How do I install the Ffmpeg CLI skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add grandamenium/ffmpeg-cli in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Ffmpeg CLI safe to use?

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Which AI agents work with Ffmpeg CLI?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Ffmpeg CLI free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Ffmpeg CLI?

grandamenium (@grandamenium) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Ffmpeg CLI by grandamenium — Agent Skill

Name: Ffmpeg CLI
Author: grandamenium

File contents

FFmpeg

The universal multimedia framework. Convert, process, and stream video and audio.

Official site: https://ffmpeg.org
Docs: https://ffmpeg.org/documentation.html

Common Commands

Format Conversion

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.webm                    # Convert MP4 to WebM
ffmpeg -i input.mov output.mp4                      # Convert MOV to MP4
ffmpeg -i input.wav output.mp3                      # Convert WAV to MP3
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4  # Re-encode with H.264

Extract Audio

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -acodec mp3 audio.mp3      # Extract audio as MP3
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -acodec pcm_s16le audio.wav # Extract as WAV
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a copy audio.aac         # Extract without re-encoding

Trim and Cut

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 -to 00:02:00 -c copy clip.mp4  # Cut 1:00-2:00
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 30 -t 10 -c copy clip.mp4               # 10 seconds starting at 30s

Thumbnails and Screenshots

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:05 -frames:v 1 thumb.png          # Screenshot at 5s
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=1/10" thumb_%04d.png               # One frame every 10s
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "thumbnail" -frames:v 1 best_thumb.png  # Best thumbnail

Resize and Scale

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:720" output.mp4             # Resize to 720p
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=-1:480" output.mp4               # Scale height, keep ratio

GIF Creation

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 0 -t 5 -vf "fps=10,scale=320:-1" output.gif

Concatenation

# Create file list: file 'clip1.mp4'\nfile 'clip2.mp4'
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i filelist.txt -c copy output.mp4

Audio Processing

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -af "volume=1.5" louder.mp3                 # Increase volume
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -af "atempo=1.5" faster.mp3                 # Speed up audio
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -an output_silent.mp4                       # Remove audio

Probe (inspect file)

ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams input.mp4

Agent Best Practices

Use -c copy when possible to avoid re-encoding (much faster)
Use ffprobe to inspect files before processing
Use -y flag to overwrite output without prompting
Use -hide_banner to reduce noisy output
CRF (Constant Rate Factor) controls quality: 18 = high, 23 = default, 28 = low
Use -preset ultrafast for quick encodes, -preset slow for quality
Pipe output to /dev/null and use -progress pipe:1 for parseable progress

Example Workflows

Convert video for web

ffmpeg -y -hide_banner -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4

Get video duration

ffprobe -v quiet -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 input.mp4

---name: ffmpeg-clidescription: Use FFmpeg to convert, process, and manipulate video and audio files from the terminal. Transcode formats, extract audio, create thumbnails, trim clips, and more.---# FFmpegThe universal multimedia framework. Convert, process, and stream video and audio.- **Official site:** https://ffmpeg.org- **Docs:** https://ffmpeg.org/documentation.html## Common Commands### Format Conversion```bashffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.webm # Convert MP4 to WebMffmpeg -i input.mov output.mp4 # Convert MOV to MP4ffmpeg -i input.wav output.mp3 # Convert WAV to MP3ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output.mp4 # Re-encode with H.264```### Extract Audio```bashffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -acodec mp3 audio.mp3 # Extract audio as MP3ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -acodec pcm_s16le audio.wav # Extract as WAVffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a copy audio.aac # Extract without re-encoding```### Trim and Cut```bashffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 -to 00:02:00 -c copy clip.mp4 # Cut 1:00-2:00ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 30 -t 10 -c copy clip.mp4 # 10 seconds starting at 30s```### Thumbnails and Screenshots```bashffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:00:05 -frames:v 1 thumb.png # Screenshot at 5sffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=1/10" thumb_%04d.png # One frame every 10sffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "thumbnail" -frames:v 1 best_thumb.png # Best thumbnail```### Resize and Scale```bashffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1280:720" output.mp4 # Resize to 720pffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=-1:480" output.mp4 # Scale height, keep ratio```### GIF Creation```bashffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 0 -t 5 -vf "fps=10,scale=320:-1" output.gif```### Concatenation```bash# Create file list: file 'clip1.mp4'\nfile 'clip2.mp4'ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i filelist.txt -c copy output.mp4```### Audio Processing```bashffmpeg -i input.mp3 -af "volume=1.5" louder.mp3 # Increase volumeffmpeg -i input.mp3 -af "atempo=1.5" faster.mp3 # Speed up audioffmpeg -i input.mp4 -an output_silent.mp4 # Remove audio```### Probe (inspect file)```bashffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams input.mp4```## Agent Best Practices- Use `-c copy` when possible to avoid re-encoding (much faster)- Use `ffprobe` to inspect files before processing- Use `-y` flag to overwrite output without prompting- Use `-hide_banner` to reduce noisy output- CRF (Constant Rate Factor) controls quality: 18 = high, 23 = default, 28 = low- Use `-preset ultrafast` for quick encodes, `-preset slow` for quality- Pipe output to `/dev/null` and use `-progress pipe:1` for parseable progress## Example Workflows### Convert video for web```bashffmpeg -y -hide_banner -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4```### Get video duration```bashffprobe -v quiet -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 input.mp4```

Frequently asked questions

Ffmpeg CLI