jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Instagram private story publish does not support trimming lo

Error message

Instagram private story publish does not support trimming long videos on ${process.platform}

What it means

trimVideoForInstagramStory re-encodes videos longer than 15 seconds with an AVFoundation Swift script, which only works on macOS; elsewhere it throws at clis/instagram/_shared/private-publish.js:519. The hint says to use macOS or trim the video to 15 seconds yourself first.

Source

Thrown at clis/instagram/_shared/private-publish.js:519

    const bytes = fs.readFileSync(filePath);
    const metadata = readVideoMetadata(filePath);
    const coverImage = generateVideoCoverImage(filePath);
    return {
        filePath,
        fileName: path.basename(filePath),
        mimeType: 'video/mp4',
        width: metadata.width,
        height: metadata.height,
        durationMs: metadata.durationMs,
        byteLength: bytes.length,
        bytes,
        coverImage,
        cleanupPaths: coverImage.cleanupPath ? [coverImage.cleanupPath] : [],
    };
}
function trimVideoForInstagramStory(filePath, maxDurationMs) {
    if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
        throw new CommandExecutionError(`Instagram private story publish does not support trimming long videos on ${process.platform}`, 'Use macOS for private story video publishing, or trim the video to 15 seconds first');
    }
    const outputPath = buildPrivateStoryVideoPath(filePath);
    runSwiftJsonScript(`
import AVFoundation
import Foundation

let inputPath = CommandLine.arguments[1]
let outputPath = CommandLine.arguments[2]
let durationMs = Int(CommandLine.arguments[3]) ?? 15000
let asset = AVURLAsset(url: URL(fileURLWithPath: inputPath))
guard let exportSession = AVAssetExportSession(asset: asset, presetName: AVAssetExportPresetHighestQuality) else {
  fputs("{\\"error\\":\\"missing-export-session\\"}", stderr)
  exit(1)
}
exportSession.outputURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: outputPath)
exportSession.outputFileType = .mp4
exportSession.shouldOptimizeForNetworkUse = true
exportSession.timeRange = CMTimeRange(

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Trim the video to 15 seconds before calling the library (e.g. `ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -t 15 -c copy out.mp4`)
Run the publish on macOS where AVFoundation trimming is available
Use the UI story publish flow which trims client-side
Check duration beforehand (readVideoMetadata) and only call trim on macOS

Example fix

// before
const out = await trimmedPath(longVideo, 15000);
// after
if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
  execSync(`ffmpeg -i ${longVideo} -t 15 -c copy ${trimmed}`);
  return trimmed;
}
return trimmedPath(longVideo, 15000);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
  const { execSync } = require('child_process');
  execSync(`ffmpeg -y -i ${videoPath} -t 15 -c copy ${trimmedPath}`);
  return trimmedPath;
}

Try / catch

try { const out = await trimmedPath(videoPath, 15000); }
catch (e) {
  if (/does not support trimming long videos/.test(e.message)) return ffmpegTrim(videoPath, 15);
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Enforce the 15-second story limit before calling the publisher
Use the platform guard to pick ffmpeg trimming vs AVFoundation trimming
Keep source videos within story duration to avoid the trim path entirely

When it happens

Trigger: Calling trimmedPath (via trimVideoForInstagramStory) with a video exceeding maxDurationMs while process.platform is not 'darwin'.

Common situations: Publishing stories from a Linux CI job where the source video is 30+ seconds; Windows automation scripts handling user-uploaded long videos; teams that moved their automation off Mac hardware.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f711d20fd086a7f5. Report an issue: GitHub.