jackwener/OpenCLI · error · AuthRequiredError

auth

Error message

auth

What it means

After the cookie check, the in-page probe is evaluated on youtube.com. If the probe reports kind === 'auth', the page itself signaled the user is not authenticated (e.g. redirected to a sign-in page), so AuthRequiredError('www.youtube.com', probe.detail) is thrown with the page-reported detail.

Source

Thrown at clis/youtube/auth.js:36

      const cfg = (typeof window !== 'undefined' && window.ytcfg && typeof window.ytcfg.get === 'function') ? window.ytcfg : null;
      // ytcfg LOGGED_IN is the reliable signed-in signal; the avatar button is a fallback.
      const loggedIn = !!(cfg && cfg.get('LOGGED_IN') === true) || !!document.querySelector('#avatar-btn');
      if (!loggedIn) {
        return { kind: 'auth', detail: 'YouTube ytcfg LOGGED_IN not true and no avatar — not signed in' };
      }
      // Name is best-effort: YouTube's masthead avatar exposes a generic
      // "Account menu" aria-label, so the channel name is often unavailable
      // without opening the menu. Surface it when present, else leave empty.
      let name = '';
      try { const ctx = cfg && cfg.get('INNERTUBE_CONTEXT'); name = (ctx && ctx.user && ctx.user.identityName) || ''; } catch {}
      if (!name) {
        const aria = (document.querySelector('#avatar-btn')?.getAttribute('aria-label') || '').trim();
        if (aria && !/^account menu$/i.test(aria)) name = aria;
      }
      return { ok: true, name: String(name || '') };
    })()
  `);
  if (probe?.kind === 'auth') throw new AuthRequiredError('www.youtube.com', probe.detail);
  if (!probe?.ok) throw new CommandExecutionError(`Unexpected YouTube probe: ${JSON.stringify(probe)}`);
  return { name: probe.name };
}

registerSiteAuthCommands({
  site: 'youtube',
  domain: 'www.youtube.com',
  loginUrl: 'https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=youtube&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2F',
  columns: ['name'],
  quickCheck: hasGoogleSessionCookie,
  verify: verifyYoutubeIdentity,
  poll: async (page) => {
    if (!await hasGoogleSessionCookie(page)) {
      throw new AuthRequiredError('www.youtube.com', 'Waiting for Google session cookies');
    }
    return verifyYoutubeIdentity(page);
  },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

  1. Re-run the login flow to refresh Google/YouTube session cookies
  2. Complete any Google security or consent challenges in the automated browser once manually
  3. Check probe.detail in the error for the page-reported reason
  4. Wait and retry if YouTube is showing a transient interstitial
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const cookies = await getCookies('https://www.youtube.com');
if (!new Set(cookies.map(c => c.name)).has('SAPISID')) {
  await runLoginFlow('youtube');
}

Try / catch

try {
  await cli.youtube.whoami();
} catch (e) {
  if (e.name === 'AuthRequiredError') {
    console.error('YouTube session rejected:', e.message);
    await cli.login('youtube'); // refresh cookies / clear challenges
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Google cookies exist but YouTube still treats the session as signed out — expired/invalid cookies, YouTube rejecting the session, anti-bot interstitials, or the page redirected to a consent/login screen before probing.

Common situations: Stale SID/SAPISID cookies that no longer authenticate; Google security challenges (suspicious activity); consent/ToS page blocking the session; cookies from a different Google account without YouTube access.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d222e7fb32dff1a. Report an issue: GitHub.