File Reference Styles

There are two ways to reference input and output files inside ffmpeg_commands.

Recommended: File Paths

As of August 2026, the officially recommended style is plain file paths.

{
  "input_files": { "input.mp4": "https://example.com/video.mp4" },
  "output_files": ["output.wav"],
  "ffmpeg_commands": ["-i inputs/input.mp4 -vn outputs/output.wav"]
}

Inputs are downloaded to inputs, outputs are uploaded from outputs. See Running Commands.

Use this style because:

• It works in automation tools like Make and n8n without escaping. Those tools claim {{...}} for their own expressions, so brace placeholders have to be worked around.
• It is a real path on the worker, so the command is the same command you would run locally.

Also Supported: Brace Placeholders

Commands can also reference files with {{name}} or <<name>> placeholders, where name is a key from input_files or an entry in output_files. This was the original way VGFF file references worked, any many VGFF customers continue to use this style of file reference, which is completely fine.

{
  "input_files": { "input.mp4": "https://example.com/video.mp4" },
  "output_files": ["output.wav"],
  "ffmpeg_commands": ["-i {{input.mp4}} -vn <<output.wav>>"]
}

Both delimiters resolve to the same file paths as the path style. <<name>> exists for tools where {{name}} has its own meaning.

This style of file reference is supported indefinitely. Existing jobs, saved workflows, and scripts using this style will continue to function normally, and new requests using it are not deprecated or rate-limited differently.