commit 5ecb999670401774f3804eb449f08d63aa5ce908
Author: Bill <bill@bballou.com>
Date:   Sun Nov 30 14:56:16 2025 -0500

    Add FFmpeg worker design document

diff --git a/docs/plans/2025-11-30-ffmpeg-worker-design.md b/docs/plans/2025-11-30-ffmpeg-worker-design.md
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+# FFmpeg Worker Design
+
+## Overview
+
+A dockerized worker capable of running arbitrary FFmpeg commands, exposing API endpoints to create jobs and check job status. Files are provided and returned via a mounted volume using relative paths.
+
+## Technology Stack
+
+- **Language:** Python 3.14
+- **Framework:** FastAPI
+- **Task Queue:** In-memory (asyncio.Queue)
+- **Container:** Docker with FFmpeg installed
+
+## Architecture
+
+### Components
+
+- **FastAPI application** - Exposes REST endpoints for job management
+- **Job Queue** - In-memory queue (asyncio.Queue) holding pending jobs
+- **Worker Loop** - Background async task that processes jobs one at a time
+- **Job Store** - In-memory dict mapping job IDs to job state
+
+### File Handling
+
+- A single volume mounted at `/data` (configurable via env var)
+- API requests specify relative paths like `input/video.mp4`
+- Worker resolves to absolute paths: `/data/input/video.mp4`
+- Output files written to the same volume, returned as relative paths
+
+### Project Structure
+
+```
+ffmpeg-worker/
+├── app/
+│   ├── __init__.py
+│   ├── main.py          # FastAPI app, endpoints
+│   ├── models.py        # Pydantic models
+│   ├── queue.py         # Job queue and worker loop
+│   └── ffmpeg.py        # FFmpeg execution and progress parsing
+├── Dockerfile
+├── requirements.txt
+└── docker-compose.yml
+```
+
+## API Endpoints
+
+### POST /jobs - Create a new job
+
+```json
+Request:
+{
+  "command": "-i input/source.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 23 output/result.mp4"
+}
+
+Response (201 Created):
+{
+  "id": "job_abc123",
+  "status": "queued",
+  "created_at": "2025-11-30T10:30:00Z"
+}
+```
+
+### GET /jobs/{id} - Get job status
+
+```json
+Response:
+{
+  "id": "job_abc123",
+  "status": "running",
+  "command": "-i input/source.mp4 ...",
+  "created_at": "2025-11-30T10:30:00Z",
+  "started_at": "2025-11-30T10:30:05Z",
+  "completed_at": null,
+  "progress": {
+    "frame": 1234,
+    "fps": 30.2,
+    "time": "00:01:23.45",
+    "bitrate": "1250kbits/s",
+    "percent": 45.2
+  },
+  "output_files": [],
+  "error": null
+}
+```
+
+### GET /jobs - List all jobs
+
+Optional query parameter: `?status=running`
+
+### GET /health - Health check
+
+Returns 200 OK for container orchestration.
+
+## Job States
+
+```
+queued → running → completed
+                 ↘ failed
+```
+
+## FFmpeg Execution
+
+### Command Execution
+
+- Parse the raw command string to extract input/output file paths
+- Resolve relative paths against the `/data` mount point
+- Run FFmpeg as async subprocess via `asyncio.create_subprocess_exec`
+- Add `-progress pipe:1` flag to get machine-readable progress output
+
+### Progress Parsing
+
+FFmpeg with `-progress pipe:1` outputs key=value pairs:
+
+```
+frame=1234
+fps=30.24
+total_size=5678900
+out_time_ms=83450000
+bitrate=1250.5kbits/s
+progress=continue
+```
+
+For percent complete, probe the input file with `ffprobe -show_entries format=duration` before starting.
+
+### Output File Detection
+
+- Parse command for output path (last non-flag argument)
+- Verify file exists after completion
+- Return as relative path in response
+
+### Error Handling
+
+- Non-zero exit code → job marked `failed`, stderr captured in `error` field
+- Missing input file → immediate failure with clear message
+- FFmpeg timeout (configurable, default 1 hour) → kill process, mark failed
+
+## Configuration
+
+Environment variables:
+
+| Variable | Description | Default |
+|----------|-------------|---------|
+| `DATA_PATH` | Mount point for media files | `/data` |
+| `FFMPEG_TIMEOUT` | Max job duration in seconds | `3600` |
+| `HOST` | Server bind address | `0.0.0.0` |
+| `PORT` | Server port | `8000` |
+
+## Memory Management
+
+- Jobs stay in memory indefinitely (simple approach)
+- Optional `DELETE /jobs/{id}` endpoint for cleanup
+- Future: auto-purge completed/failed jobs older than N hours