Typesmith

A terminal auto-typer for recording tutorials, demos, and videos. Typesmith simulates natural human typing in your terminal — character by character with realistic variable speed — so your recordings look like someone is actually typing, not pasting.

Commands are display-only by default. Add --execute / -x to run them for real output.

Features

• Natural typing simulation with gaussian-distributed keystroke delays, word-boundary pauses, punctuation hesitation, and occasional "thinking" pauses
• Script mode for pre-planned recordings — load a script file and step through commands with a keypress
• Interactive mode for ad-hoc demos — paste or type commands and they get replayed with the typing effect
• Real command execution by default — commands actually run and show real output
• Speed control — adjust globally via CLI flags or per-command via script directives
• Zero dependencies — Python 3 standard library only

Requirements

• Python 3.6+ (python3)
• Linux or macOS (uses POSIX terminal controls)

Installation

# Install from PyPI
pip install typesmith

# Or install with pipx (recommended for CLI tools)
pipx install typesmith

Quick Start

# Interactive mode — type commands, watch them get re-typed
typesmith

# Script mode — step through pre-written commands
typesmith run example.txt

Usage

Interactive Mode

typesmith [options]

Launches an interactive session. The screen clears, and you'll see a dim (input) prompt. Type or paste a command and press Enter. Typesmith erases your raw input and re-types it character by character with the typing effect, then executes it.

Example session:

(input) echo "Hello, World!"     <-- you type this (gets erased)
$ echo "Hello, World!"           <-- typesmith re-types this slowly
Hello, World!                    <-- real command output
(input) ls                       <-- next command
$ ls                             <-- re-typed
README.md  typesmith.py  example.txt

You can also enter directives inline during interactive mode:

(input) #speed 20        <-- changes speed on the fly
(input) #clear           <-- clears the screen
(input) #prompt >>>      <-- changes the displayed prompt

Press Ctrl+C to exit.

Script Mode

typesmith run <script-file> [options]

Loads commands from a script file and plays them back one at a time. The screen clears, and Typesmith waits for you to press Enter or Space to trigger each command. This is ideal for recording because the keypresses are invisible in the output.

Example workflow for recording:

1. Write your commands in a script file
2. Start your screen recorder (OBS, asciinema, etc.)
3. Run typesmith run demo.txt
4. Press Enter to trigger each command — it types naturally and runs
5. Stop recording

Press q or Ctrl+C to exit early.

CLI Options

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--speed	-s	12	Base typing speed in characters per second (1-50, where 6-8 is slow/deliberate, 10-15 is natural, 20+ is fast)
--variance	-v	0.4	Speed variance from 0.0 (uniform) to 1.0 (erratic)
--prompt	-p	"$ "	Shell prompt string displayed before each command
--execute	-x	off	Execute commands after typing them

Examples:

# Slow, deliberate typing
typesmith -s 6

# Fast typing with lots of variation
typesmith -s 20 -v 0.8

# Custom prompt that looks like zsh
typesmith -p "% "

# Execute commands after typing them
typesmith -x

# Combine options with script mode
typesmith run demo.txt -s 15 -p ">>> "

Script File Format

Script files are plain text with one command per line. Lines starting with # are either comments or directives.

# This is a comment (ignored)

echo "First command"

#speed 15          # set typing speed to 15 chars/sec
ls -la

#pause 1.5         # wait 1.5 seconds before the next command
#speed 8           # slow down
cat README.md

#clear             # clear the screen
#prompt >>>        # change the prompt
python3 --version

#speed 12          # back to normal
echo "Done!"

Directives Reference

Directive	Description	Example
#speed <n>	Set typing speed to n characters/sec	#speed 15
#pause <n>	Pause for n seconds before the next command	#pause 2.0
#prompt <str>	Change the displayed shell prompt	#prompt >>>
#clear	Clear the terminal screen	#clear

Directives apply to the command that follows them. You can stack multiple directives before a single command. Inline comments on directive lines are supported (e.g., #speed 15 # faster for simple commands).

Comments

Lines starting with # (hash followed by a space) are treated as comments and ignored entirely. This distinguishes them from directives which start with # immediately followed by the directive name.

# This is a comment
#speed 12          <-- this is a directive

How the Typing Simulation Works

Typesmith doesn't just add a fixed delay between characters. It simulates realistic human typing patterns:

1. Base delay — calculated from your speed setting (1 / speed seconds per character)
2. Gaussian jitter — each keystroke varies randomly around the base delay, controlled by the variance setting
3. Word boundary pauses — small extra delay after spaces, simulating the natural pause between words
4. Punctuation hesitation — slightly longer pauses after . , ; : ! ? since these keys are typically hit more deliberately
5. Thinking pauses — roughly 2% of keystrokes get a longer random pause (0.2-0.5s), simulating moments of thought

The result looks convincingly human, especially at moderate speeds (8-15 cps).

Tips for Recording

• Speed 8-12 looks most natural for tutorials where viewers need to follow along
• Speed 15-20 is good for sections where you're showing repetitive or simple commands
• Use #pause between related commands to give viewers time to read the output
• Use #clear to reset the screen between sections
• Script mode is almost always better than interactive for final recordings — you can rehearse and get it right, and there's no risk of typos
• Interactive mode is great for live presentations or quick demos where you want flexibility
• Start your recording, then launch Typesmith — the screen clear gives you a clean starting frame