Super fast local file optimisation. Compresses images, video, and audio; minifies JS, TS, CSS, HTML, and JSON — all from one CLI, no servers, no uploads. Takes files or directories, writes *_squished.* siblings alongside the originals (or replaces in place with -o). Non-destructive by default — originals are never touched unless you ask.
Measured on representative samples with default settings (your mileage varies with content):
| Input | Saving |
|---|---|
| High-quality JPEG photo (4.4 MB) | −69% |
| PNG screenshot/graphic | −77% |
| WebP | −44% |
| SVG | −54% |
| TIFF (auto-converts to JPEG) | −97% |
MP4 with --target-size 1M (3.1 MB source) |
−68%, under budget |
| 320 kbps MP3 | −84% |
brew install mikedre/tap/squishInstalls a prebuilt binary plus every system dependency (ffmpeg, gifsicle, libheif, dav1d). Nothing else to do.
Each release ships binaries for macOS (arm64/x64) and Linux (x64/arm64) on the releases page. Unpack and put squish on your PATH. Linux binaries need libheif (≥ 1.18) and dav1d (≥ 1.3) present at runtime, plus the subprocess dependencies below for full format coverage.
If you have Rust installed (see step 1 below):
cargo install squish-media-cliThis compiles squish from crates.io and places the squish binary in ~/.cargo/bin. You still need the system dependencies for full format support (see below).
1. Install Rust (skip if rustc --version already works):
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://rustup.rs | shOnce the installer finishes, open a new terminal (or run source ~/.cargo/env) so that cargo is available on your PATH.
Note: squish builds on stable Rust (1.95 or newer). If your toolchain is older, run
rustup updatefirst.
2. Install system deps and build:
./scripts/setup.sh # installs system deps via Homebrew (macOS) or apt (Linux)
cargo install --path crates/squish-cli3. Make sure squish is on your PATH:
cargo install places the binary in ~/.cargo/bin. If squish isn't found after installation, add that directory to your shell profile and reload it:
# bash
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc
# zsh
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrcThen verify with squish --version.
GIF and HEIC support require external libraries. Install them for full format coverage:
gifsicle(required for GIF compression)- macOS:
brew install gifsicle - Linux:
apt install gifsicle
- macOS:
libheif+x265(required for HEIC/HEIF)- macOS:
brew install libheif x265 - Linux:
apt install libheif-dev libx265-dev
- macOS:
dav1d(required for AVIF decoding)- macOS:
brew install dav1d - Linux:
apt install libdav1d-dev
- macOS:
ffmpeg(required for video compression)- macOS:
brew install ffmpeg - Linux:
apt install ffmpeg
- macOS:
If a dependency is missing when you need it, squish tells you exactly what to install.
# Single file
squish dog.png
# → dog_squished.png
# Whole folder, recursively
squish ./assets/ -r
# Convert format while compressing
squish photos/ -r --format webp --quality 75
# Preserve every bit (lossless)
squish logo.svg --lossless
# Resize while compressing (never upscales)
squish photos/ -r --max-width 2000
# Fit within a box
squish hero.jpg --max-width 1920 --max-height 1080
# Compress to a size budget (highest quality that fits)
squish hero.jpg --target-size 500k
# Compress as hard as possible with no visible loss (perceptual auto-quality)
squish photo.jpg --quality auto
# Web-optimize: resize to 1920px, convert to WebP, visually-lossless quality (H.264 for video)
squish ./assets -r --preset web
# Preview without writing
squish ./big-folder/ -r --dry-run
# Keep watching a folder, squishing files as they land
squish ./assets/ -r --watch# Compress a video (defaults to H.265)
squish video.mp4
# → video_squished.mp4
# Use H.264 instead
squish video.mp4 --codec h264
# Fast mode — optimise without re-encoding
squish video.mp4 --fast
# Fit a clip under an upload limit (bitrate computed from duration)
squish clip.mp4 --target-size 8M
# Mixed batch — images and videos together
squish ./media/ -r
# → Squished 8 files (5 images, 3 videos) · 120.3 MB → 34.1 MB (-71.7%)
# Convert a .mov to .mp4 (re-encodes with the container default codec)
squish trailer.mov --format mp4
# → trailer_squished.mp4# Single file — re-encode at the same codec with sensible quality
squish track.mp3
# Convert a lossless file to Opus (~50% size reduction)
squish --codec opus song.flac
# Pick a specific bitrate
squish --bitrate 192k podcast.mp3
# Strip ID3 tags and album art
squish --strip-tags album/*.mp3
# Fit a podcast under a size budget (bitrate computed from duration)
squish episode.mp3 --target-size 25M
# Convert lossless to a specific container/codec
squish song.flac --format opus
# → song_squished.opus# Minify everything in dist/ recursively
squish dist/ -r
# → app.js → app.min.js, style.css → style.min.css, …
# Safe mode — whitespace-only, no identifier mangling
squish --safe app.js
# Emit a source map alongside the minified output
squish --source-map app.js style.css# How much have I saved this month + all-time?
squish --stats
# Skip recording this run (also: SQUISH_NO_STATS=1)
squish photos/ -r --no-statsSee which formats work on this machine and whether the optional tools are installed:
squish doctorImages and code minification work out of the box. Video and audio need
ffmpeg, and GIF needs gifsicle; doctor shows what's present (with
versions) and how to install anything missing. It always exits 0.
Supported as input and output: PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, SVG, GIF, HEIC, TIFF.
| Format | Library |
|---|---|
| PNG | oxipng + imagequant |
| JPEG | mozjpeg (progressive, optimised Huffman) |
| WebP | libwebp (static); animated WebP copies through unchanged |
| AVIF | ravif (encode) + dav1d (decode) |
| SVG | oxvg_optimiser (SVGO-equivalent: comments, default attrs, relative path coords) |
| GIF (static + animated) | gifsicle -O3 |
| HEIC | libheif-rs |
| TIFF | input only — defaults to re-encoding as JPEG; use --format tiff to keep TIFF output |
Supported containers: MP4, WebM, MOV, AVI, MKV, FLV, DV (→ mp4). Requires system ffmpeg.
.dv/.dif is a transcode-only input: it is always re-encoded to an .mp4 (H.265 by default), and --fast (copy) is ignored for DV sources.
| Codec | Flag | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| H.265 (HEVC) | --codec h265 (default) |
~50% smaller than H.264 |
| H.264 (AVC) | --codec h264 |
Maximum compatibility |
| AV1 | --codec av1 |
Best compression, slower encode |
| VP9 | auto for .webm |
Selected automatically for WebM containers |
| Copy | --fast |
No re-encode, strips metadata only |
Audio streams are copied as-is (no audio re-encoding).
Supported via ffmpeg + ffprobe: MP3, AAC/M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG, Opus, AIFF, WebM-audio. Tags and album art are preserved by default.
| Codec | Flag | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | --codec mp3 |
LAME VBR quality scale |
| AAC | --codec aac |
Bitrate ladder (default 192 kbps at q=80) |
| Opus | --codec opus |
Modern lossy codec; default for lossless inputs in non-interactive mode |
| Vorbis | --codec vorbis |
Quality scale, in .ogg |
| FLAC | --codec flac |
Lossless re-encode |
| ALAC | --codec alac |
Lossless, in .m4a |
By default, lossy inputs (MP3/AAC/etc) re-encode to the same codec; lossless inputs (FLAC/WAV/AIFF) prompt once for a target codec (defaults to Opus in non-interactive mode).
# Default: same codec re-encoded with sensible quality
squish track.mp3
# Convert lossless to Opus (lossy, ~50% size reduction)
squish --codec opus song.flac
# Pick a specific bitrate
squish --bitrate 192k podcast.mp3
# Strip ID3 tags and album art
squish --strip-tags album/*.mp3Minifies JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, HTML, and JSON via pure-Rust libraries — no Node runtime required.
| Language | Library | Default behavior |
|---|---|---|
| JS / TS | oxc_minifier |
Mangle + DCE; --safe for whitespace-only |
| CSS | lightningcss |
Whitespace + comment removal, normalization |
| HTML | minify-html |
Whitespace + comment removal; preserves <script> content |
| JSON | serde_json |
Whitespace removal; rejects JSON5/JSONC |
Output uses .min suffix with . separator (industry convention): app.js → app.min.js. TypeScript and JSX inputs become .js (types are erased; JSX is compiled).
# Default — minify everything in dist/
squish dist/ -r
# Safe mode for JS (no identifier mangling)
squish --safe app.js
# Emit source maps for debugging in browser DevTools
squish --source-map app.js style.css
# Custom suffix
squish --suffix tiny app.js # → app.tiny.jsSVG continues to be handled as an image (structural compaction via oxvg_optimiser, an SVGO-equivalent).
Known limitations:
- IE conditional comments (
<!--[if IE]>...<![endif]-->) are stripped along with regular comments. Pass--source-mapif you need to preserve comments in JS/CSS for debugging.
-q, --quality <0-100|auto> Quality, or `auto` for the lowest visually-lossless
quality (images only; conflicts with --target-size)
--lossless Lossless compression (overrides --quality)
-f, --format <FORMAT> Output format (image/video/audio); applied per input kind
--max-width <PIXELS> Scale down images wider than this (preserves aspect ratio)
--max-height <PIXELS> Scale down images taller than this (preserves aspect ratio)
--target-size <SIZE> Per-file output size budget, e.g. 500k, 1.5M, 2g (decimal
units). Images pick the highest quality that fits; video/
audio compute a bitrate from the input's duration. Conflicts
with --quality/--lossless/--bitrate/--fast; not applicable
to code files or lossless audio codecs
-r, --recursive Recurse into directories
--force Overwrite existing _squished files
-o, --overwrite Replace each input file in place (skips files whose
squish would change the extension, e.g. .dv→.mp4)
--suffix <NAME> Custom output filename suffix (default: squished)
--dry-run Show what would happen; don't write
--watch Keep running: watch the given paths and squish files
as they appear or change (Ctrl-C to stop). Never
re-squishes its own outputs
--no-config Ignore squish.toml config files for this run
--kinds <KINDS> Restrict the run to these file kinds, comma-
separated: image, video, audio, code (default: all)
--stats Print usage report (this month + all-time) and exit
--no-stats Skip recording this run (also: SQUISH_NO_STATS=1)
-j, --jobs <N> Parallelism (default: num CPUs)
-v, --verbose Per-file output
--quiet Errors only
--codec <CODEC> Codec: video=h264|h265|av1|vp9, audio=mp3|aac|opus|vorbis|flac|alac
--fast Video: optimise without re-encoding
--bitrate <BITRATE> Audio bitrate, e.g. 128k, 192k. Overrides --quality for lossy audio
--strip-tags Strip audio metadata (ID3 tags, album art). Default: preserved
--preset <web> Apply a destination preset of sensible defaults
(overridable by explicit flags). Currently: web
--safe Code: skip mangling and DCE (whitespace-only minification)
--source-map Code: emit a .map file alongside output (JS/TS/CSS only)
squish reads defaults from the nearest squish.toml (walking up from the current directory) and from a global config at ~/Library/Application Support/squish/config.toml (macOS) or ~/.config/squish/config.toml (Linux). Precedence: CLI flags > project squish.toml > global config. Pass --no-config to ignore both. Keys mirror the CLI flag names:
# squish.toml
quality = 75 # or "auto" — perceptual visually-lossless (images only)
format = "webp"
recursive = true
max-width = 2000
# Replace originals in place instead of writing _squished siblings.
# Destructive — no copy is kept. CLI flags still override this.
overwrite = false
[video]
codec = "h264"
[audio]
codec = "opus"
strip-tags = true
[code]
safe = truequality accepts a number (0–100) or the string "auto" (perceptual visually-lossless, images only; conflicts with target-size). The squish config wizard offers auto as an option.
Rate control is all-or-nothing: passing any of --quality/--lossless/--bitrate/--fast/--target-size on the command line disables all of those keys from config for that run, so a config target-size can never override an explicit --quality. Unknown keys are an error — typos fail loudly.
Don't want to hand-edit TOML? Run the wizard:
squish config # edit the global config
squish config --local # edit ./squish.toml for this project insteadIt walks through quality, format, suffix, recursive, strip-tags, and
overwrite, pre-filling whatever is already set (press Enter to keep a value,
- to clear it). Note: the file is rewritten, so any hand-written comments in
it are not preserved.
Squish assets in CI with the bundled action — handy before deploys, or paired with a commit-back step:
- uses: MikeDre/squish@v0.7.0
with:
paths: public/images
args: "--recursive --overwrite --quality 75"| Input | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
paths |
(required) | Files or directories, space-separated |
args |
"" |
Any squish CLI flags |
version |
latest |
Release tag of the binary to download |
install-deps |
true |
apt/brew runtime deps (libheif, dav1d, ffmpeg, gifsicle) |
Runs on ubuntu and macos runners (x64 + arm64).
Add a "Squish" entry to Finder's right-click menu — for the folks who never open a terminal:
squish finder-action installSelect files or folders in Finder → right-click → Quick Actions → Squish.
It squishes media (images, video, audio — never code) with your usual
defaults: _squished siblings, originals untouched, squish.toml respected.
A notification reports progress and the final savings. Remove it any time
with squish finder-action uninstall; re-run install after moving or
reinstalling squish.
If dog_squished.png already exists, squish writes dog_squished_2.png, then _3, etc. Pass --force to overwrite instead.
cargo test # run all tests
cargo build --release # optimised binaryTest fixtures are in crates/squish-core/tests/fixtures/ (images) and crates/squish-video/tests/fixtures/ (videos). See the README in each for sources.
- Bump the workspace version in
Cargo.toml, add aCHANGELOG.mdentry, commit, then tag and push:git tag vX.Y.Z && git push origin main vX.Y.Z. The Release workflow builds and attaches binaries for macOS (arm64/x64) and Linux (x64/arm64). - Publish to crates.io in dependency order:
for p in squish-core squish-media squish-video squish-audio squish-code squish-media-cli; do cargo publish -p $p; done - Update the Homebrew tap:
./scripts/release-tap.sh vX.Y.Z(expects a sibling clone ofMikeDre/homebrew-tap).
Planned work is tracked in ROADMAP.md.
MIT.