[IMPORTANT] Use

TaskCreate

to break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks for each file read. This prevents context loss from long files. For simple tasks, AI MUST ATTENTION ask user whether to skip.

<!-- SYNC:critical-thinking-mindset -->

Critical Thinking Mindset — Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: Never present guess as fact — cite sources for every claim, admit uncertainty freely, self-check output for errors, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence — certainty without evidence root of all hallucination.

<!-- /SYNC:critical-thinking-mindset --> <!-- SYNC:ai-mistake-prevention -->

AI Mistake Prevention — Failure modes to avoid on every task:

• Check downstream references before deleting. Deleting components causes documentation and code staleness cascades. Map all referencing files before removal.
• Verify AI-generated content against actual code. AI hallucinates APIs, class names, and method signatures. Always grep to confirm existence before documenting or referencing.
• Trace full dependency chain after edits. Changing a definition misses downstream variables and consumers derived from it. Always trace the full chain.
• Trace ALL code paths when verifying correctness. Confirming code exists is not confirming it executes. Always trace early exits, error branches, and conditional skips — not just happy path.
• When debugging, ask "whose responsibility?" before fixing. Trace whether bug is in caller (wrong data) or callee (wrong handling). Fix at responsible layer — never patch symptom site.
• Assume existing values are intentional — ask WHY before changing. Before changing any constant, limit, flag, or pattern: read comments, check git blame, examine surrounding code.
• Verify ALL affected outputs, not just the first. Changes touching multiple stacks require verifying EVERY output. One green check is not all green checks.
• Holistic-first debugging — resist nearest-attention trap. When investigating any failure, list EVERY precondition first (config, env vars, DB names, endpoints, DI registrations, data preconditions), then verify each against evidence before forming any code-layer hypothesis.
• Surgical changes — apply the diff test. Bug fix: every changed line must trace directly to the bug. Don't restyle or improve adjacent code. Enhancement task: implement improvements AND announce them explicitly.
• Surface ambiguity before coding — don't pick silently. If request has multiple interpretations, present each with effort estimate and ask. Never assume all-records, file-based, or more complex path.

<!-- /SYNC:ai-mistake-prevention -->

Quick Summary

Goal: Process multimedia files using FFmpeg for video/audio encoding, conversion, streaming, and filtering.

Workflow:

1. Identify -- Match input to correct FFmpeg operation (convert, trim, merge, compress)
2. Execute -- Run FFmpeg command with appropriate codec and quality settings
3. Verify -- Check output file integrity and quality

Key Rules:

• Use tool selection table to pick correct FFmpeg operation
• Prefer hardware-accelerated encoding when available
• Always verify output file exists and is playable

Be skeptical. Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence percentages (Idea should be more than 80%).

Media Processing Skill

Process video, audio, and images using FFmpeg, ImageMagick, and RMBG CLI tools.

Tool Selection

Task	Tool	Reason
Video encoding/conversion	FFmpeg	Native codec support, streaming
Audio extraction/conversion	FFmpeg	Direct stream manipulation
Image resize/effects	ImageMagick	Optimized for still images
Background removal	RMBG	AI-powered, local processing
Batch images	ImageMagick	mogrify for in-place edits
Video thumbnails	FFmpeg	Frame extraction built-in
GIF creation	FFmpeg/ImageMagick	FFmpeg for video, ImageMagick for images

Installation

# macOS
brew install ffmpeg imagemagick
npm install -g rmbg-cli

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg imagemagick
npm install -g rmbg-cli

# Verify
ffmpeg -version && magick -version && rmbg --version

Essential Commands

# Video: Convert/re-encode
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4
ffmpeg -i input.avi -c:v libx264 -crf 22 -c:a aac output.mp4

# Video: Extract audio
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn -c:a copy audio.m4a

# Image: Convert/resize
magick input.png output.jpg
magick input.jpg -resize 800x600 output.jpg

# Image: Batch resize
mogrify -resize 800x -quality 85 *.jpg

# Background removal
rmbg input.jpg                          # Basic (modnet)
rmbg input.jpg -m briaai -o output.png  # High quality
rmbg input.jpg -m u2netp -o output.png  # Fast

Key Parameters

FFmpeg:

• -c:v libx264

  - H.264 codec

• -crf 22

  - Quality (0-51, lower=better)

• -preset slow

  - Speed/compression balance

• -c:a aac

  - Audio codec

ImageMagick:

• 800x600

  - Fit within (maintains aspect)

• 800x600^

  - Fill (may crop)

• -quality 85

  - JPEG quality

• -strip

  - Remove metadata

RMBG:

• -m briaai

  - High quality model

• -m u2netp

  - Fast model

• -r 4096

  - Max resolution

References

Detailed guides in

references/

:

• ffmpeg-encoding.md

  - Codecs, quality, hardware acceleration

• ffmpeg-streaming.md

  - HLS/DASH, live streaming

• ffmpeg-filters.md

  - Filters, complex filtergraphs

• imagemagick-editing.md

  - Effects, transformations

• imagemagick-batch.md

  - Batch processing, parallel ops

• rmbg-background-removal.md

  - AI models, CLI usage

• common-workflows.md

  - Video optimization, responsive images, GIF creation

• troubleshooting.md

  - Error fixes, performance tips

• format-compatibility.md

  - Format support, codec recommendations

---

Closing Reminders

• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION break work into small todo tasks using

  TaskCreate

  BEFORE starting
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION search codebase for 3+ similar patterns before creating new code
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION cite

  file:line

  evidence for every claim (confidence >80% to act)
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION add a final review todo task to verify work quality <!-- SYNC:critical-thinking-mindset:reminder -->
• MUST ATTENTION apply critical thinking — every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: never present guess as fact. <!-- /SYNC:critical-thinking-mindset:reminder --> <!-- SYNC:ai-mistake-prevention:reminder -->
• MUST ATTENTION apply AI mistake prevention — holistic-first debugging, fix at responsible layer, surface ambiguity before coding, re-read files after compaction. <!-- /SYNC:ai-mistake-prevention:reminder -->