[GH-ISSUE #223] asciicast v2: extra meta-data #164

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opened 2026-02-25 20:32:56 +03:00 by kerem · 5 comments

kerem commented

2026-02-25 20:32:56 +03:00

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Originally created by @ku1ik on GitHub (Sep 4, 2017).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/223

Some would like to have a place to store extra meta-data about the recording. I see the following options:

use the env vars collection feature (see https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/222): put any extra info in new env vars and white-list these. Downside is that your shell and all apps started in it would inherit these env vars and this could potentially leak some sensitive data
use any number of top-level, underscore prefixed keys, like "_session_id": "67fds6futysgh", "_my_internal_thing": "blah" - the UNIX way, similar to . prefixed hidden files. You could add them manually / with a script, after recording is finished by editing the file, or the recording tool (e.g. castty) could add them automatically, prefixed with a tool name if it's tool specific thing (_castty_audio_url)
use single top-level meta (or prv) object, with arbitrary tool/vendor/user-specific keys+values.

Originally created by @ku1ik on GitHub (Sep 4, 2017). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/223 Some would like to have a place to store extra meta-data about the recording. I see the following options: - use the env vars collection feature (see https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/222): put any extra info in new env vars and white-list these. Downside is that your shell and all apps started in it would inherit these env vars and this could potentially leak some sensitive data - use any number of top-level, underscore prefixed keys, like `"_session_id": "67fds6futysgh"`, `"_my_internal_thing": "blah"` - the UNIX way, similar to `.` prefixed hidden files. You could add them manually / with a script, after recording is finished by editing the file, or the recording tool (e.g. castty) could add them automatically, prefixed with a tool name if it's tool specific thing (`_castty_audio_url`) - use single top-level `meta` (or `prv`) object, with arbitrary tool/vendor/user-specific keys+values.

kerem closed this issue

2026-02-25 20:32:56 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-02-25 20:32:56 +03:00

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@dhobsd commented on GitHub (Sep 4, 2017):

Another option would be to reserve a "meta" object for whatever custom keyspace a recorder wants to use.

@dhobsd commented on GitHub (Sep 4, 2017): Another option would be to reserve a "meta" object for whatever custom keyspace a recorder wants to use.

kerem commented

2026-02-25 20:32:56 +03:00

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@ku1ik commented on GitHub (Sep 4, 2017):

This was also suggested by @XANi. Given that the whole header line is meta-data the key named meta in it doesn't feel right to me. I'd probably prefer something more specific like prv or vendor. Anyway, I updated the list above with this suggestion. Thanks @dhobsd !

@ku1ik commented on GitHub (Sep 4, 2017): This was also suggested by @XANi. Given that the whole header line is meta-data the key named `meta` in it doesn't feel right to me. I'd probably prefer something more specific like `prv` or `vendor`. Anyway, I updated the list above with this suggestion. Thanks @dhobsd !

kerem commented

2026-02-25 20:32:56 +03:00

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@XANi commented on GitHub (Sep 5, 2017):

"vendor" or "custom" makes sense

@XANi commented on GitHub (Sep 5, 2017): "vendor" or "custom" makes sense

kerem commented

2026-02-25 20:32:56 +03:00

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@josegonzalez commented on GitHub (Sep 20, 2017):