is a small, playful utility that brings animated GIFs to the command line by rendering frames directly in a terminal. It takes an input GIF (or a URL) and converts each frame into a terminal-friendly representation, timing updates to approximate the original animation. Depending on terminal capabilities, it can use ANSI color blocks or image protocols to achieve surprisingly faithful playback. The tool includes conveniences such as looping control, scaling to fit your terminal, and caching to avoid repeated downloads. It’s useful for quick visual feedback, lightweight demos, or just adding some personality to scripts and readmes. Despite its whimsical nature, the project is a tight example of frame decoding, timing, and terminal rendering glued together in a single command.
Features
- Play animated GIFs directly in the terminal
- Supports scaling and aspect-ratio constraints to fit the viewport
- Frame timing that respects original animation delays
- ANSI color or terminal image backends depending on capability
- URL and local file inputs with optional caching
- Simple CLI flags for looping, speed, and output style
Project Samples
