ffmpeg

FFmpeg is the core command-line tool in the FFmpeg project for turning media files, streams, and capture devices into new media outputs. It covers one-off conversions, complex filter graphs, remuxing, live ingest, and scripted media pipelines.

• Transcode or remux audio, video, subtitle, and attachment streams between many container and codec combinations.
• Capture from files, pipes, network streams, or recording devices, then filter, trim, resize, mix, or package the result for delivery.
• Build repeatable media workflows in shell scripts or CI, including batch conversions, live stream processing, and pipe-based handoffs to other tools.

• Its command surface is large but highly scriptable: flags, stream mapping, pipes, and exit codes make it practical for unattended media jobs once the command is known.
• Machine-readable support exists, but it is uneven: -progress emits key-value status data and execution graphs can be printed as JSON, while deeper media inspection is usually better delegated to ffprobe.
• Works well as an action primitive when a skill can encode project-specific presets, codec constraints, and filtergraph patterns for recurring workflows.

• Feature availability depends on how the binary was built, since codecs, hardware acceleration, and external-library support vary by package or source build.
• The option surface is broad and stdin interaction is enabled by default, so unattended runs should usually be explicit about flags such as -nostdin, mappings, codecs, and overwrite behavior.