# p2r3/beheader

Polyglot generator for media files

Repository: https://github.com/p2r3/beheader
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/beheader
Language: JavaScript
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-02-20T19:41:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 48/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 68, release rhythm 35, longevity 28
- inputs: {"age_days": 405, "days_push": 194, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1455, forks 80 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:46.801415+00:00)

## What it is
A command-line tool that generates polyglot files - single files that are simultaneously valid images, videos, PDFs, ZIP archives, and HTML documents. It merges multiple media inputs into one file whose behavior changes depending on its extension.

## Use cases
- create a file that is both an image and a video
- generate polyglot files for security research
- embed a PDF inside a PNG file
- combine zip archive and image into one file
- test file format parsers with polyglot inputs
- make a file that opens as HTML and plays as mp4

## When to choose
- you need to create multi-format polyglot files for CTFs or security testing
- you want to study how parsers handle ambiguous file formats
- you need a fun demonstration of file format quirks

## When to avoid
- you need lossless merging of your media files
- you need a cross-platform tool (it is Linux-focused and requires Bun, ffmpeg, ImageMagick, and mp4edit)
- you need production-grade file conversion rather than polyglot generation

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: cli, file-system, image-processing, video-processing, audio-processing, pdf, compression
- domain: files, security, developer-tools, media
- platform: cli, bun
- tags: polyglot-files, file-format, steganography, ffmpeg, image-magick, linux

## Member repositories
- p2r3/beheader (main) score 48

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:46.801415+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:35:39.499755+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/p2r3/beheader (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:46.801415+00:00, sha 43593f1075c6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.