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    ApsaraVideo Media Processing:Overview

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    ApsaraVideo Media Processing:Overview

    Last Updated:Jun 17, 2026

    A workflow in ApsaraVideo Media Processing (MPS) automates cloud-based processing of audio and video files after they are uploaded.

    Feature description

    Basic concepts

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    Concept

    Description

    media workflow

    A media workflow is a series of preset jobs. When you upload a file to a specific Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket, the jobs are automatically or manually triggered and run sequentially based on preset steps and conditions. Each media workflow is uniquely identified by an ID.

    activity

    A media workflow contains multiple nodes, each called an activity. Every workflow must start with an Input node and end with a Publish node. Intermediate nodes can be freely orchestrated. You can add different types of nodes, such as the Analyze, Encode, Snapshot, Pack, Content Moderation, Video DNA, and Intelligent Thumbnail nodes. For more information, see Workflow activities.

    trigger mode

    Workflows can be automatically or manually triggered. By default, a workflow is automatically triggered.

    workflow execution instance

    Each time a workflow is run, a workflow execution instance is generated. Each instance is uniquely identified by an ID.

    media asset ID

    A media asset includes an input file and related output files. For example, the input file can be a video or audio file, and the output files can be transcoded files, snapshots, thumbnails, media information, content moderation results, and AI tags. Each input file maps to exactly one media asset, uniquely identified by a media asset ID. This ID is associated with all information generated by the media workflow that the input file triggers.

    Scenarios

    • Produce videos with multiple bitrates, multiple audio tracks, and multiple subtitle streams in multiple formats.

    • Package adaptive bitrate streaming videos.

    • Process user-generated content (UGC) videos. After UGC videos are uploaded, low-quality videos are filtered out in the content moderation and video fingerprinting activities. Only videos that pass the content moderation and contain content different from videos in the media repository are transcoded and tagged.

    Limits

    • By default, you can create up to 10 workflows in a region within an Alibaba Cloud account.

    • MPS features and supported workflow activities vary by region. For more information, see Regions and endpoints.

    Use a workflow

    Create a workflow

    You can create a workflow in the MPS console or by calling an API operation. For more information, see Create a workflow.

    Manage a workflow

    After you create a workflow, you can modify, enable, disable, or delete it, and view its details. For more information, see Manage workflows.

    Trigger a workflow

    You can trigger a workflow in one of the following modes based on the file path and whether you want the workflow to run automatically. For more information about trigger conditions, see Workflow triggering rules for files.

    Trigger mode

    Scenario

    Automatic mode.

    You want to process a file through a series of steps immediately after it is uploaded to the specified path.

    Manual mode. In this mode, you must upload the file to be processed to a specific path.

    • You want to process multiple existing files in OSS buckets at a time by using a workflow.

    • You do not need to process a file immediately after the file is uploaded. For example, you want to process a file after the file is accessed by a user or has a high playback volume.

    • You want to process files in different workflows to meet the business logic.

    Manual mode. In this mode, you can upload the file to be processed to any path.

    Files are uploaded to different paths, but the steps for processing the files are the same.

    View the processing results

    • You can view the results in the console. To do so, log on to the MPS console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Workflow > Workflow Instance. Find the instance that you want to view, and click Details in the Actions column. For more information, see Query execution instances.

    • Call the QueryMediaWorkflowExecutionList operation. Specify the RunId parameter to query activity details such as activity type, status, job ID, Message Service (MNS) notifications, user-defined data, and media ID.

    • Configure an MNS queue or topic. Turn on the Notifications switch in the input node configuration when you create a workflow, and then associate an MNS queue or topic with the workflow. When the workflow starts or completes, MPS sends a message to the associated MNS topic or queue.