Video security & runtime configuration

Apexify.js video operations use one internal FFmpeg/ffprobe process boundary. FFmpeg and ffprobe are started with argument arrays and shell: false; Apexify.js does not construct a user-controlled shell command string for media execution.

#FFmpeg and ffprobe paths

By default, Apexify.js looks for ffmpeg and ffprobe on PATH and may probe common installation locations when no explicit binary path is configured.

For custom installations, set:

1$ APEXIFY_FFMPEG_PATH=/absolute/path/to/ffmpeg2APEXIFY_FFPROBE_PATH=/absolute/path/to/ffprobe

These values are executable paths, not shell command fragments. Do not include shell operators, quoting syntax, or extra command-line arguments in either variable.

#Temporary workspace root

Video operations that need staged inputs or intermediate files use a separate fs.mkdtemp() workspace per operation. Workspaces are removed after success or failure.

To place those workspaces under a custom root directory, set:

1$ APEXIFY_TEMP_DIR=/absolute/path/to/apexify-temp

The directory should be writable only by the service account that runs Apexify.js where practical. Do not point it at a directory that is served publicly by your application.

#Filenames and text input

Paths containing spaces, quotes, Unicode characters, semicolons, $()-style text, and other shell metacharacters are passed as process arguments rather than interpolated into a shell command.

Apexify.js also avoids placing arbitrary user text directly into FFmpeg drawtext expressions for the compatibility text-overlay operations; text is rendered through the canvas layer and composited as an image instead.

Advanced filter expressions are still FFmpeg filter syntax, not shell syntax. Apexify.js validates the supported custom-filter surface and rejects expressions outside that restricted syntax. Treat a validation error as an invalid filter request rather than attempting to add shell escaping.

#Operational guidance

• Keep FFmpeg/ffprobe patched through your operating-system or container image update process.
• Run media processing with the minimum filesystem permissions it needs.
• Keep temporary storage outside web roots and shared user-writable directories.
• Do not log signed media URLs or credentials. Apexify.js strips URL query strings/fragments from retained media-process stderr before surfacing process errors.
• Apply your own request limits around untrusted media until the later Apexify.js resource-policy phases add centralized byte, pixel, duration, and concurrency budgets.

See also: Video & FFmpeg overview and Imperative video helpers.