AVFoundation Media Pipeline Workflow

Purpose

Guide AVFoundation capture, playback, asset loading, reader, writer, export, and sample-buffer pipeline design and repair. This skill owns media-pipeline shape, typed AVFoundation surface choice, and back-pressure policy, while leaving app audio-session policy, engine graphs, Core Media timing internals, and Xcode execution to their owning skills.

When To Use

• Use this skill for AVCaptureSession, capture inputs and outputs, capture queues, AVPlayer, AVPlayerItem, AVAsset, AVURLAsset, AVAsyncProperty, async asset loading, AVAssetReader, AVAssetWriter, export, transcode, and sample-buffer append loops.
• Use this skill when existing code blocks the main thread, uses deprecated AVAsset synchronous properties, misuses loadValuesAsynchronously(forKeys:), appends sample buffers without back-pressure, confuses capture authorization with microphone permission, or mixes capture, UI, writer, and player ownership in one object.
• Recommend avfaudio-session-workflow when the primary problem is app audio intent, routes, interruptions, or microphone permission.
• Recommend coremedia-timing-samplebuffer-workflow when the primary issue is sample-buffer timestamps, format descriptions, timebases, clocks, or synchronization.
• Recommend camera-capture-depth-workflow when the primary issue is camera discovery, device controls, formats, rotation, photo capture, depth, calibration, synchronized camera outputs, or computational capture.

Single-Path Workflow