Probe
by ffpipe in Documents & files
Inspect any media file and get its technical metadata. Container, duration, codecs, DISPLAY dimensions and rotation, frame rate, HDR, audio channels and sample rate, in a normalized summary plus the full raw analysis (JSON, XML, CSV, flat or INI). Provide a source URL or upload the file directly; the result is downloadable for 24 hours. A file that cannot be decoded still answers with the diagnosis of why. Fixed price per probe in USDC over x402; no account or API key. Input up to 100 MB.
POST https://ffpipe.dev/v1/probe
Last 30 days
Status and outage history · Atom feed
- Uptime
- 100%
- Response time
- 755 ms typical, 1.2 s slowest 5%
- Last check
- 2 h ago
- Next check
- any minute now
How to call it
POST https://ffpipe.dev/v1/probe
Each call costs $0.01 in USDC on Base, paid with the request over x402.
Run a free test callOne unpaid request, the way an agent sends it. You see the payment challenge it gets back. Nothing is charged.
Example request
From the listing.
POST https://ffpipe.dev/v1/probe
content-type: application/json
{
"sourceUrl": "https://storage.example.com/clip.mov?signature=abc123"
}Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
countFrames | boolean | No | Count frames exactly, which requires decoding the whole file - slow on long sources. Leave it off unless an exact count is the point. Default: false. |
countPackets | boolean | No | Count packets exactly. Same cost caveat as `countFrames`. Default: false. |
outputFormat | string | No | Format of the delivered analysis. `json` (the default) is the only one that carries the normalized `ffpipe_summary` block; the others are the raw writer output, untouched. `flat` is delivered as .txt. One of: json, xml, csv, flat, ini. Default: "json". |
readIntervals | string | No | Limit the analysis to a window, e.g. `%+60` (the first 60 seconds), `30%+10` (10 seconds from 0:30) or `%+#500` (the first 500 packets). Applied automatically when frame/packet detail is requested without one. A malformed expression is a 400 (never charged). |
sections | array of string | No | Which sections to report. Defaults to format + streams + chapters. Duplicates are collapsed; an unknown name is a 400 (never charged). Default: ["format","streams","chapters"]. |
selectStreams | string | No | Restrict the analysis to matching streams, e.g. `v:0` (first video stream) or `a` (all audio). A specifier that matches nothing still succeeds and says so. |
showEntries | string | No | Keep only the named fields, e.g. `frame=pict_type,pts_time,key_frame` or `format=duration`. Section and field names only; a malformed expression is a 400 (never charged) rather than a job that cannot succeed. |
showFrames | boolean | No | Report per-FRAME detail. Large: unless you also send `readIntervals`, a bounded window is applied for you so the analysis cannot outgrow what we can deliver. Combine with `showEntries` to keep only the fields you need. Default: false. |
showPackets | boolean | No | Report per-PACKET detail. Same bounded-window treatment as `showFrames`. Default: false. |
sourceUrl | string (uri) | No | https URL we fetch the input from. Rejected before any charge if it is not https, is an IP literal, or resolves to a localhost/.internal/.local name; redirects are followed (max 3) and every hop is re-checked. We fetch from datacenter IP ranges - hosts that block datacenter egress will fail with `i… |
summary | boolean | No | Keep the normalized `ffpipe_summary` block (JSON only). Send false for byte-exact raw output. PREFER the summary: it answers coded-vs-display dimensions, rotation, fps as a number and HDR directly, which is where hand-rolled parsing of the raw sections usually goes wrong. Default: true. |
upload | boolean | No | Push intake: instead of a `sourceUrl`, reserve an upload window and PUT the raw bytes (<= 100 MiB, same cap) to the `uploadUrl` in the 202 before `uploadExpiresAt`. You are charged at the 202, before any bytes move: letting the window expire is a terminal `error` with no refund; a pipeline failure … |
Example response
The provider's example. We can't check it without paying.
{
"jobId": "6f1e28d4-3b52-4d0a-9c1f-2ab5cbe2f9c3",
"status": "queued",
"statusUrl": "https://ffpipe.example/v1/jobs/6f1e28d4-3b52-4d0a-9c1f-2ab5cbe2f9c3?t=9a1b2c3d4e5f60718293a4b5c6d7e8f9"
}Call it from code
The curl command shows the payment challenge. The JavaScript and Python versions pay and call, and never pay more than $0.01.
curl: see the payment challenge
# bash or zsh: see the payment challenge. Nothing is charged.
curl -sS -g -i -X POST 'https://ffpipe.dev/v1/probe' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{"sourceUrl":"https://storage.example.com/clip.mov?signature=abc123"}'
# x402 v2 sends the challenge base64-encoded in the PAYMENT-REQUIRED header (v1 sends it in the body).
# To read the header:
curl -sS -g -o /dev/null -D - -X POST 'https://ffpipe.dev/v1/probe' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{"sourceUrl":"https://storage.example.com/clip.mov?signature=abc123"}' \
| grep -i '^payment-required:' | cut -d' ' -f2 | tr -d '\r' | base64 --decodeJavaScript: pay and call
// npm i @x402/fetch @x402/evm viem
import { wrapFetchWithPayment, x402Client } from "@x402/fetch";
import { registerExactEvmScheme } from "@x402/evm/exact/client";
import { privateKeyToAccount } from "viem/accounts";
// Pays at most $0.01 per call.
const client = new x402Client().setSpendControls({ maxAmountPerPayment: "$0.01" });
registerExactEvmScheme(client, { signer: privateKeyToAccount(process.env.EVM_PRIVATE_KEY) });
const pay = wrapFetchWithPayment(fetch, client);
// Not sure it's safe to pay? ToolVet checks it first for $0.005. Pay for that from a separate
// client: this one is capped at $0.01 per payment. GET https://toolvet.app/api/v1/check?url=https%3A%2F%2Fffpipe.dev%2Fv1%2Fprobe&method=POST
const res = await pay("https://ffpipe.dev/v1/probe", {
method: "POST",
headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
body: JSON.stringify({
"sourceUrl": "https://storage.example.com/clip.mov?signature=abc123"
}),
});
console.log(res.status, await res.text());Python: pay and call
# pip install "x402[requests,evm]"
import os
from eth_account import Account
from x402 import x402ClientSync
from x402.http.clients import x402_requests
from x402.mechanisms.evm import EthAccountSigner
from x402.mechanisms.evm.exact.register import register_exact_evm_client
# Pays at most $0.01 per call.
client = x402ClientSync().set_spend_controls({"max_amount_per_payment": "$0.01"})
register_exact_evm_client(client, EthAccountSigner(Account.from_key(os.environ["EVM_PRIVATE_KEY"])))
with x402_requests(client) as session:
res = session.post(
"https://ffpipe.dev/v1/probe",
json={
"sourceUrl": "https://storage.example.com/clip.mov?signature=abc123",
},
)
print(res.status_code, res.text)Security scan
- No findings. We scan names, descriptions and tool definitions for hidden instructions and other prompt-injection patterns.
Recent checks
| When | Result | HTTP | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 h ago | Passed | 402 | 1.1 s | $0.01 |
| 7 h ago | Passed | 402 | 724 ms | $0.01 |
| 11 h ago | Passed | 402 | 1.2 s | $0.01 |
| 15 h ago | Passed | 402 | 1.1 s | $0.01 |
| 19 h ago | Passed | 402 | 755 ms | $0.01 |
| 22 h ago | Passed | 402 | 620 ms | $0.01 |
| 26 h ago | Passed | 402 | 1.1 s | $0.01 |
| 30 h ago | Passed | 402 | 731 ms | $0.01 |
| 34 h ago | Passed | 402 | 823 ms | $0.01 |
| 37 h ago | Passed | 402 | 671 ms | $0.01 |
| 41 h ago | Passed | 402 | 716 ms | $0.01 |
| 44 h ago | Passed | 402 | 748 ms | $0.01 |
| 2 days ago | Passed | 402 | 1.1 s | $0.01 |
| 2 days ago | Passed | 402 | 1.1 s | $0.01 |
| 2 days ago | Passed | 402 | 663 ms | $0.01 |