nex - terminal recorder & sharing

This project contains a Rust CLI nex that records terminal sessions into .nex files.

Commands:

• nex start — start recording the current shell session
• nex stop — stop recording and finalize the .nex file
• nex inspect <file.nex> — view metadata
• nex play <file.nex> — replay recorded session (TBD)
• nex csv <file.nex> --out <file.csv> — export to CSV
• nex json <file.nex> --out <file.json> — export to JSON
• nex serve <port> [--verbose] — host a collaborative session
• nex catch <host> <port> --out <file.nex> — join a collaborative session and save
• nex serve <port> --web — host a collaborative session with web UI (TBD)

This scaffold implements a minimal MVP for start/stop using a PTY-based approach in Rust.

Build:

cargo build --release

Installing:

cargo install --path .

nex records interactive terminal sessions into a portable .nex archive. It can:

• Record a local interactive shell to a .nex file (nex start / exit, nex stop).
• Replay a .nex (nex play <file>).
• Export recorded sessions to CSV or JSON (nex csv <file>, nex json <file>).
• Serve a shared shell over TCP for collaborative sessions (nex serve <port>).
• Join a shared session as a client and auto-save the session (nex catch <host> <port>).

This project is a small Rust prototype. It uses a PTY-backed shell and records raw terminal bytes plus command lifecycle markers (injected via zsh hooks) into a newline-delimited JSON stream inside the .nex archive.

Quickstart

Installing:

cargo install --path .

Record locally (default timestamped filename):

nex start

Replay:

nex play recording.nex

CSV / JSON export:

nex csv recording.nex --out out.csv
nex json recording.nex --out out.json

Collaborative session (host):

nex serve 3000           # silent by default
nex serve 3000 --verbose # show connect/exits

Collaborative session (client):

nex catch <host-ip> 3000 --out mysession.nex

nex serve 3000           # silent by default
nex serve 3000 --verbose # show connect/exits

Collaborative session (client):

nex catch <host-ip> 3000 --out mysession.nex

Collaborative session (web UI):

nex serve 3000 --web

Recording format

A .nex file is a ZIP archive containing:

• manifest.json — metadata and duration
• session.json — newline-delimited JSON events (raw terminal bytes and command start/end objects)

Raw event example:

{"t": 0.123, "data": "<base64>"}

Command event example:

{"type":"command","phase":"start","t": 1234567890.123,"cwd":"/home/user","cmd_b64":"..."}