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FileFlows

An automated media processing and transcoding pipeline server.

FileFlows is a self-hosted media file processing tool that automates transcoding, remuxing, and moving media files through configurable processing pipelines. It integrates with GPU hardware for accelerated transcoding. Self-hosting gives you full control over your media library processing without relying on cloud services.

Alternatives considered​

Self Hosted

ToolOpen SourceFull FeaturesNotes
TdarrnoLimitedPopular transcoding pipeline, closed core
UnmanicYesYesPlugin-based automated transcoding
HandBrakeYesYesManual only, no automation

Installation​

Architecture​

  • Deployment: Single fileflows deployment in the fileflows namespace
  • Image: revenz/fileflows:stable (digest-pinned to sha256:2558e8…)
  • Storage: Longhorn PVC (fileflows-data, 1Gi, longhorn-encrypted); NFS volume from TrueNAS read-only for media input
  • Resources: Intel GPU resource limit (gpu.intel.com/i915: 1) for hardware-accelerated transcoding
  • Networking: ClusterIP service on port 5000, HTTPRoute via internal gateway

Security​

No container-level securityContext configured. Longhorn PVC encrypted at rest via SOPS-managed key.

Updates​

Managed by Renovate. Image is digest-pinned (tracks stable tag).

Data Management​

  • PVC: fileflows-data (1Gi, longhorn-encrypted) for app config and processing state
  • NFS: TrueNAS NFS mount for media input (read-only)
  • Backups: No k8up schedule present.

User Management​

No OIDC or external authentication configured. Access via internal-only HTTPRoute.

Configuration Management​

  • Longhorn encryption key from SOPS-encrypted secret
  • Intel GPU scheduling configured via resource limits in the Deployment

Administration​

Usage​

Define processing flows (pipelines) in the web UI to automatically transcode or remux incoming media files. Flows can branch on file properties (codec, resolution, container). The Intel GPU integration enables hardware-accelerated H.264/H.265 encoding for faster processing.

Cluster-specific deviations from the above live in the per-cluster README — see k8s/apps/talos/fileflows/README.md.

Cluster Deployment​

App URLs
Depends on

FileFlows — Talos cluster

Cluster-specific notes only. General product info, "why we use it", and alternatives live in docusaurus/docs/apps/fileflows.mdx.

Deviations from defaults​

Defaults live in docusaurus/docs/apps/fileflows.mdx — document anything this cluster does differently here, with a one-line reason.

Kubernetes Metadata
  • Image: revenz/fileflows:stable@sha256:dca58baa4c9b4ba725c8ef57d197334895ba5d936c8040107e509c70f36246c5
Rendered manifests (kustomize build)
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  annotations:
    kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/force: enabled
  labels:
    app: fileflows
  name: fileflows
  namespace: fileflows
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: fileflows
  strategy:
    rollingUpdate: null
    type: Recreate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: fileflows
    spec:
      containers:
        - image: revenz/fileflows:stable@sha256:dca58baa4c9b4ba725c8ef57d197334895ba5d936c8040107e509c70f36246c5
          livenessProbe:
            failureThreshold: 5
            httpGet:
              path: /
              port: http
            initialDelaySeconds: 5
            periodSeconds: 10
            successThreshold: 1
            timeoutSeconds: 5
          name: fileflows
          ports:
            - containerPort: 5000
              name: http
              protocol: TCP
          readinessProbe:
            failureThreshold: 5
            httpGet:
              path: /
              port: http
            initialDelaySeconds: 5
            periodSeconds: 10
            successThreshold: 1
            timeoutSeconds: 5
          resources:
            limits:
              gpu.intel.com/i915: 1
            requests:
              gpu.intel.com/i915: 1
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: /media/stash
              name: stash
            - mountPath: /app/Data
              name: fileflows-data
            - mountPath: /app/Logs
              name: fileflows-logs
      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 60
      volumes:
        - name: stash
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: fileflows-truenas-nfs-stash
        - name: fileflows-data
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: fileflows-data
        - name: fileflows-logs
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: fileflows-logs