Zackriya-Solutions/meetily · error

Failed to spawn ffmpeg process: {}

Error message

Failed to spawn ffmpeg process: {}

What it means

spawn() failed for the already-resolved ffmpeg path — the binary was located but the OS refused to execute it. This is distinct from 'FFmpeg not found': typical causes are a non-executable file or macOS Gatekeeper quarantine (com.apple.quarantine) on a downloaded binary, antivirus/EDR blocking on Windows, an exec-format mismatch (x86_64 binary on arm64 or vice versa), or the file vanishing between discovery (the cached FFMPEG_PATH) and spawn.

Source

Thrown at frontend/src-tauri/src/audio/decoder.rs:348

        ])
        .stdin(Stdio::null())
        .stdout(Stdio::piped())
        .stderr(Stdio::piped());

    // Hide console window on Windows
    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
    {
        use std::os::windows::process::CommandExt;
        const CREATE_NO_WINDOW: u32 = 0x08000000;
        command.creation_flags(CREATE_NO_WINDOW);
    }

    debug!("FFmpeg conversion command: {:?}", command);

    #[allow(clippy::zombie_processes)]
    let child = command
        .spawn()
        .map_err(|e| anyhow!("Failed to spawn ffmpeg process: {}", e))?;

    let output = child
        .wait_with_output()
        .map_err(|e| anyhow!("Failed to wait for ffmpeg process: {}", e))?;

    let stderr_text = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
    debug!("FFmpeg stderr: {}", stderr_text);

    if !output.status.success() {
        error!(
            "FFmpeg conversion failed (exit code: {}): {}",
            output.status, stderr_text
        );
        return Err(anyhow!(
            "FFmpeg conversion failed with exit code: {}. \
             The file may be corrupted or in an unsupported format.",
            output.status
        ));

View on GitHub (pinned to 0281737d87)

Solutions

1. macOS downloaded binary: remove the quarantine attribute (`xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/ffmpeg`) and mark it executable (`chmod +x`).
2. Confirm the binary matches the CPU arch (`file $(which ffmpeg)`); re-download the correct build.
3. On Windows, add an antivirus/Defender exclusion for the ffmpeg binary if it is being blocked.
4. If the binary was deleted after discovery, restart the app so find_ffmpeg_path re-runs and re-caches a valid path.

Example fix

// before
let child = command.spawn()
    .map_err(|e| anyhow!("Failed to spawn ffmpeg process: {}", e))?;

// after — name the actionable causes
let child = command.spawn().map_err(|e| match e.kind() {
    std::io::ErrorKind::PermissionDenied => anyhow!(
        "ffmpeg found at {:?} but cannot be executed — run `chmod +x` and `xattr -d com.apple.quarantine` on it",
        ffmpeg_path
    ),
    std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound =>
        anyhow!("ffmpeg disappeared after discovery — restart the app to re-detect it"),
    _ => anyhow!("Failed to spawn ffmpeg process: {}", e),
})?;

// Rust — re-validate the cached binary before use
if let Some(p) = find_ffmpeg_path() {
    if !p.is_file() {
        // clear the cached path, re-run discovery or re-trigger the auto-download
    }
}

match command.spawn() {
    Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::PermissionDenied => {
        // instruct: chmod +x / xattr -d com.apple.quarantine / AV exclusion, then retry
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(anyhow!("Failed to spawn ffmpeg process: {}", e)),
    Ok(child) => child,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Runtime-downloaded ffmpeg gets quarantined or lands without the executable bit; Windows Defender blocks the freshly written exe; an ARM Mac cached an x86_64 download; the cached path points at a deleted file in a portable deployment.

Common situations: First import right after the app auto-downloaded ffmpeg; corporate machines with aggressive EDR; switching Rosetta/native modes; moving an app bundle after first run.

Related errors

• Failed to create temporary WAV file: {}
• Failed to open System Settings: {}
• Failed to spawn FFmpeg process
• FFmpeg not found. FFmpeg is required to decode .{} files. It
• Invalid input path (non-UTF8)

AI-assisted analysis of Zackriya-Solutions/meetily@0281737d87 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/115b31371c970b9d. Report an issue: GitHub.