gifgrep

gifgrep is a specialized command-line and terminal-based user interface (TUI) tool designed for efficient GIF discovery, acquisition, and asset preparation. It streamlines the workflow of sourcing animated assets from major providers like Tenor and Giphy, enabling users to transition from search to local usage without leaving the terminal environment. The tool is particularly useful for developers needing quick visual feedback, content creators building documentation, or power users managing animated assets for social media and project PRs. By integrating directly with terminal protocols, it allows for high-quality previews, rapid downloads, and sophisticated image manipulation, including the creation of contact sheets and frame-by-frame stills.

• Multi-provider support: Search Tenor and Giphy directly from the CLI or an interactive TUI, with configurable API keys for personalized usage.

• Advanced asset manipulation: Extract specific frames as high-resolution stills or generate comprehensive sprite sheets (grids) for quick review or inclusion in technical documentation.

• Terminal integration: Features native support for terminal previews (e.g., Kitty/Ghostty protocols) and seamless integration with standard tools like jq for piping and filtering JSON search results.

• Workflow automation: Easily download assets to local storage and reveal files in the system finder, or use flags for programmatic access to URLs and metadata.

• Customizable output: Adjust sheet dimensions, padding, and frame sampling to ensure assets meet specific project requirements.

• API setup: Giphy requires an explicit API key, while Tenor provides a fallback demo key if no environment variable is configured.

• Performance and compatibility: Use GIFGREP_SOFTWARE_ANIM for rendering control and GIFGREP_CELL_ASPECT for geometry tuning in specific terminal emulators.

• Asset hygiene: The tool encourages responsible asset management by recommending that users verify resolved URLs, content types, and licensing before embedding in production projects.

• Best practices: Avoid hotlinking assets; prefer downloading and referencing local files to maintain project integrity. Inspect GIF properties using tools like file or identify for validation. Typical usage involves pipelines like gifgrep cats --max 5 | jq to extract raw data or gifgrep still ./clip.gif to capture key moments.