API quickstart guide

Get an API key, submit an ffmpeg job, poll until complete, download the output.

Fastest path: let your AI do it. Paste this into your coding agent, or grab the one-click links on Build with AI:

Add Rendobar to my app: read and follow https://rendobar.com/prompts/integrate.md

Get an API key

Sign up at app.rendobar.com and create a key from Settings → API keys. Keys start with rb_. New accounts get $5 in free credits. Prefer the terminal? Skip steps 2–4 and use the CLI instead.

2. Submit a job

import { createClient, outputUrl } from "@rendobar/sdk";

const client = createClient({ apiKey: "rb_YOUR_KEY" });

const created = await client.jobs.create({
  type: "ffmpeg",
  params: {
    command: "ffmpeg -i https://example.com/video.mp4 -vf scale=1280:720 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 23 output.mp4",
  },
});

const job = await client.jobs.wait(created.id);
console.log(outputUrl(job));

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.rendobar.com/jobs",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer rb_YOUR_KEY"},
    json={
        "type": "ffmpeg",
        "params": {
            "command": "ffmpeg -i https://example.com/video.mp4 -vf scale=1280:720 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 23 output.mp4",
        },
    },
)
print(res.json()["data"]["id"])  # job_abc123

curl -X POST https://api.rendobar.com/jobs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer rb_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "ffmpeg",
    "params": {
      "command": "ffmpeg -i https://example.com/video.mp4 -vf scale=1280:720 -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 23 output.mp4"
    }
  }'

Put input URLs directly in -i flags. The output format is inferred from the trailing filename (output.mp4 → MP4). Response:

{ "data": { "id": "job_abc123", "status": "waiting" } }

3. Poll for completion

curl https://api.rendobar.com/jobs/job_abc123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer rb_YOUR_KEY"

Statuses: waiting → dispatched → running → complete | failed | cancelled. See job lifecycle for what each status means. Poll every 1–2 seconds. For push instead of poll, configure a webhook.

4. Download the result

When status is complete, the response contains an output object. The file to download is output.file.url, signed and valid for one hour:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "job_abc123",
    "status": "complete",
    "output": {
      "data": null,
      "file": {
        "url": "https://r2.rendobar.com/...",
        "path": "output.mp4",
        "type": "video",
        "size": 4194304,
        "sha256": "9f2c41d0b7a3e5f48c1d6e02a97b3c5f1e8d4a60b2c7f9e3d5a1b8c4e6f0a41e",
        "meta": { "format": "mp4", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "durationMs": 30000 }
      },
      "files": [
        {
          "url": "https://r2.rendobar.com/...",
          "path": "output.mp4",
          "type": "video",
          "size": 4194304,
          "sha256": "9f2c41d0b7a3e5f48c1d6e02a97b3c5f1e8d4a60b2c7f9e3d5a1b8c4e6f0a41e",
          "meta": { "format": "mp4", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "durationMs": 30000 }
        }
      ],
      "expiresAt": 1735689600000
    },
    "cost": { "amount": 50000000, "currency": "USD", "formatted": "$0.05" }
  }
}

Every job type returns this same output shape: data for a computed answer, file for the headline result, files for the full list. Re-fetch the job to refresh the URLs after they expire.

What’s next

Rendobar CLI: skip the curl, run rb ffmpeg from your terminal
FFmpeg: full guide with the security model and examples
Compose: render video from a JSON timeline
Compress: hit a size or quality target
Animated captions: transcribe and burn word-level captions
Generate an image: text to image on hosted models
Webhooks: push events instead of polling
Credits and billing: plans, balance, billing
MCP: drive Rendobar from an AI agent

Need more credits? See pricing for plan and credit-pack options.

FFmpeg guide: security model, allowed flags, worked examples
Job lifecycle: the six statuses and what triggers each
Pricing and plans: Free, Pro and Studio plans and credit-pack pricing
All supported FFmpeg operations: full feature index

Getting Started

Concepts

Storage

Jobs

Automation

Developer tools

Support

API quickstart guide

Get an API key

2. Submit a job

3. Poll for completion

4. Download the result

What’s next

​ Get an API key

​2. Submit a job

​3. Poll for completion

​4. Download the result

​What’s next

​Related

Get an API key

2. Submit a job

3. Poll for completion

4. Download the result

What’s next

Related