From 98b539df728f221de677e7ede3e9e3eb4cad2bca Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Miguel=20=C3=81ngel?= <miguel.sierra@heygen.com>
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2026 12:24:50 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(cli): prefer real ffmpeg exe over cmd shim (#1958)

---
 packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.test.ts |  9 +++++++++
 packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts      | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++-----
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.test.ts
index 1088d22ad..f541e6d40 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { resolve } from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
 vi.mock("node:child_process", () => ({ execSync: vi.fn() }));
@@ -23,6 +24,14 @@ afterEach(() => {
 });
 
 describe("findFFmpeg", () => {
+  it("prefers the real Windows exe when where lists a cmd shim first", async () => {
+    Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", { value: "win32", configurable: true });
+    mockExec.mockReturnValue("C:\\tools\\ffmpeg.cmd\r\nC:\\tools\\ffmpeg.exe\r\n");
+
+    const { findFFmpeg } = await import("./ffmpeg.js");
+    expect(findFFmpeg()).toBe(resolve("C:\\tools\\ffmpeg.exe"));
+  });
+
   it("falls back to a common install dir when `which` fails (GUI-launched PATH)", async () => {
     // Simulate a process whose PATH lacks /opt/homebrew/bin: `which ffmpeg` throws.
     mockExec.mockImplementation(() => {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts b/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts
index 9c0670ca1..e5f77cf62 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,26 @@ import { detectLinuxDistro, ffmpegInstallCommand } from "./linuxDeps.js";
 export const FFMPEG_PATH_ENV = "HYPERFRAMES_FFMPEG_PATH";
 export const FFPROBE_PATH_ENV = "HYPERFRAMES_FFPROBE_PATH";
 
+function chooseBestPathCandidate(
+  name: "ffmpeg" | "ffprobe",
+  candidates: string[],
+): string | undefined {
+  const normalized = candidates.map((s) => s.trim()).filter(Boolean);
+  if (normalized.length === 0) return undefined;
+  const lowerName = name.toLowerCase();
+  const preferredExe = normalized.find((candidate) =>
+    candidate.toLowerCase().endsWith(`${lowerName}.exe`),
+  );
+  if (preferredExe) return preferredExe;
+  const exact = normalized.find((candidate) => candidate.toLowerCase().endsWith(lowerName));
+  if (exact) return exact;
+  const nonShellShim = normalized.find((candidate) => {
+    const lower = candidate.toLowerCase();
+    return !lower.endsWith(".cmd") && !lower.endsWith(".bat");
+  });
+  return nonShellShim ?? normalized[0];
+}
+
 function findOnPath(name: "ffmpeg" | "ffprobe"): string | undefined {
   try {
     const cmd = process.platform === "win32" ? `where ${name}` : `which ${name}`;
@@ -15,11 +35,8 @@ function findOnPath(name: "ffmpeg" | "ffprobe"): string | undefined {
       stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"],
       timeout: 5000,
     });
-    const first = output
-      .split(/\r?\n/)
-      .map((s) => s.trim())
-      .find(Boolean);
-    return first ? resolve(first) : undefined;
+    const candidate = chooseBestPathCandidate(name, output.split(/\r?\n/));
+    return candidate ? resolve(candidate) : undefined;
   } catch {
     return undefined;
   }