source: simon willison: have your agent record video demos of its work with shot-scraper video
level: technical
shot-scraper 1.10 introduces a video command that uses playwright to record browser sessions based on a storyboard yaml file. the file defines scenes with actions like clicks, pauses, and form fills, along with server setup and viewport settings. an example shows a demo of a datasette feature for bulk inserting rows and creating tables from pasted csv data. the command accepts an mp4 flag and optional auth json for cookies.
the storyboard yaml was generated by gpt-5.5 xhigh running in codex desktop, using a prompt that reviewed branch changes and ran the tool's help command. the agent built the demo against a local development server. the author notes that providing --help output acts like bundling a skill file, enabling agents to use the tool effectively. this pattern was also used in other projects like showboat and rodney.
development relied on recent playwright improvements. earlier attempts had issues like white frames and fixed video width. playwright 1.59 added a screencast mechanism, and playwright-python 1.61.0 allowed custom widths, unblocking the feature. the code and documentation were written by the coding agent, with iteration driven by reviewing the docs. the yaml format was defined using pydantic for validation, making the design easier to review.
why it matters: it gives ai coding agents a straightforward way to create video demos, making it easier to review and share their work visually.
source: simon willison: have your agent record video demos of its work with shot-scraper video