Frames CLI

Apple Frames CLI

frames 1.5.0 is a single-file Python CLI that applies Apple device bezels to screenshots and videos, auto-detects devices from input dimensions, applies masks when needed, and can merge multiple framed results. Video support uses external ffmpeg 5.1+ and ffprobe 5.1+ with no extra Python media stack.

What Agents Should Know

• frames is the default command. frames screenshot.png and frames frame screenshot.png are equivalent.
• Use --json for automation with frame, info, video, video-info, and doctor. Global flags --json, --assets, --verbose, and --no-color work before or after subcommands. list, list-colors, colors, and setup retain human-readable output.
• Device support comes from the installed asset bundle, not hardcoded names in this skill. Use frames list and frames list-colors as the source of truth when exact names matter.
• The standard asset pack covers iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Duo. After updating the CLI, frames setup downloads it; if frames doctor says the pack predates these devices, run setup again. Duo capture sizes are verified in the Xcode 27.1 simulator, not on hardware; do not claim real-device verification.
• On macOS, the default asset location is the Apple Frames shortcut folder in iCloud Drive. That avoids downloading a second copy when the user already has the shortcut assets installed.
• Use frames video ... for .mp4, .mov, and .m4v; the default frames ... path is for images.
• Use frames video-info ... to probe videos and resolve the matching frame metadata without rendering.
• Video framing requires external ffmpeg 5.1+ and ffprobe 5.1+. frames setup checks this and can offer a Homebrew install on macOS; frames doctor reports video tool readiness.
• frames video preserves single-video audio by default. Pass --strip-audio when the user asks for silent output, privacy-safe delivery, or validation clips where audio does not matter.
• frames video --preset compact|balanced|best controls H.264/HEVC export size/quality, including HEVC-alpha; best is the default. The default video canvas is opaque white except with --alpha or --codec hevc-alpha. For small opaque exports, use --preset compact with --background black or --background "#RRGGBB". Video exports report output file size and source-vs-output savings in human and JSON output.
• Use frames video --codec hevc-alpha ... for transparent HEVC-with-alpha .mov delivery on macOS with a compatible ffmpeg build. Use --alpha or --background transparent for ProRes 4444 .mov editing/compositing output unless --codec hevc-alpha is explicitly selected. Normal H.264/HEVC MP4 output is opaque; legacy --alpha --codec hevc still selects ProRes.
• Explicit ProRes and HEVC-alpha output file paths must use a .mov extension. Use an output directory when you want the CLI to pick the .mov filename.
• Use frames video --rotate clockwise|counterclockwise|180 ... when a screen recording's visual orientation differs from its encoded dimensions. This is common with some landscape iPad recordings that probe as portrait.
• H.264/HEVC MP4 and HEVC-alpha MOV exports pad odd dimensions to even encoded dimensions. Check output_dimensions and padded for individual outputs, or top-level dimensions for merges, in JSON output.

Quick Reference

# Frame one screenshot
frames screenshot.png

# Frame every top-level image in a folder
frames ~/Screenshots/

# Pick a specific color or randomize colors
frames -c "Cosmic Orange" screenshot.png
frames -c random *.png
frames --colors "Silver,Space Black,random" one.png two.png three.png

# Frame videos
frames video-info recording.mp4
frames --json video-info recording.mp4
frames video recording.mp4
frames video --preset compact recording.mp4
frames video --background black --preset compact recording.mp4
frames video --background "#f5f5f5" --preset compact recording.mp4
frames video --preset balanced recording.mp4
frames video --preset best recording.mp4
frames video --rotate counterclockwise ipad-landscape-recording.mp4
frames video --alpha recording.mp4
frames video --codec hevc-alpha recording.mp4
frames video --codec hevc-alpha --preset compact -o delivery.mov recording.mp4
frames video -m --playback-offset --codec hevc-alpha 1.mp4 2.mp4
frames video -m --alpha 1.mp4 2.mp4
frames video -m --background transparent 1.mp4 2.mp4
frames --json video --strip-audio recording.mp4
frames video --strip-audio recording.mp4
frames video --background "#f5f5f5" --codec hevc recording.mp4
frames video -m --playback-offset 1.mp4 2.mp4
frames video -m --colors "Silver,random" 1.mp4 2.mp4

# Force an exact frame instead of auto-resolving the newest variant
frames -d "iPhone 15 Pro Portrait" screenshot.png

# Merge framed outputs side by side
frames -m shot1.png shot2.png

# Merge without proportional physical scaling
frames -m --no-scale shot1.png shot2.png

# Batch merge sequential groups
frames -b 3 *.png

# Save to a separate output directory
frames -o ~/Framed *.png

# Save to a subfolder next to originals
frames -f *.png
frames --subfolder mockups *.png

# Inspect matches without framing
frames info screenshot.png
frames --json info ~/Screenshots/

# Discover supported devices and colors
frames list
frames list-colors "17 Pro"

# Manage default colors
frames colors

# Diagnose asset/config problems
frames doctor

# Download or re-point assets
frames setup
frames setup /path/to/Frames

Current Feature Surface

• Auto-detect devices from screenshot width, with height-based overlap disambiguation where needed.
• Resolve width-sharing devices to the newest default frame automatically. Pass --device to skip variant resolution.
• Apply frame colors by exact name, 1-based numeric index, default, or random.
• Use --colors for per-input colors on images and videos; it maps comma-separated values to expanded inputs by order.
• Apply masks when the asset entry requires clipping.
• Merge multiple framed outputs with physical-size normalization by default.
• Frame .mp4, .mov, and .m4v files through frames video; single-video audio is preserved unless --strip-audio is passed.
• Use --preset compact, --preset balanced, or --preset best to tune H.264/HEVC export size/quality, including HEVC-alpha. best is the default.
• Use --rotate clockwise|counterclockwise|180 to rotate videos before auto-detection and framing.
• MP4/H.264, MP4/HEVC, and HEVC-alpha MOV outputs use even encoded dimensions. Single-output JSON reports output_dimensions and padded; merged JSON reports the final size in top-level dimensions.
• Report output file size and savings after video export in both human output and --json agent output.
• Use --codec hevc-alpha for macOS HEVC-alpha MOV delivery, or --alpha / --background transparent for ProRes 4444 MOV. HEVC-alpha supports single, simultaneous merge, and sequential merge output with the same rotation, color, mask, scaling, and audio rules.
• Show a live terminal progress bar during video renders in interactive mode; JSON and non-TTY runs stay pipeline-friendly.
• Inspect video/device matches without rendering through frames video-info.
• Merge videos simultaneously with frames video -m, or sequentially left-to-right with frames video -m --playback-offset.
• Use --no-scale to disable proportional scaling and keep native framed sizes when merging.
• Use --batch N to merge sequential groups. --batch implies merge and N must be at least 2.
• Save next to originals, into --output, or into a validated single-name subfolder via -f or --subfolder.
• Copy a single output to the macOS clipboard with --copy.
• Inspect screenshots and folders with info.
• Diagnose assets and config with doctor.
• Save per-device default colors with colors.

Command Notes

• Global flags:
  • --json for machine-readable output from frame, info, video, video-info, and doctor
  • --no-color to disable ANSI color
  • --assets PATH to override asset discovery
  • -v / --verbose for variant, resize, and mask details
• Use frames video --help and frames video-info --help for the human-facing video examples and option summaries.
• frames colors is interactive in a real terminal. If stdin is not a TTY, or curses is unavailable, it falls back to a plain printed color list.
• frames list-colors does partial device-name matching. frames list-colors "17 Pro" is valid.
• Directory inputs are expanded one level deep only. The CLI scans top-level image files inside the directory; it is not recursive.
• Supported input image extensions are .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .heic, .tiff, and .webp.
• Supported input video extensions are .mp4, .mov, and .m4v.
• Images larger than 20,000px on either side trigger a warning. Images larger than 50,000px are rejected.
• --subfolder only accepts a single directory name, not a path like ../out or foo/bar.

Video Notes

• frames video-info FILE reports dimensions, duration, fps, codec, audio state, matched device, selected color, frame size, mask state, and resize metadata without creating an output video.
• frames video-info --rotate counterclockwise FILE reports the post-rotation dimensions and matched device before spending time rendering.
• frames video FILE writes FILE_framed.mp4 by default, or .mov when --alpha, --codec prores, --codec hevc-alpha, or --background transparent is used.
• --alpha and --codec hevc-alpha default the background to transparent unless the user explicitly passes another --background. An explicit opaque background also applies to any even-dimension padding.
• Explicit ProRes and HEVC-alpha output files must end in .mov; otherwise frames video fails before rendering.
• For one video, --output may be an explicit output file path or a directory. For multiple individual videos, use an output directory. Conflicts that would overwrite another input or send distinct inputs to the same output are rejected before rendering; choose a separate output directory or distinct source filenames.
• --merge creates one horizontal video. Without --playback-offset, videos play simultaneously and duration is the longest input.
• --playback-offset requires --merge; videos play left to right, inactive future videos hold their first frame, and completed videos hold their final frame.
• Merged videos are proportionally scaled by device physicalHeight, measured against each device's visible body rather than its padded frame canvas, and bottom-aligned by default. Use --no-scale only when native framed pixel sizes matter more than physical proportion.
• Single-video output preserves audio unless --strip-audio is passed. Sequential --playback-offset merges concatenate audio and generate silence for inputs without audio. Simultaneous merges omit mixed audio in this version.
• --background accepts only white, black, transparent, or #RRGGBB. The default canvas is opaque white, including with --codec prores; --alpha or --codec hevc-alpha changes the default to transparent. --background transparent selects ProRes MOV unless --codec hevc-alpha is explicit.
• --codec h264 is the default. Plain --codec hevc selects opaque HEVC MP4. --codec prores selects alpha-capable ProRes 4444 MOV; use --alpha or --background transparent for a transparent canvas. Explicit --codec hevc-alpha selects macOS VideoToolbox HEVC-with-alpha MOV, even when combined with --alpha. Without explicit hevc-alpha, --alpha takes precedence over --codec hevc and selects ProRes.
• Use HEVC-alpha for compact delivery to Apple-compatible software that supports HEVC-with-alpha. Use ProRes 4444 (yuva444p10le) for editing and compositing. Verify the intended receiving app; HEVC-alpha support is not universal.
• --preset compact|balanced|best controls H.264/HEVC hardware bitrate and software CRF. For HEVC-alpha, these presets set target bitrates of 4M, 7M, and 10M respectively; best is the default. Targets are not guaranteed file sizes. ProRes MOV files can be much larger; all presets keep the same ProRes settings.
• --quality N is an expert software H.264/HEVC CRF override; lower is higher quality. HEVC-alpha rejects --quality; use --preset instead.
• HEVC-alpha requires macOS and an ffmpeg build with hevc_videotoolbox, its alpha_quality option, and BGRA input support. The CLI checks these before rendering and reports unsupported configurations without silently falling back to an opaque codec. If unavailable, update ffmpeg or explicitly choose ProRes with --alpha and remove --codec hevc-alpha. doctor checks general video tool readiness; it does not certify HEVC-alpha support.
• --rotate clockwise|counterclockwise|180 is applied before device matching, resizing, masks, and framing.
• --color random randomizes independently per input. --colors "A,B,random" maps values to expanded inputs by order and the count must match after directory expansion.
• video-info accepts --device, --color, --colors, and --rotate; it uses the same resolution rules as frames video.
• Taildrop or other delivery is separate from frames; render first, verify the output, then use the delivery workflow the user requested.

JSON Output Behavior

• Successful frame, info, video, video-info, and doctor commands emit JSON on stdout when --json is set. Verbose details and warnings go to stderr, so --json --verbose remains parseable. list, list-colors, colors, and setup retain human-readable output.
• Check the exit status and stderr as well as stdout: config and missing-asset errors can return JSON error objects, while other failures report text on stderr. Do not assume every failure returns JSON.
• frames --json screenshot.png returns one framed-image object with fields such as source, device, color, dimensions, frame_size, resized, masked, physicalHeight, and output.
• frames --json *.png returns { "frames": [...] } for multiple individual outputs.
• frames --json -m ... returns a merged result with merged, count, and frames.
• frames --json -b N ... returns batches, batch_size, total, and frames when there are multiple groups. A single group returns merged, count, and frames.
• When proportional merge scaling is applied, per-frame scale_factor values are included in the JSON output. Image batch factors describe each frame within its own batch.
• frames --json info ... returns either one object or a list of objects, including device, primary_match, colors, color_count, has_mask, resize_width, variants, and is_variant.
• frames --json video-info ... returns one video metadata object, or a list for multiple videos, including dimensions, source_dimensions, rotation, duration, fps, codec, audio, device, primary_match, color, frame_size, output_dimensions, padded, resize_width, and mask_missing.
• frames --json doctor returns asset path/source/version, PNG count, config presence, issues, notes, and suggested next steps.
• frames --json video ... returns one video object, or { "videos": [...] } for multiple individual outputs, including output_codec, rotation, source_dimensions, output_dimensions, padded, preset, output_size_bytes, output_size, source_size_bytes, source_size, savings_bytes, savings, and savings_percent.
• frames --json video -m ... returns merged, duration, dimensions, output_codec, playback_offset, audio state, top-level output size/savings fields, and per-input frames. Top-level dimensions is the actual encoded output size, including any final even-dimension padding.
• output_codec identifies the effective render choice (h264, hevc, prores, or hevc-alpha) on individual outputs and merged top-level/per-input objects. Existing per-input codec remains the source codec. video-info inspects source metadata and does not emit output_codec.
• For HEVC-alpha merges, per-input output_dimensions describes raw framed tiles before physical scaling, and per-input padded is false; only the final merge is padded. For single HEVC-alpha outputs, output_dimensions and padded describe the encoded output normally.
• alpha: true marks an alpha-capable ProRes or HEVC-alpha output, including when an explicit opaque background is selected. Read background to determine the requested canvas; verify decoded pixels when actual transparency matters.