LLMpeg
Dev tools
command line helper
SHOW HN2025
169points
80comments
#416of 3,837 in 2025
Top 11%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
6 positive, 6 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 9 critical, out of 22 comments about the project. Thread score -0.07.
Idea: 5 for, 4 againstExecution: 1 for, 5 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun, useful for learning ffmpeg and for LLM-assisted shell use
From 3 comments
probably more helpful for learning than actual productivity with ffmpeg but really like this project (zap emoji)
fitsumbelay on HNNeat! It'd be good to have a little more configurability but this is still really cool
shrisukhani on HNthis might be the best use of llm's discovered to date
dvektor on HN
Objections
Executes LLM-generated commands, a security risk
From 3 comments
It's good that you have a "read" statement to force confirmation by the user of the command, but all it takes is one errant accidental enter to end up running arbitrary code…
vunderba on HNI always wonder what's the difference between LLMing shell commands and ``` curl https://example.com | sh ```
fourthark on HNDid you look at the implementation? It executes arbitrary code
stabbles on HN
LLMs produce wrong ffmpeg commands and hallucinate options
From 2 comments
The system prompt may be a bit too simple, especially when using gpt-4o-mini as the base LLM that doesn't adhere to prompts well. > You write ffmpeg commands based on the…
minimaxir on HNSo that last one is a hallucination: there's no `n_frames` variable for the select filter: https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#select_002c-aselect At the least, I learnt a lot…
minimaxir on HN
Redundant with existing tools like llm or shell_gpt
From 3 comments
this is redundant; why not just use simonwilson's `llm` that can do this too? * flagged.
behnamoh on HNFor anyone who wants a broader CLI tool, consider Willison's `llm` tool with the `cmd` plugin, or something like `shell_gpt`.
KingMob on HNI'd probably use GitHub's `??` CLI or `llm-term` that already this without needing to install a purpose-specific tool. Do you provide any specific value add on top of these?
alpb on HN
Requests
Show and explain the generated command before running it
From 2 comments
This should be a terminal utility. ``` xx ffmpeg video1.mp4 normalize audio without reencoding video to video2.mp4 ``` And have sensible defaults. Like auto generating the output…
leobg on HNFFmpeg is a tool that I now use purely with LLM help (and it is the only such tool for me). I do however want to read the explanation of what the AI-suggested command does and…
yreg on HN
Check for empty OPENAI_API_KEY
From 1 comment
Small nit: this should check/exit if OPENAI_API_KEY is empty
preciousoo on HN
Restrict execution to ffmpeg only
From 1 comment
It's good that you have a "read" statement to force confirmation by the user of the command, but all it takes is one errant accidental enter to end up running arbitrary code…
vunderba on HN
Questions
What value does this add over existing LLM CLI tools?
From 2 comments
I'd probably use GitHub's `??` CLI or `llm-term` that already this without needing to install a purpose-specific tool. Do you provide any specific value add on top of these?
alpb on HNthis is redundant; why not just use simonwilson's `llm` that can do this too? * flagged.
behnamoh on HN
Alternatives named
llm with cmd plugin / llm-jq
From 2 comments
For anyone who wants a broader CLI tool, consider Willison's `llm` tool with the `cmd` plugin, or something like `shell_gpt`.
KingMob on HNReminds me of llm-jq: https://github.com/simonw/llm-jq
xnx on HN
shellmind
From 1 comment
I finished shellmind (https://github.com/wintermute-cell/shellmind) a few days ago, and it might interest you! It avoids having to copy-paste commands, by integrating directly…
magistr4te on HN
cmdline-ai-helper
From 1 comment
Seems to be a common thing. I did something similar two days ago. Pretty helpful so far: https://github.com/combatwombat/cmdline-ai-helper
sovok on HN
llmpeg by gstrenge
From 1 comment
Llmpeg by Gstrenge a few months ago - https://github.com/gstrenge/llmpeg
mkagenius on HN