BrakeSmith 0.6.0

Highlights

• Adds a persistent library outcome registry. Known failed, unsafe, and non-beneficial files no longer return as candidates while unchanged.
• Adds status, history, retry, forget, stale-prune, and diagnostic-log cleanup commands.
• Adds resumable reviewed plans, failed-only retry, validation, health checks, and safe stop controls.
• Adds the optional BrakeSmith Desktop interface for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• Bundles the correct application icon in macOS, Windows, and Linux desktop packages.

Downloads

• Desktop: macOS ARM64 DMG, Windows x64 MSI/NSIS, and Linux x86_64 AppImage/DEB/RPM.
• CLI: standalone macOS ARM64, Windows x64, and Linux x64 executables.
• Python: wheel and source distribution.

Desktop and standalone builds are unsigned. HandBrakeCLI and ffprobe remain required. Full health checks also require ffmpeg.

Verification

• 82 tests pass on Python 3.9 and 3.13.
• Cross-platform CLI CI passes on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• Cross-platform desktop builds pass on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• The CI-built macOS DMG contains the declared icon and BrakeSmith 0.6.0 sidecar.

BrakeSmith 0.5.1

Hotfix: accept MKV font, cover-art, and other attachment streams preserved by HandBrake. Outputs still require valid HEVC video, duration, audio, subtitles, and chapters before source replacement.

BrakeSmith 0.5.0

Adaptive format presets for 480p, 720p, 1080p, and 4K content.

Recommended settings now auto-switch per file. Interactive selection shows full profile details and can save or reuse defaults. Built-in presets use Main 10 MKV, HDR metadata passthrough, AAC stereo, EAC3 surround, and text subtitle filtering.

BrakeSmith 0.4.4

Default final conversion confirmation to Yes. Press Enter to begin after reviewing selected files.

BrakeSmith 0.4.3

Highlights

• Compare exact source/output byte sizes after full media validation.
• In replace mode, discard equal or larger outputs and keep originals untouched.
• Ask for a quality profile first; default to Highest practical quality (RF 16, slow).
• Ask for maximum proposed files with numeric input; default to one.
• Add --max-files for unattended batches.
• Preserve explicit quality and preset settings in non-interactive runs.

BrakeSmith 0.4.2

Highlights

• Select audio and subtitle languages once using full language names and arrow-key controls.
• Keep default-disposition tracks when selected languages are absent; retain first eligible audio as final fallback.
• Add opt-in --replace-source: validate and publish each HEVC output, normalize codec name tokens, then delete that source immediately.
• Drop image, data, and attachment streams and reject outputs that still contain them.
• Show ffprobe stderr for unreadable files and ignore attached cover art when detecting main video.
• Preserve phase and per-file transcoding progress.

BrakeSmith v0.4.1 — Live Progress

BrakeSmith 0.4.1 makes long local and SMB jobs visibly trackable.

Highlights:

• live discovery progress with folder and video counts
• persistent metadata-analysis progress with counts, elapsed time, and ETA
• continuously moving total progress during direct transcoding
• numbered files and elapsed time during reviewed-plan execution

Validation:

• Ruff clean
• 23 tests pass locally
• CI passes on Linux, macOS, and Windows with Python 3.9 and 3.13
• package, standalone, and real HandBrake integration jobs pass

BrakeSmith v0.4.0 — Verified Batch Workflow

BrakeSmith 0.4.0 turns batch conversion into a durable, inspectable workflow.\n\nHighlights:\n- sealed conversion plans with exact source identity and selected tracks\n- resumable execution journals, retry controls, stop-after-current, and failure limits\n- concurrent cached inventory suitable for large local or SMB libraries\n- x265 8/10-bit controls, HDR/interlace metadata inspection, language and track-title filters\n- output codec, duration, stream, chapter, and size validation before publication\n- safe stale-partial recovery and invalid-output quarantine\n- TOML profiles plus compact, detailed, and JSON views\n- non-interactive policy mode for automation\n\nSafety verification:\n- fully converted one 5,582-second H.264 movie read from a live SMB share\n- validated resulting HEVC/AAC file with ffprobe\n- decoded the complete output with FFmpeg with zero errors\n- verified source checksum, size, and timestamp were unchanged\n- removed the temporary backup only after successful verification\n\nValidation: Ruff clean; 22 tests pass on Python 3.9.

BrakeSmith 0.3.0

Adds exhaustive conversion-candidate reports in JSON, CSV, and text with safe overwrite protection. Verified against a live SMB share, including a backed-up cancellation test that left source checksum, size, and modification time unchanged and removed all partial output.

BrakeSmith 0.2.0

Adds explicit reconciliation for unlabelled audio and subtitle tracks, custom media extensions, standalone macOS/Windows/Linux builds, corrected completion reporting, and real Linux HandBrake integration coverage. SMB validation was read-only against a mounted macOS share.