ADR-009: System ffmpeg instead of a bundled binary

• Status: accepted · Date: 2026-10-15

Decision

ReelForge calls the system ffmpeg/ffprobe (≥ 6.0, overridable with REELFORGE_FFMPEG / REELFORGE_FFPROBE). reelforge doctor checks the version, encoders (libx264, aac, mjpeg) and filters (loudnorm, sidechaincompress, alimiter) and prints per-OS install steps.

Consequences

libx264 is GPL: bundling it would change the distribution license and add ~80 MB per platform. Users install ffmpeg once with their package manager.