[GH-ISSUE #47] Windows not supported, right? #39

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opened 2026-02-25 20:32:21 +03:00 by kerem · 13 comments
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Originally created by @maphew on GitHub (Oct 29, 2013).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/47

A quick pip install test from the Github repo reveals that asciicinema doesn't work out of the box on Windows, even though it does install an .exe to the Python Scripts folder. On my Win7 machine It fails with ImportError: No module named termios.

A little searching reveals there (probably) isn't a Windows equivalent,
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/933745/what-is-the-windows-equivalent-to-the-capabilities-defined-in-sys-select-h-and-t, and that therefore asciicinema is likely not supposed to work on Windows.

It would be good if the Readme states what operating systems asciicinema is intended for / known to work on.

Originally created by @maphew on GitHub (Oct 29, 2013). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/47 A quick pip install test from the Github repo reveals that asciicinema doesn't work out of the box on Windows, even though it does install an .exe to the Python Scripts folder. On my Win7 machine It fails with `ImportError: No module named termios`. A little searching reveals there (probably) isn't a Windows equivalent, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/933745/what-is-the-windows-equivalent-to-the-capabilities-defined-in-sys-select-h-and-t, and that therefore asciicinema is likely not supposed to work on Windows. It would be good if the Readme states what operating systems asciicinema is intended for / known to work on.
kerem closed this issue 2026-02-25 20:32:21 +03:00
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@ku1ik commented on GitHub (Nov 25, 2013):

Right, it will never support Windows as Windows doesn't have pseudo-terminal, select() and other unix capabilities. The information about the supported systems is now on the homepage: http://asciinema.org

<!-- gh-comment-id:29236223 --> @ku1ik commented on GitHub (Nov 25, 2013): Right, it will never support Windows as Windows doesn't have pseudo-terminal, select() and other unix capabilities. The information about the supported systems is now on the homepage: http://asciinema.org
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@noisy commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2015):

@sickill is it possible to support cygwin?

<!-- gh-comment-id:110617166 --> @noisy commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2015): @sickill is it possible to support cygwin?
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@ku1ik commented on GitHub (Jul 5, 2015):

@noisy cygwin doesn't support UNIX-like pseudo-terminal so it's unlikely to make it work on Windows. All UNIX family systems (Linux, *BSD, Mac OS X), have PTYs, but Windows is a completely different OS.

<!-- gh-comment-id:118663356 --> @ku1ik commented on GitHub (Jul 5, 2015): @noisy cygwin doesn't support UNIX-like pseudo-terminal so it's unlikely to make it work on Windows. All UNIX family systems (Linux, *BSD, Mac OS X), have PTYs, but Windows is a completely different OS.
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@masaeedu commented on GitHub (May 4, 2017):

@sickill What about https://github.com/rprichard/winpty?

<!-- gh-comment-id:299071606 --> @masaeedu commented on GitHub (May 4, 2017): @sickill What about https://github.com/rprichard/winpty?
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@ku1ik commented on GitHub (May 4, 2017):

@masaeedu feel free to experiment with it. I'm fine with someone maintaining a friendly Windows fork of asciinema. However, at this moment I'm not interested in merging any Windows specific changes into the main repository. asciicast format is documented, so as long as recording on Windows produces compatible asciicast file, the web player should be able to replay it.

<!-- gh-comment-id:299124100 --> @ku1ik commented on GitHub (May 4, 2017): @masaeedu feel free to experiment with it. I'm fine with someone maintaining a friendly Windows fork of asciinema. However, at this moment I'm not interested in merging any Windows specific changes into the main repository. [asciicast format](https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/blob/master/doc/asciicast-v1.md) is documented, so as long as recording on Windows produces compatible asciicast file, the web player should be able to replay it.
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@ku1ik commented on GitHub (May 4, 2017):

@masaeedu There is Windows fork by @mattn - https://github.com/mattn/asciinema/tree/windows

<!-- gh-comment-id:299124415 --> @ku1ik commented on GitHub (May 4, 2017): @masaeedu There is Windows fork by @mattn - https://github.com/mattn/asciinema/tree/windows
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@ku1ik commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2017):

I was wrong saying "it will never support Windows" :)
It seems it now installs and works perfectly fine under Win10 (WSL): https://asciinema.org/a/123255

<!-- gh-comment-id:305995877 --> @ku1ik commented on GitHub (Jun 3, 2017): I was wrong saying "it will never support Windows" :) It seems it now installs and works perfectly fine under Win10 (WSL): https://asciinema.org/a/123255
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@amistele commented on GitHub (Mar 28, 2018):

March 28 2018,
I tried a pip install of asciinema on Windows 10, and encountered the termios error. Is this still resolvable, or where do i go to fork a compatible version?

<!-- gh-comment-id:377015574 --> @amistele commented on GitHub (Mar 28, 2018): March 28 2018, I tried a pip install of asciinema on Windows 10, and encountered the termios error. Is this still resolvable, or where do i go to fork a compatible version?
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@mattn commented on GitHub (Mar 29, 2018):

@amistele see https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/150

<!-- gh-comment-id:377082176 --> @mattn commented on GitHub (Mar 29, 2018): @amistele see https://github.com/asciinema/asciinema/issues/150
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@mikemaccana commented on GitHub (Oct 29, 2018):

@sickill Windows 10 now has an official console api, which should make Windows support require far less code. Does that change anything?

<!-- gh-comment-id:433892808 --> @mikemaccana commented on GitHub (Oct 29, 2018): @sickill Windows 10 now has an [official console api](https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/2018/08/02/windows-command-line-introducing-the-windows-pseudo-console-conpty/), which should make Windows support require far less code. Does that change anything?
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@ku1ik commented on GitHub (Nov 16, 2018):

@mikemaccana thank for bringing this up! I think this could open the way for native Windows support. I just skimmed through the linked article, but it looks promissing 👍

<!-- gh-comment-id:439535712 --> @ku1ik commented on GitHub (Nov 16, 2018): @mikemaccana thank for bringing this up! I think this could open the way for native Windows support. I just skimmed through the linked article, but it looks promissing 👍
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@kiedtl commented on GitHub (Feb 13, 2019):

@sickill Have you taken a look at winpty? It's README claims to work on Windows XP and later.

<!-- gh-comment-id:463357873 --> @kiedtl commented on GitHub (Feb 13, 2019): @sickill Have you taken a look at winpty? It's README claims to work on Windows XP and later.
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@rollingmoai commented on GitHub (Jan 3, 2023):

This port for Windows works great: https://github.com/Watfaq/PowerSession-rs. It would be nice if Asciinema would officially support Windows.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1369463191 --> @rollingmoai commented on GitHub (Jan 3, 2023): This port for Windows works great: https://github.com/Watfaq/PowerSession-rs. It would be nice if Asciinema would officially support Windows.
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