Install bento4 with Homebrew, apk, MacPorts, Nix, scoop, winget

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• aac2mp4
• avcinfo
• fixaacsampledescription
• hevcinfo
• mp42aac
• mp42avc
• mp42hevc
• mp42hls
• mp42ts
• mp4audioclip
• mp4compact
• mp4dash
• mp4dashclone
• mp4dcfpackager
• mp4decrypt
• mp4diff
• mp4dump
• mp4edit
• mp4encrypt
• mp4extract
• mp4fragment
• mp4hls
• mp4iframeindex
• mp4info
• mp4mux
• mp4pssh
• mp4rtphintinfo
• mp4split
• mp4tag

Project history

The public GitHub repository dates to January 2015, but the project presents itself as an SDK rather than only a CLI collection: portable C++ code, build targets for Unix-like systems, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and tool binaries built on the same API.

Bento4 tracks the practical evolution of MP4 distribution. Its README and documentation cover fragmented MP4, MPEG-DASH, HLS, CMAF, Common Encryption, PIFF, OMA DCF/PDCF, metadata, and codec-specific utilities for AVC, HEVC, AAC, AC-3, EC-3, Dolby Atmos, DTS, ALAC, and other formats.

Adoption history

Bento4 became useful to streaming-video developers because it put many packaging chores into small Unix-style commands. Instead of opening a media framework or writing MP4 box parsing code, users can run tools such as mp4dump, mp4info, mp4fragment, mp4dash, mp4hls, mp4encrypt, and mp4decrypt.

Distribution adoption is broad for a media tool: the input facts list Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, apk, Scoop, and WinGet. That cross-platform packaging matches the project's own design goal of portable SDK source plus ready command-line utilities.

How it is used

Typical package use is file-oriented: inspect an MP4's boxes, extract or mux elementary streams, create fragmented MP4 for streaming, produce DASH or HLS outputs, generate PSSH boxes, or apply/decode Common Encryption workflows.

Because the tools are composable CLIs, Bento4 often appears in build pipelines, video test fixtures, CDN preparation jobs, DRM packaging flows, and debugging sessions where ffmpeg alone is too codec-focused and not box-structure-specific enough.

Why package nerds care

Bento4 is package-nerd significant because it is a dense bundle of specialist media executables. The Homebrew formula exposes a whole toolbox, not just one command, so downstream package manifests become a map of MP4 operations.

It also sits at a useful boundary between standards and everyday packaging. ISO BMFF, DASH, CMAF, CENC, Widevine/PlayReady-related packaging, and HLS all surface as concrete CLI names that can be scripted and version-pinned.

Timeline

• 2015: The axiomatic-systems/Bento4 GitHub repository was created.
• 2020: Release notes in the README record the 1.6.0-638 line with AV1, documentation, inspector API, and bug-fix work.
• 2020s: Bento4 remained packaged across Unix, macOS, Windows, and Linux package ecosystems for MP4/DASH/HLS/CMAF workflows.

Related projects

• FFmpeg often appears nearby in media pipelines, but Bento4 focuses more directly on MP4 boxes, fragmentation, packaging, and encryption utilities.
• GPAC/MP4Box is a related MP4/DASH packaging toolchain in the same command-line culture.
• DASH, HLS, CMAF, CENC, Widevine, and PlayReady are the standards and DRM ecosystems that make Bento4 operationally important.

Sources

• https://github.com/axiomatic-systems/Bento4
• https://www.bento4.com/documentation