Skip to main content

/extract-audio — Extract Audio from Video

Extract the audio track from MP4 or other video files using ffmpeg. Stream-copies audio without re-encoding for fast, lossless extraction.

Usage

/extract-audio <input.mp4> [output-file]
/extract-audio video.mp4
/extract-audio video.mp4 audio.aac
/extract-audio video.mp4 audio.mp3 # re-encode to MP3

Arguments

ArgumentRequiredDescription
inputYesPath to input video file (MP4, MKV, MOV, etc.)
outputNoOutput audio file (default: <input-name>.aac)

Execution

Delegates to scripts/extract-audio.sh:

bash scripts/extract-audio.sh <input> [output]

Or call directly:

# Stream-copy (lossless, fast — preserves original codec)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -acodec copy output.aac

# Re-encode to MP3 (if needed)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -acodec libmp3lame -q:a 2 output.mp3

# Re-encode to WAV (uncompressed)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -acodec pcm_s16le output.wav

Prerequisites

brew install ffmpeg   # macOS
apt install ffmpeg # Linux

Output Formats

FormatFlagUse Case
AAC (default)-acodec copyLossless stream copy from MP4
MP3-acodec libmp3lameWide compatibility
WAV-acodec pcm_s16leUncompressed, editing
FLAC-acodec flacLossless compressed
OGG-acodec libvorbisOpen source
  • /mp4-audio-extraction skill — batch processing and format conversion patterns
  • scripts/extract-audio.sh — underlying script

Completion Checklist

  • ffmpeg installed and accessible
  • Input file exists and is a valid video
  • Output file created at expected path
  • Audio plays back correctly

Author: Claude (Opus 4.6) Track: H (Framework) Created: 2026-02-19