ffmpeg-static

FFmpeg operations via the ffmpeg-static npm package (bundled binary) with automatic fallback to a native system FFmpeg installation. Use for: video/audio transcoding, stream manipulation, thumbnail extraction, format conversion, and any FFmpeg pipeline from Node.js or shell scripts.

FFmpeg Static Skill

This skill wires ffmpeg-static — a self-contained FFmpeg binary distributed as an npm package — into every assistant interaction. When a native system FFmpeg is also installed, the skill prefers the system binary (usually newer and GPU-capable); otherwise it falls back to the bundled one. All FFmpeg capabilities are available in both paths.

No PATH manipulation needed. require('ffmpeg-static') returns the absolute path to the binary; scripts pass it directly to child_process.spawn.

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Security Notice

• ffmpeg-static downloads pre-built binaries from GitHub Releases during npm install. Verify the package on npmjs.com/package/ffmpeg-static.
• Never pipe untrusted filenames or URLs into FFmpeg commands without validation — FFmpeg can read from URLs and arbitrary protocols.
• The bundled binary does not include GPU-accelerated encoders (nvenc, vaapi, videotoolbox). For hardware acceleration, use the system FFmpeg.

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Installation

Minimum install (bundled FFmpeg binary only)

bash

npm install ffmpeg-static

Project install with ffprobe (recommended)

bash

npm install ffmpeg-static ffprobe-static

Verify the binary path

bash

node -e "console.log(require('ffmpeg-static'))"
# e.g. /path/to/node_modules/ffmpeg-static/ffmpeg

Check resolved binary (bundled vs. system)

bash

node scripts/resolve_ffmpeg.js

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Binary Resolution Logic

The skill resolves the FFmpeg binary in this priority order:

1. FFMPEG_PATH env var — explicit override, always wins
2. System FFmpeg — found by walking PATH directories with fs.accessSync; preferred when present (newer codecs, hardware acceleration)
3. Bundled binary — require('ffmpeg-static') absolute path; guaranteed to exist after npm install

js

// Canonical resolution — use this pattern in all scripts
const { resolveFfmpeg } = require('./scripts/resolve_ffmpeg');
const ffmpegPath = resolveFfmpeg(); // throws if none found

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Common Operations

Transcode video to H.264/AAC MP4

bash

$(node -e "process.stdout.write(require('ffmpeg-static'))") \
  -i input.mkv -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset fast \
  -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

Extract thumbnail at timestamp

bash

ffmpeg -ss 00:01:30 -i input.mp4 -frames:v 1 -q:v 2 thumb.jpg

Convert audio to MP3

bash

ffmpeg -i input.flac -q:a 2 output.mp3

Extract audio stream only

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a copy audio.aac

Trim without re-encoding

bash

ffmpeg -ss 00:00:10 -to 00:01:00 -i input.mp4 -c copy trimmed.mp4

Concatenate files

bash

ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i filelist.txt -c copy output.mp4

filelist.txt format:

text

file '/abs/path/clip1.mp4'
file '/abs/path/clip2.mp4'

Scale video (maintain aspect ratio)

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:-2" -c:a copy scaled.mp4

Generate animated GIF

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" output.gif

HLS stream packaging

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -codec: copy -start_number 0 \
  -hls_time 10 -hls_list_size 0 -f hls output.m3u8

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Using From Node.js

Copy-paste patterns are in templates/node_patterns.txt. Key steps:

1. Resolve the binary using scripts/resolve_ffmpeg.js (pure fs, no shell calls)
2. Spawn FFmpeg in your own project code using Node's child_process.spawn
3. Or use fluent-ffmpeg — pass the resolved path via ffmpeg.setFfmpegPath()

js

// In YOUR project (not inside the skill)
const { resolveFfmpeg } = require('ffmpeg-static-skill/scripts/resolve_ffmpeg');
const ffmpegBin = resolveFfmpeg(); // absolute path, ready to pass to spawn or fluent-ffmpeg

See templates/node_patterns.txt for ready-to-copy spawn, progress, ffprobe, and fluent-ffmpeg snippets.

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Environment Variables

Variable	Effect
FFMPEG_PATH	Override binary path; takes precedence over system and bundled
FFPROBE_PATH	Override ffprobe binary path
FFMPEG_STATIC_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD	Set to 1 to skip download during npm install (use with system FFmpeg)

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Best Practices

1. Always resolve the binary once at startup

Call resolveFfmpeg() once and cache the result — don't call require('ffmpeg-static') inline in hot paths.

2. Prefer -c copy when no re-encoding is needed

Stream copy (-c copy) is instantaneous and lossless. Only decode/encode when you actually need to change the codec or apply filters.

3. Use -ss before -i for fast seeking

-ss 00:01:00 -i input.mp4 (before -i) uses keyframe seeking (fast). -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 (after -i) decodes from the start (accurate but slow for large files).

4. Always pass -y in non-interactive scripts

-y overwrites output without prompting. Without it, FFmpeg hangs waiting for stdin in CI or background processes.

5. Validate inputs before building command arrays

Never interpolate user-supplied strings directly into FFmpeg args. Always validate paths exist and are the expected media type using ffprobe first.

6. For hardware encoding, require system FFmpeg

Check ffmpeg -hwaccels at startup and gate hardware-accelerated paths on the system binary being active.

7. Set -loglevel error in production

Reduces stderr noise. Re-enable verbose logging (-loglevel verbose) when debugging a failed transcode.

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Supported Formats (Bundled Binary)

The bundled ffmpeg-static binary is compiled with a broad but fixed set of codecs. Key inclusions:

Video: H.264 (libx264), H.265 (libx265), VP8/VP9 (libvpx), AV1 (libaom-av1), MPEG-2/4, ProRes, DNxHD, Theora
Audio: AAC (native + libfdk-aac where licensed), MP3 (libmp3lame), Opus (libopus), Vorbis, FLAC, PCM
Containers: MP4, MKV, MOV, WebM, AVI, TS, HLS (m3u8), DASH, FLV, GIF, APNG
Images: MJPEG, PNG, WebP (via lavf)

Hardware encoders (nvenc, qsv, vaapi, videotoolbox) are not in the bundled binary. Use the system FFmpeg for GPU acceleration.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Cannot find module 'ffmpeg-static'	Run npm install ffmpeg-static in the project root
Binary not executable on Linux/macOS	Run chmod +x $(node -e "process.stdout.write(require('ffmpeg-static'))")
Encoder libx264 not found	Bundled binary may lack the codec; install system FFmpeg (apt install ffmpeg / brew install ffmpeg)
No such file or directory on output	Ensure the output directory exists before running FFmpeg
Transcode hangs in CI	Add -y flag to overwrite without prompting
Progress not reported	Use -progress pipe:1 to write progress data to stdout
Slow GIF generation	Use the two-pass palettegen approach (see example above)
FFMPEG_STATIC_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD ignored	Set the env var before running npm install, not after