Cloudflare Stream has introduced a new audio extraction feature that allows developers to efficiently extract audio from video files without processing the entire video, addressing the demand for workflows where only audio is necessary, such as podcasts or AI inference pipelines. This feature can be accessed via a simple API call or through the Stream dashboard, enabling users to extract and download audio in M4A format with two methods: on-the-fly extraction through Media Transformations for short-form videos and direct audio downloads for content managed within Stream. The implementation involved extending Cloudflare's existing video pipelines, including the video-on-demand (VOD) and on-the-fly-encoding (OTFE) pipelines, to support audio-only extraction by validating audio tracks and creating a handler to deliver high-quality audio files. This development aims to simplify and reduce costs in use cases like content moderation and speech recognition, while maintaining backward compatibility and offering new API endpoints for streamlined audio processing.