ffmpeg path not read from config file

[earthrot]

Describe the bug

When an ffmpeg path is specified in config.json it is not (properly) read.

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:
N/A

Expected behavior

It seems a lookup is done for a ffmpeg root settings key, but not in binary_options->ffmpeg. Setting a "ffmpeg" key in the root of the json file doens't appear to work as it gets removed on ofscraper startup.

Screenshots/Logs

Note that the ffmpeg version found is the one on my path (8.x, not used for ofscraper but for other purposes), but not the one listed in the config file.

2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:94]  Searching for a valid FFmpeg binary...
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:98]  Checking settings for ffmpeg path. Found: 'None'
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg._is_valid_ffmpeg:25]  Path 'None' is not a valid or executable file.
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:104]  Settings path invalid or not found. Attempting to use 'pyffmpeg' library.
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:115]  'pyffmpeg' not installed. Skipping.
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:123]  No valid binary from settings or pyffmpeg. Checking system PATH.
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg._is_valid_ffmpeg:28]  Running validation check on candidate path: e:\utils\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.EXE
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[subprocess.run:74]  ffmpeg stdout:
ffmpeg version 8.0.1-full_build-www.gyan.dev Copyright (c) 2000-2025 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 15.2.0 (Rev8, Built by MSYS2 project)
configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-static --disable-w32threads --disable-autodetect --enable-fontconfig --enable-iconv --enable-gnutls --enable-lcms2 --enable-libxml2 --enable-gmp --enable-bzlib --enable-lzma --enable-libsnappy --enable-zlib --enable-librist --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libzmq --enable-avisynth --enable-libbluray --enable-libcaca --enable-libdvdnav --enable-libdvdread --enable-sdl2 --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libaribcaption --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdavs2 --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libquirc --enable-libuavs3d --enable-libxevd --enable-libzvbi --enable-liboapv --enable-libqrencode --enable-librav1e --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libvvenc --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxavs2 --enable-libxeve --enable-libxvid --enable-libaom --enable-libjxl --enable-libvpx --enable-mediafoundation --enable-libass --enable-frei0r --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-liblensfun --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libzimg --enable-amf --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-dxva2 --enable-d3d11va --enable-d3d12va --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-libvpl --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-vaapi --enable-libshaderc --enable-vulkan --enable-libplacebo --enable-opencl --enable-libcdio --enable-openal --enable-libgme --enable-libmodplug --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libshine --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libilbc --enable-libgsm --enable-liblc3 --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopus --enable-libspeex --enable-libvorbis --enable-ladspa --enable-libbs2b --enable-libflite --enable-libmysofa --enable-librubberband --enable-libsoxr --enable-chromaprint --enable-whisper
libavutil      60.  8.100 / 60.  8.100
libavcodec     62. 11.100 / 62. 11.100
libavformat    62.  3.100 / 62.  3.100
libavdevice    62.  1.100 / 62.  1.100
libavfilter    11.  4.100 / 11.  4.100
libswscale      9.  1.100 /  9.  1.100
libswresample   6.  1.100 /  6.  1.100

Exiting with exit code 0
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg._is_valid_ffmpeg:48]  ⚠️ Invalid FFmpeg version 8.x detected at 'e:\utils\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.EXE'.
DRM decryption requires FFmpeg version >= 6 and < 8.
Skipping this binary and looking for an alternative...
 2026-03-29 16:49:17:[level.inner:10]  A valid FFmpeg executable could not be found.

Config

{
    "main_profile": "main_profile",
    "metadata": "<snip>",
    "discord": "",
    "file_options": {
        "save_location": "<snip>",
        "dir_format": "{model_username}/{responsetype}/",
        "file_format": "{date} {post_id} {media_id}.{ext}",
        "textlength": 0,
        "space_replacer": " ",
        "date": "YYYYMMDD",
        "text_type_default": "letter",
        "truncation_default": true
    },
    "download_options": {
        "filter": [
            "Images",
            "Audios",
            "Videos"
        ],
        "auto_resume": true,
        "system_free_min": 0,
        "max_post_count": 0,
        "verify_all_integrity": false
    },
    "binary_options": {
        "ffmpeg": "E:\\utils\\ffmpeg\\v7\\ffmpeg.exe"
    },
    "cdm_options": {
        "private-key": "<snip>",
        "client-id": "<snip>",
        "key-mode-default": "manual"
    },
    "performance_options": {
        "download_sems": 6,
        "download_limit": 0
    },
    "content_filter_options": {
        "block_ads": true,
        "file_size_max": 0,
        "file_size_min": 0,
        "length_max": 0,
        "length_min": 0
    },
    "advanced_options": {
        "dynamic-mode-default": "xagler",
        "skip_unavailable_content": true,
        "downloadbars": false,
        "cache-mode": "sqlite",
        "rotate_logs": true,
        "sanitize_text": false,
        "temp_dir": null,
        "remove_hash_match": false,
        "infinite_loop_action_mode": false,
        "incremental_downloads": true,
        "default_user_list": "main",
        "default_black_list": "bl",
        "logs_expire_time": 0,
        "ssl_verify": "custom",
        "env_files": []
    },
    "script_options": {
        "after_action_script": null,
        "post_script": null,
        "naming_script": null,
        "after_download_script": null,
        "skip_download_script": null
    },
    "responsetype": {
        "timeline": "posts",
        "message": "messages",
        "archived": "archived",
        "paid": "messages",
        "stories": "stories",
        "highlights": "stories",
        "profile": "profile",
        "pinned": "posts",
        "streams": "Streams"
    }
}

System Info

• OS: Windows 11 25H2
• Browser: Firefox
• Version: 3.14.6
• installed w/ pipx
• python 3.11.9

Additional context

I'm not sure if this is a recent regression, or it has been using the "wrong" ffmpeg (the 8.x one on PATH) for a longer time without issues and it's because the recent ffmpeg version check functionality that this has become obvious.

Thanks in advance for looking into this!

[earthrot]

I've done some additional digging in older logfiles and 3.13.12 seemed to not have this problem, hope that narrows it down a little.

[datawhores]

Version 8 of ffmpeg is not valid
DRM decryption requires FFmpeg version >= 6 and < 8.

So it is finding it, and saying that changes to ffmpeg are breaking the decryption process

This is a new check to ensure best results when decrypting content

older version may not be able to find ffmpeg from the path at all

[earthrot]

Right! I want to use ffmpeg 7.x, which I have my config file pointed to:

    "binary_options": {
        "ffmpeg": "E:\\utils\\ffmpeg\\v7\\ffmpeg.exe"
    },

But clearly that setting isn't being read properly anymore:

2026-03-29 16:49:17:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:98]  Checking settings for ffmpeg path. Found: 'None'

To be clear: this ticket is not about ffmpeg 8 support, but about the config option not working anymore, sorry if I didn't state that properly earlier 😀

[puc9]

I can see the same behavior, v8 in path, v7 in config file, it does not attempt to use the one in the config file, it stops after complaining about v8. I put the v7 into the current directory and then it worked.

[Gamma-Velorum]

I can reproduce the error.

[ffmpeg._is_valid_ffmpeg:48]  ⚠️ Invalid FFmpeg version 4.x detected at 'C:\Program Files\GNUOctave\Octave 10.1.0\mingw64\bin\ffmpeg.EXE'.
DRM decryption requires FFmpeg version >= 6 and < 8.
Skipping this binary and looking for an alternative...

Binary directory is declared in config.json:

"binary_options": {
        "ffmpeg": "C:\\Users\\**\\.config\\ofscraper\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe" 

And just for completeness, this directory leads to ffmpeg v7:

C:\Users\**\.config\ofscraper\bin>ffmpeg.exe
ffmpeg version 7.1.1-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev Copyright (c) 2000-2025 the FFmpeg developers built with gcc 14.2.0 (Rev1, Built by MSYS2 project) 

As @earthrot correctly points out, ofscraper ignores the declared binary directory and, in my case, chooses the first ffmpeg binary it finds, seemingly alphabetically.

[datawhores]

is this issue still present in 3.14.7?

[waswosi]

is this issue still present in 3.14.7?

Yes! Had to switch back to 3.13.12.

[datawhores]

Can someone show a log from 3.14.7 it should have been fixed in that release

[earthrot]

I've been monitoring my logs but haven't come across any encrypted posts where ffmpeg was needed. Although it looks like the fix (ac9fa3f) was made after the 3.14.7 release so I doubt that'll be in there 😉 As soon as I come across anything I'll update here...

[earthrot]

Can confirm this still occurs in 3.14.7:

2026-04-07 08:15:25:[logs.print_system_log:44]  Log Level: DEBUG
 2026-04-07 08:15:25:[logs.print_system_log:45]  Output Level: NORMAL
 2026-04-07 08:15:25:[logs.print_system_log:46]  Discord Level: OFF
 2026-04-07 08:15:25:[logs.print_system_log:47]  version: 3.14.7
<snip>
 2026-04-07 08:17:22:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:94]  Searching for a valid FFmpeg binary...
 2026-04-07 08:17:22:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:98]  Checking settings for ffmpeg path. Found: 'None'
 2026-04-07 08:17:22:[ffmpeg._is_valid_ffmpeg:25]  Path 'None' is not a valid or executable file.
 2026-04-07 08:17:22:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:104]  Settings path invalid or not found. Attempting to use 'pyffmpeg' library.
 2026-04-07 08:17:22:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:115]  'pyffmpeg' not installed. Skipping.
 2026-04-07 08:17:22:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:123]  No valid binary from settings or pyffmpeg. Checking system PATH.
 2026-04-07 08:17:22:[ffmpeg._is_valid_ffmpeg:28]  Running validation check on candidate path: e:\utils\ffmpeg\ffmpeg.EXE

But as mentioned this would make sense as the commit that fixes this was made after the release of 3.14.7 😀

[avekifes]

So what's the temporary fix for this for those who don't want to downgrade? How do you install/configure the ffmpeg version that ofscraper 3.14.7 looks at?

EDIT: I did "pip install pyffmpeg," and it works fine now.

[Bun-Bun]

So what's the temporary fix for this for those who don't want to downgrade? How do you install/configure the ffmpeg version that ofscraper 3.14.7 looks at?

EDIT: I did "pip install pyffmpeg," and it works fine now.

Was there anything you had to do to get ofscraper to find and use pyffmpeg? I installed it in the venv that I run the script in but get

2026-04-22 11:38:44:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:104]  Settings path invalid or not found. Attempting to use 'pyffmpeg' library.
2026-04-22 11:38:44:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:115]  'pyffmpeg' not installed. Skipping.
2026-04-22 11:38:44:[ffmpeg.get_ffmpeg:123]  No valid binary from settings or pyffmpeg. Checking system PATH.
2026-04-22 11:38:44:[ffmpeg._is_valid_ffmpeg:28]  Running validation check on candidate path: /usr/bin/ffmpeg

despite that
Requirement already satisfied: pyffmpeg in ./src/ofscraper.dev/lib/python3.11/site-packages (2.5.2.3.2)
And the repo's for EL9 have ffmpeg 5.1.8 in them. I've worked around this by using raven-release repo but would be nice to be able use the py one and not mess with unofficial repos.