Unexpected file type recognition on audio m4a files #3273
Description
What system are you running Yazi on?
Linux X11
What terminal are you running Yazi in?
alacritty 0.12.0-dev (53110c6)
yazi --debug output
Yazi
Version: 25.9.15 (157156b5 2025-10-23)
Debug : false
Triple : x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (linux-x86_64)
Rustc : 1.92.0-nightly (fa3155a6 2025-09-30)
Ya
Version: 25.5.31 (Arch Linux 2025-07-23)
Emulator
TERM : Some("xterm-256color")
TERM_PROGRAM : None
TERM_PROGRAM_VERSION: None
Brand.from_env : None
Emulator.detect : Emulator { kind: Right(Unknown { kgp: false, sixel: true }), light: false, csi_16t: (0, 0), force_16t: false }
Adapter
Adapter.matches : Sixel
Dimension.available: Dimension { rows: 44, columns: 196, width: 2548, height: 1364 }
Desktop
XDG_SESSION_TYPE : Some("tty")
WAYLAND_DISPLAY : None
DISPLAY : Some(":0")
SWAYSOCK : None
HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE: None
WAYFIRE_SOCKET : None
SSH
shared.in_ssh_connection: false
WSL
WSL: false
Variables
SHELL : Some("/bin/zsh")
EDITOR : Some("vim")
VISUAL : None
YAZI_FILE_ONE : None
YAZI_CONFIG_HOME : None
YAZI_ZOXIDE_OPTS : None
FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS : None
FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND: Some("fd -HI")
Text Opener
default : Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })
block-create: Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })
block-rename: Some(OpenerRule { run: "${EDITOR:-vi} \"$@\"", block: true, orphan: false, desc: "$EDITOR", for: None, spread: true })
Multiplexers
TMUX : false
tmux version : tmux 3.5a
tmux build flags : enable-sixel=Unknown
ZELLIJ_SESSION_NAME: None
Zellij version : No such file or directory (os error 2)
Dependencies
file : 5.46
ueberzugpp : No such file or directory (os error 2)
ffmpeg/ffprobe: 7.1.1 / 7.1.1
pdftoppm : 25.10.0
magick : 7.1.2-2
fzf : 0.65.1
fd/fdfind : 10.3.0 / No such file or directory (os error 2)
rg : 14.1.1
chafa : 1.16.2
zoxide : 0.9.8
7zz/7z : No such file or directory (os error 2) / 25.01
resvg : 0.45.1
jq : 1.8.1
Clipboard
wl-copy/paste: No such file or directory (os error 2) / No such file or directory (os error 2)
xclip : 0.13
xsel : 1.2.1
Routine
`file -bL --mime-type`: text/plain
See https://yazi-rs.github.io/docs/plugins/overview#debugging on how to enable logging or debug runtime errors.Describe the bug
Yazi has different file type recognitions on M4A files with different brands. E.g. Yazi treats Apple iTunes ALAC/AAC-LC (.M4A) Audio as audio files, but MP4 Base Media v1 [ISO 14496-12:2003] as video files and other brands as (fallback?) files (to me they just get opened and played in the browser).
For MP4 Base Media v1 [ISO 14496-12:2003] M4A files, in the spotter view, Yazi shows `ffmpeg` exited with error code: 234. yt-dlp downloads audios in isom m4a and Xiaomi mobile records audio in isom m4a, however Yazi resolves them as video.
Screenshots:
Commands to create these demo files:
cat /dev/urandom | ffmpeg -f s8 -i - -t 1s -brand m4a -y 1.m4a
cat /dev/urandom | ffmpeg -f s8 -i - -t 1s -brand isom -y 2.m4a
cat /dev/urandom | ffmpeg -f s8 -i - -t 1s -brand random-nonsense -y 3.m4aMinimal reproducer
- Create three m4a files using the commands above.
- Open Yazi.
- Observe: content in the spotter view, different menu when pressing
O, different program used for opening when pressingo.
Anything else?
The three demo m4a files all get recognized as MPEG-4 Audio in Thunar file explorer which also determines file types by their magic i.e. via file(1), and all get opened using the default audio player (mpv for me for example).
Checklist
- I tried the latest nightly build, and the issue is still reproducible
- I updated the debug information (
yazi --debug) input box to the nightly that I tried - I can reproduce it after disabling all custom configs/plugins (
mv ~/.config/yazi ~/.config/yazi-backup)