SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit · error · Exception

Unable to download file - Invalid username or password! (Per

Error message

Unable to download file - Invalid username or password! (Perhaps file has a new location)

What it means

Thrown when the downloaded content of a speech-to-text model file contains the string 'Invalid username or password.' This indicates the download URL redirected to a login page or returned an HTML error page instead of the binary model, typically from a host requiring authentication.

Source

Thrown at src/ui/Features/Video/SpeechToText/DownloadSpeechToTextModelsViewModel.cs:265

        {
            var text = FileUtil.ReadAllTextShared(downloadFileName, Encoding.UTF8);
            if (text.StartsWith("Entry not found", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            {
                try
                {
                    File.Delete(downloadFileName);
                }
                catch
                {
                    // ignore
                }

                return;
            }

            if (text.Contains("Invalid username or password."))
            {
                throw new Exception("Unable to download file - Invalid username or password! (Perhaps file has a new location)");
            }
        }

        var newFileName = downloadFileName.Replace(TemporaryFileExtension, string.Empty);

        if (File.Exists(newFileName))
        {
            File.Delete(newFileName);
        }

        File.Move(downloadFileName, newFileName);
        _downloadFileName = string.Empty;
    }

    private void Close()
    {
        Dispatcher.UIThread.Post(() =>
        {

View on GitHub (pinned to 17a9f07487)

Solutions

Open the model download URL in a browser to verify what's actually being served.
If the host requires auth (e.g. Hugging Face), generate an access token and configure it in the download service.
Find an alternative/mirror URL for the same model that doesn't require authentication.
Download the model manually in a browser and place it in the expected local models folder.
Check if the model has been relocated — search for the new download location.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Check the first bytes of the download to detect an HTML auth page
var firstBytes = new byte[512];
using var probeStream = new MemoryStream();
await httpClient.GetByteArrayAsync(url, ct).ContinueWith(t => { /* check content type */ });
// Or after download:
var preview = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(downloadBuffer, 0, Math.Min(512, downloadBuffer.Length));
if (preview.Contains("<html") || preview.Contains("Invalid username"))
    throw new InvalidOperationException("Download URL returned an authentication page, not a model file.");

Try / catch

try { await DownloadModel(url, path, ct); }
catch (Exception ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Invalid username or password"))
{ /* prompt for credentials/token, find alternative URL, or manual download */ }

Prevention

Verify model download URLs are publicly accessible before queuing them.
If using Hugging Face, ensure gated models have an accepted token configured.
Provide manual download instructions as a fallback when automated download hits auth.
Check the model host's URL scheme hasn't changed.

When it happens

Trigger: The model download URL points to a host (e.g. Hugging Face, GitHub release behind auth, or a private mirror) that requires login; the URL has moved and the old location returns an auth page; the download was intercepted by a captive portal or proxy auth page.

Common situations: The model URL was correct at time of coding but the host later added authentication; a Hugging Face gated model requiring token acceptance; a GitHub release that was made private; a corporate proxy returning its own login page; the model host changed its URL scheme.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of SubtitleEdit/subtitleedit@17a9f07487 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/55085b6e170ffafa. Report an issue: GitHub.