ff-probe

Read media file metadata with one function call. No knowledge of container formats or codec identifiers needed — you get back a structured MediaInfo with typed accessors for resolution, frame rate, sample rate, duration, and more.

Project status (as of 2026-06-04): The library foundation is in place. Development continues through avio-editor-demo, a real-world video editing application built on avio, which surfaces bugs and drives API improvements. Pull requests, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome — see the main repository for full context.

Installation

[dependencies]
ff-probe = "0.15"

Quick Start

use ff_probe::open;

fn main() -> Result<(), ff_probe::ProbeError> {
    let info = open("video.mp4")?;

    if let Some(video) = info.primary_video() {
        println!("resolution: {}x{}", video.width(), video.height());
        println!("frame rate: {}", video.frame_rate());
        println!("codec:      {:?}", video.codec());
    }

    if let Some(audio) = info.primary_audio() {
        println!("sample rate:  {} Hz", audio.sample_rate());
        println!("channels:     {}", audio.channels());
        println!("audio codec:  {:?}", audio.codec());
    }

    println!("duration: {:?}", info.duration());
    Ok(())
}

What You Get Back

MediaInfo provides typed fields — no string parsing required:

Method	Type	Description
`info.duration()`	`Duration`	Total media duration
`info.primary_video()`	`Option<&VideoStreamInfo>`	First video stream, if present
`info.primary_audio()`	`Option<&AudioStreamInfo>`	First audio stream, if present
`video.width()`	`u32`	Frame width in pixels
`video.height()`	`u32`	Frame height in pixels
`video.frame_rate()`	`Rational`	Frames per second as an exact fraction
`video.codec()`	`VideoCodec`	Typed codec enum, not a string
`video.pixel_format()`	`PixelFormat`	Pixel format of the encoded stream
`audio.sample_rate()`	`u32`	Samples per second
`audio.channels()`	`u32`	Channel count
`audio.codec()`	`AudioCodec`	Typed codec enum
`audio.sample_format()`	`SampleFormat`	Sample format of the encoded stream

Error Handling

Variant	When it occurs
`ProbeError::FileNotFound`	The path does not exist or is not readable
`ProbeError::CannotOpen`	FFmpeg could not open the container
`ProbeError::InvalidMedia`	No valid streams found after demux

MSRV

Rust 1.93.0 (edition 2024).

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0