Bitmovin CLI

The official command-line interface for Bitmovin. Manage encodings, player licenses, analytics, and more — from your terminal.

Install

npm install -g @bitmovin/cli

Requires Node.js 18+.

Requires Node.js 18+.

Quick Start

# 1. Get your API key from https://dashboard.bitmovin.com/account
bitmovin config set api-key YOUR_API_KEY

# 2. Select an organization (optional)
bitmovin config list organizations
bitmovin config set organization ORG_ID

# 3. Start encoding
bitmovin encoding templates start ./my-encoding.yaml --watch

Commands

Config

bitmovin config set api-key <key>              # Set API key
bitmovin config set organization <id>          # Set active organization
bitmovin config set default-region <region>    # Set default cloud region
bitmovin config show                           # Show current config
bitmovin config list organizations             # List available organizations

Encoding — Templates

The recommended way to encode. Define your entire workflow in a single YAML template.

bitmovin encoding templates start ./template.yaml --watch   # Start from file
bitmovin encoding templates start --id <id> --watch         # Start stored template
bitmovin encoding templates create ./template.yaml --name "Standard VOD"
bitmovin encoding templates list
bitmovin encoding templates get <id>
bitmovin encoding templates delete <id>
bitmovin encoding templates validate ./template.yaml        # Validate against schema

Encoding — Jobs

bitmovin encoding jobs list [--status running|finished|error]
bitmovin encoding jobs get <id>
bitmovin encoding jobs status <id> [--watch]    # Live progress bar with --watch
bitmovin encoding jobs start <id> [--watch]
bitmovin encoding jobs stop <id>
bitmovin encoding jobs delete <id>

Encoding — Inputs & Outputs

bitmovin encoding inputs list [--type s3|gcs|http|https|azure]
bitmovin encoding inputs get <id>
bitmovin encoding inputs create s3 --name "Prod" --bucket my-bucket --access-key AK --secret-key SK
bitmovin encoding inputs create gcs --name "Staging" --bucket my-bucket --access-key AK --secret-key SK
bitmovin encoding inputs create https --name "CDN" --host storage.example.com
bitmovin encoding inputs delete <id>

bitmovin encoding outputs list [--type s3|gcs|azure]
bitmovin encoding outputs get <id>
bitmovin encoding outputs create s3 --name "CDN Out" --bucket my-bucket --access-key AK --secret-key SK
bitmovin encoding outputs create gcs --name "GCS Out" --bucket my-bucket --access-key AK --secret-key SK
bitmovin encoding outputs delete <id>

Encoding — Codec Configs

bitmovin encoding codecs list [--type video|audio] [--codec h264|h265|av1|aac|opus]
bitmovin encoding codecs get <id>              # auto-detects codec type
bitmovin encoding codecs create h264 --name "1080p" --bitrate 4800000 --height 1080 --profile HIGH
bitmovin encoding codecs create h265 --name "4K HEVC" --bitrate 8000000 --height 2160
bitmovin encoding codecs create aac --name "Stereo 128k" --bitrate 128000
bitmovin encoding codecs delete <id>            # auto-detects codec type

Encoding — Manifests & Stats

bitmovin encoding manifests list [--type dash|hls|smooth]
bitmovin encoding manifests get <id> --type dash
bitmovin encoding manifests delete <id> --type dash

bitmovin encoding stats [--from 2024-01-01] [--to 2024-03-31]

Player

bitmovin player licenses list
bitmovin player licenses get <id>
bitmovin player licenses create --name "Production"
bitmovin player licenses update <id> --name "New Name"

bitmovin player domains list <license-id-or-key-or-name>
bitmovin player domains add <license-id-or-key-or-name> --url https://example.com
bitmovin player domains remove <license-id-or-key-or-name> <domain-id>

bitmovin player analytics activate <license-id> --analytics-key <key>
bitmovin player analytics deactivate <license-id>

Analytics

bitmovin analytics licenses list
bitmovin analytics licenses get <id>
bitmovin analytics licenses create --name "Prod Analytics" [--timezone Europe/Vienna]
bitmovin analytics licenses update <id> --name "New Name" [--ignore-dnt] [--timezone UTC]

bitmovin analytics domains list <license-id-or-key-or-name>
bitmovin analytics domains add <license-id-or-key-or-name> --url https://example.com
bitmovin analytics domains remove <license-id-or-key-or-name> <domain-id>

Account

bitmovin account info

Output Formats

By default, the CLI outputs human-readable tables when used interactively. For scripting and automation, use --json and --jq:

# JSON output
bitmovin encoding jobs list --json

# Filter with jq
bitmovin encoding jobs list --json --jq '.[].id'
bitmovin player licenses list --jq '[.[] | {name, licenseKey}]'

# Pipe-friendly: colors and spinners are automatically disabled when stdout is not a TTY
bitmovin encoding jobs list | head -5

Design principles (inspired by gh):

• --json outputs structured JSON to stdout
• --jq filters JSON with jq expressions (implies --json)
• Status messages always go to stderr, data to stdout
• Colors and spinners are disabled when piped

Global Flags

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --json / -j | Output JSON to stdout | | --jq <expr> | Filter JSON with a jq expression | | --api-key <key> | Override the configured API key | | --quiet / -q | Suppress non-essential output |

Configuration

Config is stored in ~/.config/bitmovin/config.json. You can also set the API key via the BITMOVIN_API_KEY environment variable.

Priority: --api-key flag > BITMOVIN_API_KEY env var > config file.

| Key | Description | |-----|-------------| | api-key | Your Bitmovin API key (get one here) | | organization | Active tenant organization ID | | default-region | Default cloud region for encodings |

License

MIT