Settings

Configure script behavior with the set command:

set fps 30
set output "demo.gif"
set max-width 800

All Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
fps	int	30	Frame rate (12, 24, 30, 60)
output	string	output.gif	Output file path
max-width	int	800	Maximum GIF width in pixels
loop-count	int	0	Loop count (0=infinite, 1=once, 3=three)
transition	float	0.3	Crossfade duration between segments (seconds)
show-cursor	bool	true	Show system cursor in recording
cursor-smoothing	bool	false	Smooth cursor movement paths
click-indicators	bool	false	Show click overlay effects
type-smoothing	bool	false	Normalize keystroke timing
keystroke-badges	bool	false	Show floating key combo badges
include-title-bar	bool	true	Keep the real window title bar (set false to crop it out)
faux-title-bar	bool	false	Paint a clean synthetic title bar over the window's real one
faux-title-bar-title	string	""	Title text shown in the faux title bar
title-bar-height	int	28	Title bar height in pixels (for faux/crop)
idle-strategy	string	disabled	Idle handling strategy: fade, cut, ramp
idle-threshold	float	2.0	Seconds of inactivity before idle handling
palette-strategy	string	auto	Color palette strategy: auto, global, perFrame
deduplicate-frames	bool	false	Merge consecutive identical frames to shrink the file (total duration preserved)
pace	string	none	Timing preset: tutorial, demo, cinematic
typing-delay	float	0.05	Per-character typing delay (seconds)
auto-pace	bool	false	Auto-insert pauses after commands during recording
auto-pace-delay	float	0.8	Base auto-pause duration (seconds)
cleanup	bool	true	Close script-opened windows after render
strict	bool	true	Fail on non-zero shell command exit codes
run-timeout	float	30	Shell command timeout (seconds)
intro-bg	string	#1a1a2e	Intro/outro card background color
intro-fg	string	#ffffff	Intro/outro card title text color
intro-subtitle-fg	string	#aaaaaa	Intro card subtitle text color
intro-font-size	int	48	Intro card title font size
background	string	none	Solid background color composited under every frame (hex). Also set via set-background

Setting Details

Frame Rate (fps)

Controls how many frames per second are captured and encoded. Higher values produce smoother GIFs but larger file sizes.

set fps 24    # Smooth enough for most demos
set fps 60    # Very smooth, large files

info

The fps value must be one of: 12, 24, 30, or 60.

Idle Handling (idle-strategy)

Controls what happens during periods of inactivity in the recording:

• fade -- Gradually fades inactive frames to reduce visual noise
• cut -- Removes idle frames entirely, jumping ahead in time
• ramp -- Speeds up playback during idle periods, then returns to normal speed

set idle-strategy cut
set idle-threshold 1.5    # Trigger after 1.5s of inactivity

tip

Idle detection is opt-in. Leave idle-strategy unset to keep all frames at their original timing.

info

With MP4 audio: idle handling removes time from the video, so QuikGIF compensates the captured audio to keep it in sync — audio that falls in a removed idle stretch is dropped, and the rest is retimed onto the shortened timeline. The drop boundary is accurate to roughly the capture chunk size (~0.1 s), imperceptible against multi-second idle cuts. For multi-segment recordings the compensation is applied per segment (segment-boundary transition frames are not individually accounted for).

Frame Deduplication (deduplicate-frames)

Off by default — every captured frame is kept so the output reproduces the full recording. Enable it to merge consecutive identical frames into one (with their delays summed), shrinking the file without changing total duration or playback:

set deduplicate-frames true

tip

This is a lossless file-size optimization (duplicate frames only). To intentionally shorten idle stretches, use idle-strategy instead. To dedup an already-recorded GIF, use quikgif process --deduplicate-frames (Pro), optionally scoped to a time range with --from/--to.

Title Bar (faux-title-bar, include-title-bar)

Window captures keep the real title bar by default — the recording reproduces what was on screen. Two opt-in transforms can change that:

set faux-title-bar true                 # paint a clean synthetic title bar
set faux-title-bar-title "My Demo"      # optional title text

set include-title-bar false             # crop the real title bar out instead

tip

faux-title-bar and cropping (include-title-bar false) apply only to window captures — region captures have no title bar. If both are set, the faux title bar wins.

Palette Strategy (palette-strategy)

Controls how the GIF color palette is optimized:

• auto -- Detects scene changes and optimizes per-segment. Uses per-frame palettes for multi-scene GIFs, global palette for single-scene.
• global -- Single palette for the entire GIF. Smallest file size, may lose color accuracy in multi-scene recordings.
• perFrame -- Each frame gets its own palette. Best color accuracy, largest file size.

set palette-strategy auto

Transitions (transition)

Controls the crossfade duration between recording segments in multi-segment scripts:

set transition 0.5    # Half-second crossfade
set transition 0      # No crossfade, hard cut

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Pace Presets

The set pace command applies a bundle of timing-related settings optimized for common use cases:

set pace demo

tutorial

Slow, deliberate pacing for educational content.

Setting	Value
fps	24
typing-delay	0.08
auto-pace	true
auto-pace-delay	1.0
idle-threshold	3.0
transition	0.5

demo

Moderate pacing for product demos.

Setting	Value
fps	30
typing-delay	0.04
auto-pace	true
auto-pace-delay	0.6
idle-threshold	1.5
transition	0.3

cinematic

Polished pacing for showcase-quality GIFs.

Setting	Value
fps	30
typing-delay	0.06
auto-pace	true
auto-pace-delay	0.8
idle-threshold	2.0
transition	0.8

info

set pace is handled specially -- it applies all settings from the preset at once. Individual settings can still be overridden after the pace preset:

set pace demo
set fps 24           # Override just fps from the demo preset
set keystroke-badges true   # Add a setting not included in the preset

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Auto-Pacing

When auto-pace is enabled, the engine automatically inserts pauses after run, type, key, and click commands during active recording. This gives viewers time to read each action.

set auto-pace true
set auto-pace-delay 0.8    # 0.8s pause after each command

Auto-pacing only fires when a recorder is actively capturing. Commands executed before record or after stop are not auto-paced.

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Title Card Styling

Customize the appearance of intro and outro title cards:

set intro-bg "#0d1117"          # Dark background
set intro-fg "#58a6ff"          # Blue title text
set intro-subtitle-fg "#8b949e" # Gray subtitle
set intro-font-size 56          # Larger title