convt

Local file conversion. Right-click or run the CLI; files stay on disk. Nothing is uploaded. Routes through engines on this machine (FFmpeg, PDFium, LibreOffice, image, resvg, libheif). Multi-hop routes are at most three steps. A still image cannot become video or audio through a multi-hop route.

Print this file: convt --skill or convt skill.

Install check

command -v convt
convt --version
convt engines

convt engines lists each ready backend and each unavailable one with its reason. A "no route" error usually means an engine is missing, not a bad flag. Packaged installs come from https://convt.app/download. From this repository: cargo run -p convt-cli -- … or ./target/debug/convt. A convt on PATH may be an older install.

Convert

convt <files or folders> --to <fmt> [options]

--to is required unless --preset names a preset that sets to. Output lands next to each input unless --out-dir is set. With --out-dir, files found in subfolders keep their relative folder.

{{FLAGS}}

Commands

{{COMMANDS}}

Formats

Ids are what --to and convt formats use. Extensions select the input format (no content sniffing). Availability depends on convt engines; Office formats need LibreOffice or convt pack install documents. Raster-to-SVG is not offered.

{{FORMATS}}

Examples

convt photo.png --to webp
convt photos/ --to webp -r
convt lease.pdf --to png --pages 1-3
convt clip.mov --to mp4 --video-height 720
convt photo.png --to jpeg -q 60 --max-size 64 --background black
convt clip.mov --to mp4 --no-audio --video-codec hevc
convt photos/ -r --to webp -j 4 --json --out-dir out/
convt targets photo.heic
convt targets photo.heic --menu
convt menu set audio flac mp3
convt formats --json
convt pack status documents

Exit codes and errors

• 0: success (including --skill, --help, and list commands)
• 1: a conversion failed, or the run was rejected before it started (no --to, unknown format, nothing to convert, license)
• 2: usage error from the parser (unknown flag, bad value)
• 130: cancelled (SIGINT; a second interrupt exits immediately)

--json prints one event per line on stdout: started, progress, done, failed, then summary. A failed event has a stable kind: unsupported_input, no_route, invalid_option, engine_missing, engine_failed, output_exists, cancelled, io.

Folder inputs skip files that cannot reach the target (or already are it). Files named directly always run, so their errors show.

Tips for agents

• Non-interactive: pass every option on the command line. The CLI does not prompt.
• Prefer --json when parsing progress. Human input -> output lines go to stderr unless --json.
• Outputs never overwrite existing files; a taken name gets a numbered suffix. Use --out-dir to keep results apart from the inputs.
• Discover before converting: convt engines, convt formats, convt targets path/to/file.
• formats, targets, menu, engines, presets and --skill never need a license. Only conversions do. Source builds skip the license check by default; packaged builds start a 7-day trial on the first conversion.
• In an enforced build, convt license activate reads the key from stdin when KEY is omitted. Do not put a license key in a shared command line.
• convt pack install documents is the only pack command that may use the network. pack status is offline.
• Presets are TOML (to, quality, max_size, …) under the config presets directory, or a path to a .toml file. List them with convt presets. Point CONVT_CONFIG_DIR at a private directory instead of the user's real presets.
• MP4, MOV and MKV output uses a hardware video encoder when one works on this machine (VideoToolbox on macOS, NVENC with an NVIDIA GPU), and converts again in software if it fails. Set CONVT_HWACCEL=0 to always use the software encoders, for example to compare output or rule out a GPU driver problem.