{"record":{"id":"4e538efe794109e2","repo":"yorukot/superfile","slug":"error-generating-video-thumbnail-outputpath-s","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"error generating video thumbnail, outputPath: %s : %w","messagePattern":"error generating video thumbnail, outputPath: (.+?) : %w","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"src/pkg/file_preview/thumbnail_generator.go","lineNumber":61,"sourceCode":"\tffmpeg := exec.CommandContext(ctx, \"ffmpeg\",\n\t\t\"-v\", \"warning\", // set log level to warning\n\t\t\"-an\",       // disable Audio stream\n\t\t\"-sn\",       // disable Subtitle stream\n\t\t\"-dn\",       // disable data stream\n\t\t\"-t\", \"180\", // process maximum 180s of the video (the first 3 min)\n\t\t\"-hwaccel\", \"auto\", // Use Hardware Acceleration if available\n\t\t\"-skip_frame\", \"nokey\", // skip non-key frames\n\t\t\"-i\", inputPath, // set input file\n\t\t\"-vf\", \"thumbnail\", // use ffmpeg default thumbnail filter\n\t\t\"-frames:v\", \"1\", // output only one frame (one image)\n\t\t\"-f\", \"image2\", // set format to image2\n\t\t\"-fs\", maxVideoFileSizeForThumb, // limit the max file size to match image previewer limit\n\t\t\"-y\", outputPath, // set the outputFile and overwrite it without confirmation if already exists\n\t)\n\n\terr := ffmpeg.Run()\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn \"\", fmt.Errorf(\"error generating video thumbnail, outputPath: %s : %w\", outputPath, err)\n\t}\n\n\treturn outputPath, nil\n}\n\ntype pdfGenerator struct{}\n\nfunc newPdfGenerator() (*pdfGenerator, error) {\n\tif !isPopplerInstalled() {\n\t\treturn nil, errors.New(\"poppler is not installed\")\n\t}\n\n\treturn &pdfGenerator{}, nil\n}\n\nfunc (g *pdfGenerator) supportsExt(ext string) bool {\n\treturn strings.ToLower(ext) == \".pdf\"\n}","sourceCodeStart":43,"sourceCodeEnd":79,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/yorukot/superfile/blob/b72f550bc6e75913f48eb49fdd258e1a2df2fe88/src/pkg/file_preview/thumbnail_generator.go#L43-L79","documentation":"This error is returned when the ffmpeg child process exits non-zero while extracting a video frame thumbnail to outputPath. It wraps ffmpeg's stderr output so the developer can see why frame extraction failed. It indicates the video thumbnail generation step failed, not the previewer itself.","triggerScenarios":"generateThumbnail invoking ffmpeg with args like -ss, -fs maxVideoFileSizeForThumb, -y outputPath when ffmpeg is missing from PATH, the video file is corrupt/unsupported codec, the seek position exceeds the video duration, or the input file is unreadable.","commonSituations":"ffmpeg not installed in minimal/container deployments; videos with codecs ffmpeg wasn't built against; zero-byte or truncated downloads; file larger than maxVideoFileSizeForThumb causing early truncation at -fs; paths containing characters that break the command construction.","solutions":["Run the exact ffmpeg command manually (copy args from the error/log) to see the raw stderr.","Check ffmpeg is installed and on PATH: `which ffmpeg`; install it if absent.","Verify the input video is playable (`ffprobe <file>`) and not truncated/corrupt.","Reduce or remove the -ss seek timestamp if it's past the end of the video.","Check the output directory exists and is writable for outputPath."],"exampleFix":"// before\nthumb, err := gen.generateThumbnail(videoPath)\n// after\nthumb, err := gen.generateThumbnail(videoPath)\nif err != nil {\n    log.Warnf(\"video thumbnail failed: %v\", err)\n    thumb = defaultVideoIconPath // fallback placeholder\n}","handlingStrategy":"try-catch","validationCode":"if _, err := exec.LookPath(\"ffmpeg\"); err != nil { return errors.New(\"ffmpeg not installed\") }\nif fi, err := os.Stat(videoPath); err != nil || fi.Size() == 0 { return errors.New(\"video missing or empty\") }","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"thumb, err := gen.generateThumbnail(videoPath)\nif err != nil {\n    log.Warnf(\"thumbnail generation failed: %v\", err)\n    thumb = \"\" // caller shows generic video icon\n}","preventionTips":["Check for ffmpeg in PATH at startup and disable video thumbnails if missing.","Validate/ffprobe media files before thumbnailing.","Keep the seek timestamp within the video duration.","Cache failures to avoid re-running ffmpeg on every preview."],"tags":["ffmpeg","thumbnail","external-command","video"],"backgroundTag":"ffmpeg-thumbnail-failed","analyzedSha":"b72f550bc6e75913f48eb49fdd258e1a2df2fe88","analyzedAt":"2026-09-01T04:38:08.254Z","contentChangedAt":null,"schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-08T10:18:20.063Z"}