bmdctl

bmdctl is one binary that controls Blackmagic Design production equipment over the network: ATEM switchers, HyperDeck recorders, Videohub routers and Ultimatte keyers. It talks each device's own protocol (UDP 9910 to an ATEM, TCP to the others), so no Blackmagic SDK, driver or ATEM Software Control is involved. A background engine keeps a session open to each switcher, deck and router, and every command is also served over HTTP and to AI agents over MCP.

It's for the people who run and automate studios, live events and broadcast rooms: an engineer at a terminal or over SSH, a cron job, a show controller such as Companion, or an AI agent, all with the same commands.

Run on an ATEM, a HyperDeck and an Ultimatte; Videohub ported, not yet run on a router.

$ bmdctl connect 192.168.1.20
STUDIO A  PGM CAM2 · PVW CAM1 · 1080p25 · connected 328 ms
  saved as "STUDIO A", now the default
$ bmdctl preview cam3
STUDIO A  PGM CAM2 · PVW CAM1
  preview     CAM1 → CAM3                                          27 ms
$ bmdctl cut
STUDIO A  PGM CAM2 · PVW CAM3
  cut         CAM3 on program · CAM2 on preview                    30 ms
$ bmdctl status
STUDIO A  1080p25 · session 14s, idle 3s, pinned

  ME 1        PGM  CAM3           PVW  CAM2
              mix 1:00 · next background · FTB off

Install

macOS and Linux, into ~/.local/bin (/usr/local/bin as root), checked against the release's checksums.txt:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lucas-romanenko/bmdctl/main/install.sh | sh

• Windows (Scoop): scoop install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lucas-romanenko/bmdctl/main/scoop/bmdctl.json
• Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora: the .deb or .rpm from the latest release (sudo apt install ./bmdctl_*_amd64.deb), with the man page and completions.
• Docker: ghcr.io/lucas-romanenko/bmdctl, which runs the engine and the HTTP API (docker run -d --network host -v bmdctl:/data ghcr.io/lucas-romanenko/bmdctl).
• Go 1.27: go install github.com/lucas-romanenko/bmdctl/cmd/bmdctl@latest

The releases also install atemctl, hdctl, vhctl and ultctl: bmdctl for one device (hdctl play is bmdctl hyperdeck play). docs/INSTALL.md covers PATH, completion, upgrading and removal.

Quick start

bmdctl connect 192.168.1.20   # asks what answers there, saves it by its own name
bmdctl status                 # program, preview, transition, keyers, aux
bmdctl program cam2           # a number, cam2, mp1, bars, or the input's name

Why

• Control over SSH. Anything that can reach the switcher's network can run it from a shell: a jump host, a laptop on the VPN, a script. Nothing needs a desktop session or ATEM Software Control.
• Switcher configs in git. bmdctl profile save show.xml writes ATEM Software Control's XML and the media pool stills beside it. Commit them, and a change to a show's setup is a diff. (profile restore loads one back; parts of it have run on hardware, and docs/HARDWARE.md says which.)
• AI agents over MCP. bmdctl mcp gives Claude Code, Claude Desktop or any MCP client a tool per command group. Destructive commands do nothing until a person confirms. See docs/AGENTS.md.

Also:

• Scheduled changes: an exec cue file run from cron; every line is checked before the first is sent.
• Show control: call bmdctl from Companion's shell action, Node-RED's exec node or Home Assistant's shell_command.
• Tally: bmdctl watch --json prints each program, preview and tally change as one JSON line.
• Fleets: loop over bmdctl hosts --json and run the same command, or profile save, on every switcher.
• Teaching and CI: --dry-run prints a command's bytes with no switcher; the tests run against a fake switcher.
• A Raspberry Pi (64-bit OS) beside the switcher can run the engine and the HTTP API (bmdctl engine --serve).

Documentation

The documentation is also a site, https://lucas-romanenko.github.io/bmdctl/ (built from docs/ by mkdocs.yml).

• docs/GUIDE.md: a walkthrough, task by task, with what each command prints.
• docs/COMMANDS.md: every command and flag, generated from the command table (bmdctl man prints the same).
• docs/AGENTS.md: the MCP server and the Claude skill.
• docs/HARDWARE.md: what has run on real hardware (an ATEM, a HyperDeck, an Ultimatte and a Videohub's routing) and what hasn't.
• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md: how the packages, the engine and the tests fit together.
• CONTRIBUTING.md: building, testing and adding a command.

Credits

• bmdwire, the Python original by the same author. bmdctl's device packages are a port of its libraries (atemwire, hyperdeckwire, videohubwire, ultimattewire), following v1.8.0.
• pyatem by Martijn Braam and the OpenAtem contributors, for the ATEM protocol groundwork. atemwire, which atem/ ports, is a fork of it (atem/NOTICE).
• Skaarhoj and the ATEM community, for early protocol notes.

Licence

bmdctl is MIT (LICENSE), except for two directories that are LGPL-3.0-only: atem/ (atem/LICENSE), as atemwire, the pyatem fork it ports, is, and internal/fixtures/, data copied from atemwire's tests. NOTICE maps them.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Blackmagic Design Pty Ltd. ATEM, HyperDeck, Videohub and Ultimatte are trademarks of Blackmagic Design.