affaan-m/ECC · error · ValueError

clip has no 'path

Error message

clip {i} has no 'path'

What it means

Structural guard in _normalise: a clip in the input list lacks the required 'path' key, so the timeline builder cannot locate the media file. The 0-based clip index at fault is included in the message.

Solutions

1. Add the 'path' key to each clip dict with a non-empty string.
2. Rename your key (e.g. 'src' -> 'path') or map it before calling: `{'path': c['src'], 'duration': c['dur']}`.
3. Validate the clips list before building: check every clip has a truthy 'path'.
4. Fix upstream data extraction that emitted null paths.

Example fix

// before
clips = [{"name": "intro", "duration": 3.0}]
// after
clips = [{"name": "intro", "path": "media/intro.mp4", "duration": 3.0}]

def validate_clips_have_paths(clips):
    for i, c in enumerate(clips):
        if not str(c.get('path') or '').strip():
            raise ValueError(f"clip {i} has no 'path'")
    return True

def is_valid_clip(c) -> bool:
    return isinstance(c, dict) and bool(str(c.get('path') or '').strip())

try:
    xml = build_fcpxml(clips, fps=30)
except ValueError as e:
    if "has no 'path'" in str(e):
        logger.error('invalid clip manifest: %s', e)
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Calling build_fcpxml or build_edl with a clips list where an entry is missing the 'path' key, has path=None, or path='' (empty string coerces to falsy).

Common situations: Building clips programmatically and forgetting the key; JSON clip manifests with null paths for placeholder clips; a key-name mismatch such as 'file' or 'src' instead of 'path'.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

• -32602
• artifact path must be a non-empty relative path
• assets must be a nonempty list
• base_track_count exceeds target video tracks
• built an invalid spec

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@8321021c54 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f43c41ec6474e162. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at skills/taste-application/scripts/taste/timeline.py:218

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# clip normalisation
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------


def _normalise(clips: Iterable[dict], fps: float | Fraction) -> list[dict]:
    """Validate clips and pre-compute integer frame counts and offsets.

    Returns dicts with ``path``, ``name``, ``frames`` (int, >= 1) and
    ``offset_frames`` (int). Working in frames from here down is what makes the
    sequence duration exactly the sum of the clip durations.
    """
    out: list[dict] = []
    offset = 0
    for i, c in enumerate(clips):
        path = str(c.get("path") or "")
        if not path:
            raise ValueError(f"clip {i} has no 'path'")
        dur = float(c.get("duration") or 0.0)
        if dur <= 0:
            raise ValueError(f"clip {i} ({path}) has non-positive duration {dur!r}")
        frames = max(1, seconds_to_frames(dur, fps))  # never emit a zero-length event
        name = str(c.get("name") or Path(path).stem)
        out.append(
            {
                "path": path,
                "name": name,
                "frames": frames,
                "offset_frames": offset,
                "seconds": dur,
            }
        )
        offset += frames
    if not out:
        raise ValueError("no clips to write - a timeline needs at least one event")
    return out

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