Video extract frame

POST /api/video-extract-frame5 quota units per call · cache hits free

Pull one still image out of an MP4, MOV, WebM, or MKV video at any timestamp. Output WebP, PNG, or JPEG. Powered by a WebAssembly ffmpeg build — no upload to a third party.

Decodes a video and returns a single frame as an image. - `timeSeconds` — where to grab the frame (seconds from the start; default 0). The decoder seeks to the nearest keyframe at or before this point and decodes forward, so large files stay cheap. - `format` — `webp` (default), `png`, or `jpeg`. - `quality` — 1–100 for the lossy formats (webp / jpeg). Ignored for png. Accepts MP4, MOV, WebM, and MKV (the same containers as video-info). H.264 / VP8 / VP9 / AV1 decode at full speed for typical clips; HEVC (H.265) decodes too but is slower. Pick a timestamp inside the clip's duration — past the end returns the last frame.

Inputs

Name	Type	Default	Description
video*	file	—	MP4, MOV, WebM, or MKV file.
timeSeconds	number (0…86400)	0	Timestamp of the frame to grab, in seconds from the start.
format	enum (webp \| png \| jpeg)	"webp"	Output image format.
quality	number (1…100)	80	Encoder quality for webp / jpeg (1–100). Ignored for png.

Response

Modes: binary, stream, json. Cache: yes (24h TTL).

Large outputs stream: responses over the 4 MiB cache limit are piped through as they are produced instead of buffered. They carry x-cache-skip: size and are never cached — identical follow-up calls recompute.

Every response carries x-cache (HIT / MISS / BYPASS), x-cache-signature (stable across identical inputs), and the rate-limit headers listed below.

Quota & limits

Cost per call	5 units against the 10,000-unit monthly quota. Cache hits are free — only cache misses decrement.
Burst limit	200 requests per rolling minute, shared across all tools.
Max request size	`100 MiB` (base64 inflates file payloads ~33% — the limit applies to the decoded bytes).
Max response size	`25 MiB`
Timeout	60s wall clock.
Rate-limit headers	`X-RateLimit-Limit`, `X-RateLimit-Remaining`, `X-RateLimit-Burst-Limit` on every response; `X-Quota-Warning` once 80% of the monthly quota is spent; `Retry-After` on 429s.

Errors

Errors are JSON with an error string; schema failures add a details object (Zod's flattened field errors).

Status	When	Body
400	Input fails the tool's schema (wrong type, missing required field, malformed base64) or the file bytes can't be parsed as the expected format.	{ "error": "invalid inputs", "details": { "fieldErrors": { … } } }
401	Missing or invalid X-Api-Key / X-Account-Id headers (or no session when called from the browser).	{ "error": "unauthorized" }
404	Unknown tool id, or calling /api/* on the website hostname instead of api.xtract.bot.	{ "error": "not found" }
413	Request body over the tool's max request size, or an image header declaring more megapixels than the tool's pixel budget.	{ "error": "…exceeds maxRequestBytes…" }
415	Content-Type isn't application/json on the json-body transport.	{ "error": "unsupported content-type; expected application/json" }
429	Monthly quota or the 200/min burst limit exhausted. Check Retry-After and the X-RateLimit-* headers.	{ "error": "monthly quota exceeded", "monthRemaining": 0, … }
5xx	Conversion engine failure. Safe to retry; if it persists, the input is hitting a bug — please report it.	{ "error": "…" }

Code samples

Built from the mp4-1s-webp example.

# Download or substitute the example input:
#   curl -O https://xtract.bot/examples/video-extract-frame/sample.mp4
VIDEO=$(base64 -w0 < sample.mp4)

curl -X POST https://api.xtract.bot/api/video-extract-frame \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/octet-stream" \
  -H "X-Account-Id: $XTRACT_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $XTRACT_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "timeSeconds": 1,
  "format": "webp",
  "quality": 80,
  "video": "'"$VIDEO"'"
}'