Extract, convert, and compress archives
Extract files, convert an archive, or create a ZIP or 7z from the terminal. To patch a ROM inside an archive, pass the archive directly to patch apply.
Extract an archive
rom-weaver extract --input patches.7z --output extracted-patches
Gzip, Bzip2, XZ, and Zstandard inputs are single compressed streams, so they extract to their one payload file rather than a directory.
Convert one archive format to another
There is no single convert command. Extract, then compress the directory:
rom-weaver extract --input patches.7z --output extracted-patches
rom-weaver compress --input extracted-patches --output patches.zip
The new ZIP contains extracted-patches/ as its top-level directory, because compress archives the paths you give it. It does not unpack an archive input on your behalf: pass patches.7z directly and the new archive will contain the patches.7z file itself.
Create a ZIP or 7z
rom-weaver compress --input my-release --output my-release.zip
ZIP accepts store, deflate, or zstd; 7z uses LZMA2. Pass --codec to choose, or leave it out for the default.
Those two are the only general-purpose archive formats rom-weaver can create. ZIPX, RAR, TAR and its variants, Gzip, Bzip2, XZ, and Zstandard can be opened but not written, so converting into one of them is not possible - extract and use a different container.
Compress a ROM or disc image instead
An archive is not the same thing as a compressed disc image. If your goal is a smaller file your emulator still boots directly, you probably want CHD, RVZ, Z3DS, or a trim rather than a ZIP:
rom-weaver compress --input disc.cue --output disc.chd
See Choosing a compression format for which container fits which platform and when trimming beats compressing.
Look up what is supported
Supported formats is the authoritative table: every container, its aliases and extensions, whether rom-weaver can probe, extract, or create it, and the --codec values each output accepts. It covers the specialized disc and ROM containers this page leaves out.