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tessl/npm-ffprobe-installer--ffprobe

Platform independent binary installer of FFprobe for node projects

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FFprobe Installer

FFprobe Installer is a platform-independent binary installer for FFprobe (part of the FFmpeg suite) that automatically downloads and provides access to the appropriate static binary for the current operating system and architecture. It provides a simple API that exposes the path to the FFprobe executable, version information, and homepage URL.

Package Information

  • Package Name: @ffprobe-installer/ffprobe
  • Package Type: npm
  • Language: JavaScript
  • Installation: npm install @ffprobe-installer/ffprobe

Core Imports

const ffprobe = require('@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe');

For destructuring:

const { path, version, url } = require('@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe');

ESM imports (Node.js with "type": "module" or TypeScript):

import ffprobe from '@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe';
// or
import { path, version, url } from '@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe';

Basic Usage

const ffprobe = require('@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe');

// Access the FFprobe binary path
console.log('FFprobe path:', ffprobe.path);
console.log('FFprobe version:', ffprobe.version);
console.log('FFprobe homepage:', ffprobe.url);

// Use with child_process.spawn
const { spawn } = require('child_process');
const ffprobeProcess = spawn(ffprobe.path, ['-version']);

ffprobeProcess.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
  console.log(`stdout: ${data}`);
});

// Use with fluent-ffmpeg
const ffmpeg = require('fluent-ffmpeg');
ffmpeg.setFfprobePath(ffprobe.path);

Platform Support

The package automatically installs the correct binary for your platform:

  • Linux: arm (armhf), arm64, ia32, x64
  • macOS: x64, arm64
  • Windows: ia32 (32-bit), x64 (64-bit)

Platform detection is automatic based on os.platform() and os.arch(), with support for npm configuration overrides via npm_config_platform and npm_config_arch environment variables. Binary integrity is verified automatically on load.

Known Issues

  • AWS/Elastic Beanstalk: Add unsafe-perm=true to .npmrc if you encounter permissions issues
  • Electron with Asar: Replace app.asar with app.asar.unpacked in the path when using Asar packaging

Capabilities

FFprobe Binary Access

Provides the complete path to the platform-specific FFprobe executable.

/**
 * Main export object containing FFprobe binary information
 * @type {{path: string, version: string, url: string}}
 */
const ffprobe = {
  /** Absolute path to the platform-specific FFprobe executable */
  path: string,
  /** Version information of the FFprobe binary */
  version: string,
  /** Homepage URL of the FFprobe project */
  url: string
};

Path Property

The absolute path to the FFprobe executable for the current platform.

/**
 * Absolute path to the platform-specific FFprobe executable.
 * Points to 'ffprobe.exe' on Windows and 'ffprobe' on other platforms.
 * @type {string}
 */
ffprobe.path

Usage Example:

const ffprobe = require('@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe');
const { execFile } = require('child_process');

// Execute FFprobe with the binary path
execFile(ffprobe.path, ['-i', 'input.mp4'], (error, stdout, stderr) => {
  if (error) {
    console.error('Error:', error);
    return;
  }
  console.log('FFprobe output:', stdout);
});

Version Property

The version information of the installed FFprobe binary.

/**
 * Version information of the FFprobe binary.
 * Extracted from the platform-specific package's package.json.
 * @type {string}
 */
ffprobe.version

Usage Example:

const ffprobe = require('@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe');

console.log(`Using FFprobe version: ${ffprobe.version}`);
// Output: Using FFprobe version: 5.1.2

URL Property

The homepage URL of the FFprobe project.

/**
 * Homepage URL of the FFprobe project.
 * Extracted from the platform-specific package's package.json.
 * @type {string}
 */
ffprobe.url

Usage Example:

const ffprobe = require('@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe');

console.log(`FFprobe homepage: ${ffprobe.url}`);
// Output: FFprobe homepage: https://ffmpeg.org/

Error Handling

The package throws errors in the following cases:

  • Unsupported Platform: If the current platform/architecture combination is not supported
  • Binary Not Found: If the FFprobe executable cannot be found at the expected path
  • File Verification Failed: If the binary file is corrupted or invalid
try {
  const ffprobe = require('@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe');
  console.log('FFprobe is available at:', ffprobe.path);
} catch (error) {
  if (error.message.includes('Unsupported platform')) {
    console.error('Your platform is not supported');
  } else if (error.message.includes('Could not find ffprobe executable')) {
    console.error('FFprobe binary is missing or corrupted');
  } else {
    console.error('Unknown error:', error.message);
  }
}
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tessl
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npmpkg:npm/@ffprobe-installer/ffprobe@2.1.x
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