AlexxIT/go2rtc · error

streams:

Error message

streams: 

What it means

streams.AddConsumer collects all error messages gathered while trying to link a consumer to a producer's medias/codecs. If any errors were accumulated (text non-empty), it returns "streams: <combined errors>" via formatError. This typically wraps codec-negotiation or media-mismatch failures between the stream's producer and the requested consumer.

Solutions

1. Check the producer's codecs (via the streams info API) and use a consumer supporting them
2. Add transcoding (e.g. exec: ffmpeg with -c:v libx264) or a source that emits compatible codecs
3. Use a consumer type that matches the producer (e.g. HLS/WebRTC for H.265 instead of MSE)
4. Read the text after "streams: " — it contains the per-media underlying errors

Example fix

// before — H.265 source to MSE (unsupported)
streams: {cam: "rtsp://cam/track1?h265"}
// after — transcode to H.264
streams:
  cam:
    - rtsp://cam/track1
    - exec:ffmpeg#input=rtsp://cam/track1#output=rtp://127.0.0.1:10000#encoder=libx264

// Query producer codecs before AddConsumer
curl -f "http://host:1984/api/streams?src=cam"  # inspect medias/codecs

// Go
if err := stream.AddConsumer(cons); err != nil {
    if strings.HasPrefix(err.Error(), "streams: ") {
        log.Warn().Msgf("codec/media mismatch: %v", err) // details after prefix
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling AddConsumer on a stream whose producer's medias don't match what the consumer can accept, or producer/consumer errors occurred during medias matching — e.g. camera publishes codecs the consumer can't handle (H.265 to an MJPEG consumer, missing audio to audio-only consumer, etc.).

Common situations: Playing a stream whose codecs are unsupported by the browser (H.265/HEVC in MSE), requesting a consumer type incompatible with the producer's media, or cameras with exotic codec combinations.

Related errors

• err.Error()

AI-assisted analysis of AlexxIT/go2rtc@c245815e75 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/35cf4a544060b3b4. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/streams/add_consumer.go:128

	for _, prod := range prodStarts {
		prod.start()
	}

	return nil
}

func formatError(consMedias, prodMedias []*core.Media, prodErrors []error) error {
	// 1. Return errors if any not nil
	var text string

	for _, err := range prodErrors {
		if err != nil {
			text = appendString(text, err.Error())
		}
	}

	if len(text) != 0 {
		return errors.New("streams: " + text)
	}

	// 2. Return "codecs not matched"
	if prodMedias != nil {
		var prod, cons string

		for _, media := range prodMedias {
			if media.Direction == core.DirectionRecvonly {
				for _, codec := range media.Codecs {
					prod = appendString(prod, media.Kind+":"+codec.PrintName())
				}
			}
		}

		for _, media := range consMedias {
			if media.Direction == core.DirectionSendonly {
				for _, codec := range media.Codecs {
					cons = appendString(cons, media.Kind+":"+codec.PrintName())

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