FFmpeg M3U8 Commands You Need to Know

Basic conversion:

ffmpeg -i "stream.m3u8" -c copy output.mp4

With AAC fix for MP4:

ffmpeg -i "stream.m3u8" -c copy -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc output.mp4

Re-encode H.264:

ffmpeg -i "stream.m3u8" -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -c:a aac output.mp4

Select quality:

ffmpeg -i "master.m3u8" -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0 -c copy output.mp4

Audio only:

ffmpeg -i "stream.m3u8" -vn -c:a mp3 audio.mp3

# Show streams and variants
ffmpeg -i "https://example.com/master.m3u8"
# Check encryption tags
curl -s "https://example.com/stream.m3u8" | grep "#EXT-X-KEY"

# Fixed duration (30 minutes)
ffmpeg -i "live.m3u8" -t 1800 -c copy recording.mp4
# Until Ctrl+C
ffmpeg -i "live.m3u8" -c copy recording.mp4

# Concat demuxer for local TS
ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i files.txt -c copy output.mp4
# Time range from a stream
ffmpeg -i "stream.m3u8" -ss 120 -t 60 -c copy clip.mp4

Merge details: merge TS with FFmpeg.

ffmpeg -user_agent "Mozilla/5.0" -headers "Referer: https://example.com" -i "URL" -c copy out.mp4

What is the most common FFmpeg M3U8 command?
ffmpeg -i url -c copy -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc out.mp4

How do I only get audio?
Add -vn and choose an audio codec.

How do I record live for one hour?
-t 3600

Where is a fuller convert guide?
Complete FFmpeg M3U8 to MP4 guide.