Quick Start¶

Get PentLog running in under 5 minutes with this step-by-step guide.

Prerequisites¶

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• macOS 10.15+ or a Linux distribution
• Internet connection for installation
• A terminal with Bash or Zsh

5-Minute Setup¶

Step 1: Install PentLog¶

curl -sSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aancw/pentlog/main/install.sh | sh

git clone https://github.com/aancw/pentlog.git
cd pentlog
go build -o pentlog main.go

Step 2: Setup Dependencies¶

pentlog setup

This command will:

• Check for ttyrec and ttyplay
• Auto-install missing dependencies (on supported platforms)
• Create the ~/.pentlog/ directory structure
• Set up the SQLite database

Expected output:

✓ PentLog Setup Complete
  • ttyrec: /usr/local/bin/ttyrec
  • ttyplay: /usr/local/bin/ttyplay
  • Database: ~/.pentlog/pentlog.db
  • Config: ~/.pentlog/context.json

Step 3: Create Your First Engagement¶

pentlog create

You'll be guided through an interactive wizard to choose your Context Mode:

Step 4: Start Recording¶

pentlog shell

Your terminal is now being recorded with perfect fidelity. You'll see a custom prompt showing your current context:

┌─[ACME/internal/recon]─[~]
└──>

Step 5: Add Notes & Vulnerabilities¶

While in a recorded shell, use these hotkeys:

Example workflow:

# Press Ctrl+N
📝 Quick note: Found open port 8080
✓ Note saved [14:05:43]

# Press Ctrl+G
🔓 Vuln title: SQL Injection in login form
Severity (c/h/m/l/i): h
Description: POST /login vulnerable to blind SQLi
✓ Vuln saved: V-abc123 [High] SQL Injection in login form

Step 6: Search Your Sessions¶

Exit the shell (type exit or press Ctrl+D), then search:

pentlog search

The interactive search TUI lets you:

• Type queries to see live results
• Use regex patterns: pentlog search "nmap.*-sV" --regex
• Boolean operators: pentlog search "sqlmap AND injection"
• Filter by date: pentlog search "exploit" --after 15012026

Step 7: Export Your Report¶

Generate a professional report:

pentlog export

This interactive wizard will:

• Let you select the phase to export
• Choose format (Markdown or HTML)
• Optionally run AI analysis
• Generate integrity hashes

What You've Accomplished¶

In just 5 minutes, you've:

✅ Installed PentLog — Professional terminal logging tool ✅ Created an engagement — Organized by Client → Engagement → Phase ✅ Recorded a session — High-fidelity capture of all commands ✅ Added notes — Timestamped annotations for important findings ✅ Searched sessions — Found commands across all your history ✅ Exported a report — Client-ready Markdown or HTML

Your First Session Files¶

After recording, your files are organized as:

~/.pentlog/
├── context.json          # Current active context
├── pentlog.db           # SQLite database (search index)
└── logs/
    └── ACME/
        └── internal/
            └── recon/
                ├── manual-operator-20260127-143022.tty    # Recording
                └── manual-operator-20260127-143022.json   # Metadata

Next Steps¶

Common Issues¶

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

# macOS
brew install ttyrec

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install ttyrec

# Then re-run setup
pentlog setup

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/.local/bin/pentlog

Need Help?¶

• GitHub Issues
• GitHub Discussions
• Full Documentation