Rabbit Encoder

Automated AV1 video transcoding pipeline powered by Auto-Boost-Essential and Opus audio encoding, with a real-time web dashboard.

Drop media files into the input folder and get optimally encoded MKV files in the output folder, or browse your media library directly from the dashboard and encode entire series in-place.

Features

• Auto-Boost-Essential integration for optimal per-scene CRF zones
• Opus audio encoding with configurable per-channel bitrates
• HDR10 metadata preservation (PQ, BT.2020, mastering display, content light)
• VapourSynth filter chain stackable per-job filters (FineDehalo, DehaloAlpha...) with light / medium / heavy presets, full per-parameter overrides, and a hot-reloadable user preset directory for dropping in your own .vpy scripts
• Web dashboard for monitoring progress and configuring per-file settings
• File watcher auto-detects new files in the input directory
• Queue system processes files sequentially, with drag-and-drop reordering and pause/resume
• Preview encoding generates configurable short samples spread across the source, with frame-aligned source/encode comparisons before committing the full job
• Library encoding browse mounted media folders from the UI and encode in-place, replacing source files
• Jellyfin / Sonarr integration automatically cleans up .nfo and thumbnail files when replacing sources so metadata is regenerated
• Smart skip already-encoded files (detected by -{ORGANIZATION} suffix) are recognized and skipped

Quick Start

# 1. Configure settings in docker-compose.yml (or use defaults)

# 2. deploy container
docker compose up -d

# 3. Open the dashboard (http://localhost:3000)

# 4. Drop files into the input folder
cp movie.mkv input/

Configuration

Settings are configurable via environment variables in docker-compose.yml:

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	3000	Web dashboard port
PASSWORD	rabbitencoder	Password to access web dashboard
FILE_COOLDOWN	30	Seconds the file size must stay unchanged before encoding starts
ORGANIZATION	RabbitCompany	Tag appended to encoded filenames (e.g. -RabbitCompany)
INPUT_DIR	/data/input	Watched input directory
OUTPUT_DIR	/data/output	Encoded output directory
TEMP_DIR	/data/temp	Temporary encode and preview files
LIBRARY_DIRS	empty	Comma-separated mounted library roots
FONTS_STOCK_DIR	/app/fonts	Built-in font directory
FONTS_USER_DIR	/config/fonts	User font directory
VS_PRESETS_STOCK_DIR	/app/vapoursynth/presets	Built-in VapourSynth preset directory
VS_PRESETS_USER_DIR	/config/vapoursynth/presets	User VapourSynth preset directory
VS_RABBIT_MODULE_DIR	/app/vapoursynth	Rabbit Encoder VapourSynth helper-module directory

If ORGANIZATION is set to RabbitCompany (the default), then any file ending with -RabbitCompany.mkv is treated as already encoded and will be:

• Shown with a green encoded badge and dimmed in the library browser
• Completely skipped when you click Encode Folder

This means you can safely run Encode Folder on the same series multiple times (only new or unencoded files will be queued).

Encoding Pipeline

For each file, the engine runs:

1. Probe - Extract media information such as resolution, audio layout, frame rate, subtitle tracks, and HDR metadata.
2. Prepare - Extract the primary video stream, run the configured VapourSynth passes, and apply the FFmpeg crop/downscale/denoise/deband chain.
3. Auto-Boost-Essential - Run scene analysis, quality metrics, CRF-zone generation, and the final AV1 encode.
4. Audio - Sort, filter, deduplicate, and encode selected audio tracks to Opus through a FLAC pipe, or copy them when configured.
5. Subtitles and fonts
   • Sort, filter, deduplicate, and rename subtitle tracks.
   • Optionally convert SRT subtitles to ASS.
   • Restyle dialogue-classified ASS styles without changing signs, songs, or other untouched styles.
   • Resolve language/script-specific font faces.
   • Instance selected variable-font axes into static font files.
   • Remove unused source font attachments when enabled.
   • Preserve source fonts still referenced by surviving untouched styles or inline \fn overrides.
   • Use numbered aliases such as Noto Sans 2 only when a retained source font already occupies the requested family name.
6. Mux - Merge video, audio, subtitles, chapters, fonts, and metadata into the final MKV.
7. HDR - Apply HDR10 metadata with mkvpropedit when required.

Preview Encoding

Preview encoding creates configurable samples distributed across the source so source and encoded results can be compared before running the full job.

Each sample starts from an exact, lossless FFV1 video window rather than a stream-copied GOP fragment. This prevents keyframe preroll and timestamp offsets from causing source and encoded comparison images to land on different frames. The default is 6 samples, and both the sample count and duration can be changed through the dashboard or preview API.

Intermediate VapourSynth and prepare-filter stills are also exposed when those stages are active.

VapourSynth Filters

Rabbit Encoder ships with a VapourSynth filter system that lets you stack arbitrary preprocessing passes in front of the main encode. Each filter runs as its own vspipe pass.

Stock presets

Built-in presets live under /app/vapoursynth/presets inside the container and are namespaced as stock:<id>:

Preset ID	Name	Description
stock:finedehalo	FineDehalo	Reduces dark/bright halos around high-contrast edges. Best for anime and DVD upscales.
stock:dehalo_alpha	Dehalo Alpha	Classic halo reduction via vs-jetpack's dehalo_alpha.
stock:f3k_deband	F3K Deband	Removes color banding in smooth gradients while preserving detail. Wraps vszip.Deband (modern f3kdb successor) and can re-grain after debanding.

Every preset declares its own levels (typically light, medium, heavy) and a set of tunable parameters. You can pick a level per job and override individual params per-level in the dashboard's Advanced Settings -> VapourSynth Filters panel.

User custom presets

To add your own filter, drop a matching pair of files into the host-mounted user directory (./vapoursynth-user/presets by default, exposed inside the container at /config/vapoursynth/presets):

myfilter.vpy    # the VapourSynth script
myfilter.json   # the manifest (id, levels, params, defaults)

Both files must share the same stem. The .vpy script reads its input path from the SRC argument and any tunable parameter via rabbit_vs.arg_int / arg_float / arg_str / arg_bool. See Examples.

User presets are namespaced as user:<id> and override nothing (stock and user presets coexist). After editing or adding presets, click Reload presets in the Advanced Settings panel (or POST /api/vs-presets/reload); no container restart is required.

Per-job behavior

The VapourSynth chain is stored per job, so different files in the same queue can use different filter stacks. Each entry has a level (or "off" to disable without removing it from the chain) and a per-level parameter map, letting you switch intensity without losing your tweaks at other levels. The active chain and its resolved parameters are stored in the output MKV's versioned SETTINGS code (for example, RE1|...) so the configuration can be reproduced later.

Subtitle Fonts

Rabbit Encoder can choose different files from one configured font family according to subtitle language and detected script. This allows a family to provide separate Latin, Arabic, Thai, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and other script-specific faces.

Variable-font axes such as wght are converted into static font instances before attachment. Axis values are not included in visible attachment names or ASS family names.

When a retained source font already uses the selected internal family name, Rabbit Encoder chooses the first available numbered alias:

• Noto Sans
• Noto Sans 2
• Noto Sans 3

The selected alias is written consistently to the static font's internal metadata, the MKV attachment filename, and the ASS styles Rabbit Encoder rewrites.

With Remove unused fonts enabled, source attachments are retained only when surviving untouched ASS styles or inline \fn overrides still reference them. A source font used only by dialogue that Rabbit Encoder restyles does not cause the original attachment to be kept.

ASS PlayRes scaling

Configured subtitle dimensions are authored in 1920×1080 space. When Rabbit Encoder restyles an existing ASS file, it preserves that file's original PlayResX and PlayResY and scales pixel-based values into the script's coordinate system.

For example, a configured 64 px font becomes 21.333 in a script using PlayResY: 360:

64 × 360 / 1080 = 21.333

When rendered over a 1080p video, libass scales it back to approximately the configured 64 px size. Font size, outline, shadow, and margins use the same PlayRes-aware scaling.

Output Naming

Files are named following the pattern:

{Title} [Source-Resolution][Opus Layout][AV1]-{ORGANIZATION}.mkv

For example:

Blue Exorcist (2011) - S01E01 - The Devil Resides in Human Souls [Bluray-1080p][Opus 2.0][AV1]-RabbitCompany.mkv

Source tags are detected from the input filename: Bluray, WEBDL, WEBRip, HDTV, DVD, SDTV, CAM. Files with REMUX in the name are tagged as Bluray.

Settings Codes

Each encoded file includes a SETTINGS tag. This is a compact, versioned string that records the exact resolved settings used for the encode, such as RE1|c~q=h,ds=1|dn~m=m,s=4.5,p=5,r=13.

The settings code stores the actual underlying values, including every nlmeans and gradfun parameter, each active VapourSynth filter in chain order, and all related filter parameters. This makes it possible to reproduce a setup even if presets have changed since the original encode.

To restore settings from a code, paste it into the Settings Code field in either the Default Settings panel or the per-job settings panel. Codes are portable across machines because GPU-specific choices, such as the denoise backend and GPU device, are intentionally left out. This prevents an imported code from overwriting the target machine’s hardware configuration.

The format is versioned with an RE<n> prefix, so older codes continue to work as the format evolves. Fields that match the shipped baseline are omitted, which means a stock-default configuration is represented simply as RE1.

Supported Input Formats

.mp4, .mkv, .avi, .webm, .flv, .ts, .mov

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/jobs	List all jobs
GET	/api/jobs/:id	Get job details
PATCH	/api/jobs/:id	Update job settings (queued only)
DELETE	/api/jobs/:id	Remove a job
POST	/api/jobs/:id/retry	Retry a failed job
POST	/api/jobs/:id/cancel	Cancel an actively encoding job
POST	/api/jobs/:id/move	Move a queued job in the queue (direction: up, down, top, bottom)
POST	/api/jobs/:id/import-code	Apply a settings code to a queued job, replacing its settings
POST	/api/jobs/reorder	Set the entire queue order from a JSON { ids: [...] } body
GET	/api/jobs/:id/audio-preview	Preview audio reorder/filter/dedup for a job
GET	/api/jobs/:id/subtitle-preview	Preview subtitle reorder/rename for a job
GET	/api/jobs/:id/mediainfo	Run mediainfo on the source file and return the report
GET	/api/jobs/:id/preview	Get preview-encode state for a job (idle, running, or completed samples)
POST	/api/jobs/:id/preview	Start a preview encode; optional body configures sample count and duration
DELETE	/api/jobs/:id/preview	Cancel a running preview, or clear completed preview artifacts
GET	/api/jobs/:id/preview/sample/:index/:kind	Fetch source/encode clips, comparison PNGs, VS stills, or prepare-stage stills
GET	/api/config	Get default settings
PATCH	/api/config	Update default settings
POST	/api/config/reset	Reset default settings
POST	/api/config/import-code	Import a settings code as the new default settings
POST	/api/settings/encode	Encode a settings object into a shareable settings code ({ code })
POST	/api/settings/decode	Decode a settings code back into a settings object ({ settings })
GET	/api/library	List configured library root directories
GET	/api/library/browse	Browse a library folder (?path=/data/library/Animes)
POST	/api/library/encode	Queue all videos in a folder for in-place encoding
GET	/api/queue	Get queue state (paused or running)
POST	/api/queue/pause	Pause encoding - stops current encode, preserves queue
POST	/api/queue/resume	Resume encoding from where it was paused
GET	/api/system	Current system resource usage (CPU, RAM, temp-partition disk, network, GPU)
GET	/api/opencl-devices	List available OpenCL devices
GET	/api/vulkan-devices	List available Vulkan devices
GET	/api/benchmark	Get current benchmark state
POST	/api/benchmark	Start a denoise benchmark run
DELETE	/api/benchmark	Cancel a running benchmark
GET	/api/vs-presets	List all VapourSynth presets (stock + user) with their manifests
POST	/api/vs-presets/reload	Rescan stock and user preset directories from disk and reload the registry
GET	/api/vs-presets/:id/default-entry	Build a fresh filter-chain entry for :id, pre-filled with manifest defaults

License

GPL-3.0