hyperdeckwire

Python library for Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio recorders: transport control, clip listing and timeline editing over the HyperDeck Ethernet Protocol (TCP 9993), plus clip upload over the deck's built-in FTP server.

hyperdeckwire is small and dependency-free. It targets the 9993 + FTP combination on purpose: the HTTP REST API that arrived in firmware 8.x is only available on the Plus/Pro/HDR/Shuttle models, while every networked HyperDeck, including the Studio HD Mini, offers these two.

Status

• Pre-release (0.1.0.dev1), extracted from a broadcast control application where it drives decks in production: clip push, cue-and-loop as a switcher background source, and a transport modal for operators.
• Verified on a HyperDeck Studio HD Mini (firmware 8.1.1) through the full probe / clear / upload / cue-and-loop cycle. Other Studio HD models speak the same protocol but were not on the bench.

Install

From PyPI:

pip install hyperdeckwire

Only pre-release versions exist so far (0.1.0.dev1). pip installs a pre-release when it is the only release there is, so no --pre is needed; pin the version in a requirements file (hyperdeckwire==0.1.0.dev1) so a later release cannot change your install under you. To install straight from a GitHub tag instead (git needed on the machine):

pip install "hyperdeckwire @ git+https://github.com/lucas-romanenko/bmdwire.git@hyperdeckwire-v0.1.0.dev1#subdirectory=hyperdeckwire"

Python 3.10 or newer. No other dependencies.

Features

• Blocking, single-socket Hyperdeck client with an explicit connect/close lifecycle and context-manager support.
• Read commands: device_info, remote_info, slot_info, transport_info, configuration, disk_list, clips_get, clips_count.
• Write commands: play (loop, single clip, speed, clip id), pause, stop, goto_clip, clips_add, clips_remove, clips_clear, slot_select, remote_enable, set_configuration, ping.
• Typed Clip and Response dataclasses; protocol errors raise HyperdeckError with the deck's code and text.
• Asynchronous 5xx notifications are filtered out of blocking requests and can be read explicitly.
• upload_clip FTP helper with storage-volume auto-detection, anonymous-login fallback, progress callback and throughput reporting.
• Pure standard library; a socket_factory hook and ftplib monkeypatching make the whole suite runnable without hardware.

Usage

from hyperdeckwire import Hyperdeck, HyperdeckError, upload_clip

# Push a clip onto the deck's active storage volume.
result = upload_clip('192.0.2.11', '/local/path/intro.mp4')
print(f'{result.name}: {result.throughput_mb_s:.1f} MB/s into slot {result.slot_dir}')

# Cue it and loop it.
with Hyperdeck('192.0.2.11') as hd:
    print(hd.model, hd.protocol_version)
    for clip in hd.disk_list():
        print(clip.clip_id, clip.name, clip.duration)
    hd.stop()
    hd.clips_clear()
    try:
        hd.clips_add('intro.mp4')
    except HyperdeckError as e:
        raise SystemExit(f'deck refused the clip: {e}')
    hd.play(loop=True, single_clip=True)

The full command reference, dataclass fields and error-code table are in docs/API.md.

Protocol notes

The Ethernet Protocol itself is documented by Blackmagic in HyperDeckEthernetProtocol.pdf (December 2024 revision). The points below are behaviour the library relies on that the document does not spell out, or that was established on hardware.

• No REST API on the Studio HD Mini. Port 80 is closed on firmware 8.1.1, so the library never depends on HTTP.
• The greeting is a 5xx. On connect the deck sends 500 connection info: as a multi-line block. It shares the code range of asynchronous notifications but is synchronous and arrives once; the client reads it eagerly and caches model and protocol version from it.
• Multi-line framing. A response is multi-line if and only if its head line ends with a colon; the body is then read until a blank line. Async notifications can interleave with a pending response and are skipped inside request() by default.
• There is no pause verb. pause() sends play: speed: 0, which freezes on the current frame. stop also holds the last frame under the factory stop mode: lastframe setting; the transport reports stopped in both cases.
• 213 deck rebooting is a success. A file format change may answer with 213 instead of 200 ok and drop the connection. The client treats both as success and leaves reconnecting to the caller.
• FTP volume layout. Storage volumes are top-level directories. The Studio HD Mini names them by slot number (/1/, /2/); other models name them by medium (sd1, ssd1, usb, nas). STOR at the root is refused with 550, so upload_clip lists the root, picks a volume (numeric first, then SD, SSD, USB, NAS) and changes into it. System Volume Information and .Trashes are never selected.
• FTP login. Stock firmware accepts an empty anonymous login; some servers reject the bare USER form, so the helper retries as anonymous before failing.
• The disk index updates live. A clip is visible to disk list immediately after its STOR completes; no rescan or slot reselect is needed.
• Clip names contain spaces. disk list and clips get rows are tokenised from the right (duration, format fields) and everything left over is the name, which is why a name such as Intro Loop animation.mp4 round-trips.
• Client limit. Beyond a small number of simultaneous 9993 clients the deck answers 120 connection failed and closes the socket.
• Verified hardware. HyperDeck Studio HD Mini, firmware 8.1.1, full probe / clear / upload / cue-and-loop cycle. Other Studio HD models speak the same protocol but were not on the bench.

Development

git clone https://github.com/lucas-romanenko/bmdwire.git
cd bmdwire/hyperdeckwire
pip install -e ".[test]"
python -m pytest

The suite needs no hardware. CI runs it on Python 3.10, 3.12 and 3.14 for every push and pull request.

Related libraries

One library per Blackmagic device family, same shape, same author, all pure standard library except atemwire's small C extension:

• atemwire: ATEM switchers (UDP protocol, macros, profiles)
• ultimattewire: Ultimatte keyers (archive and restore)
• videohubwire: Videohub routers (routing, labels)

License

MIT. See LICENSE.