vios-media-pipeline git:20260603.14e198cA

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---
description: Video pipeline guidelines for GStreamer, codecs, and media threading
globs: "**/media/**,**/live555/**"
alwaysApply: false
---

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# Video Pipeline Guidelines

- **Buffer lifetime** -- pipeline buffers may be ref-counted; never hold a raw pointer past the callback that delivers it
- **Timestamp precision** -- use `int64_t` for PTS/DTS values (nanoseconds or microseconds); avoid `float`/`double` for media time
- **Hot path allocations** -- flag and eliminate unnecessary copies or heap allocations in encode/decode/transmux loops
- **Thread affinity** -- many GStreamer and live555 callbacks have thread affinity requirements; do not call pipeline APIs from arbitrary threads
- **Format negotiation** -- always verify caps/format compatibility before linking pipeline elements; mismatches produce silent black frames or crashes at runtime
- **Codec constraints** -- account for keyframe intervals, B-frame reordering, and profile/level compliance when constructing or reconfiguring pipelines
- **Supported codecs/containers** -- H.264, H.265, VP8/VP9, AV1; MP4, MKV, TS; RTSP, WebRTC, HLS, DASH