jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

Instagram reel preview did not appear after upload

Error message

Instagram reel preview did not appear after upload

What it means

waitForVideoPreview waits up to maxWaitSeconds*2 half-second polls for the upload to reach the 'preview' DOM state. When the loop exhausts without success, it captures a debug screenshot to /tmp/instagram_reel_preview_debug.png and throws this timeout error with the last visible dialog text. It means the upload never failed explicitly but also never reached the preview stage in time.

Source

Thrown at clis/instagram/reel.js:220

    if (result?.count === null || result?.count === undefined)
        return null;
    return Number(result.count);
}
async function waitForVideoPreview(page, maxWaitSeconds = 20) {
    let lastDetail = '';
    for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxWaitSeconds * 2; attempt += 1) {
        const result = await page.evaluate(buildInspectUploadStageJs());
        lastDetail = String(result?.detail || '').trim();
        if (result?.state === 'preview')
            return;
        if (result?.state === 'failed') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('Instagram reel upload failed', result.detail ? `Instagram rejected the reel upload: ${result.detail}` : 'Instagram rejected the reel upload before the preview stage');
        }
        if (attempt < maxWaitSeconds * 2 - 1)
            await page.wait({ time: 0.5 });
    }
    await page.screenshot({ path: '/tmp/instagram_reel_preview_debug.png' });
    throw new CommandExecutionError('Instagram reel preview did not appear after upload', lastDetail
        ? `Inspect /tmp/instagram_reel_preview_debug.png. Last visible dialog text: ${lastDetail}`
        : 'Inspect /tmp/instagram_reel_preview_debug.png for the upload state');
}
async function clickAction(page, labels, scope = 'any') {
    const result = await page.evaluate(buildClickActionJs(labels, scope));
    if (!result?.ok) {
        throw new CommandExecutionError(`Instagram action button not found: ${labels.join(' / ')}`);
    }
    return result.label || labels[0] || '';
}
async function clickActionMaybe(page, labels, scope = 'any') {
    const result = await page.evaluate(buildClickActionJs(labels, scope));
    return !!result?.ok;
}
function buildInspectReelStageJs() {
    return `
    (() => {
      const isVisible = (el) => {

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

  1. Open /tmp/instagram_reel_preview_debug.png — it shows the actual page state at timeout.
  2. Increase maxWaitSeconds for large files or slow networks so polling outlasts the real upload time.
  3. If the screenshot shows a captcha/login/consent dialog, resolve that session issue; refresh cookies or re-login.
  4. Update the stage-detection selectors in buildInspectUploadStageJs to match the current Instagram DOM.
  5. Retry the upload; transient stalls often succeed on a second attempt.

Example fix

// before
await waitForVideoPreview(page, 20); // 20s too short for 500MB upload
// after
await waitForVideoPreview(page, 120); // allow slow uploads to finish
Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

// Sanity-check budget before waiting: estimate upload time
const sizeMb = fs.statSync(videoPath).size / 1e6;
const estSeconds = sizeMb / (uplinkMbps / 8);
const maxWaitSeconds = Math.max(30, Math.ceil(estSeconds * 2));

Type guard

function isStillUploading(r) {
  return !!r && typeof r === 'object' && r.state !== 'preview' && r.state !== 'failed';
}

Try / catch

try {
  await waitForVideoPreview(page, maxWaitSeconds);
} catch (err) {
  if (String(err.message).includes('preview did not appear')) {
    // Screenshot already saved at /tmp/instagram_reel_preview_debug.png — inspect it,
    // handle any blocking dialog, then retry the upload
  } else throw err;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: All polling attempts in waitForVideoPreview complete while buildInspectUploadStageJs() keeps returning a non-'preview', non-'failed' state (e.g. still uploading, stuck progress bar, unexpected UI).

Common situations: Very large or slow-to-upload video exceeding maxWaitSeconds on slow connections; Instagram A/B UI changes so the preview selector no longer matches; a hidden captcha/2FA/consent dialog blocking progression; heavy page load starving the upload.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6eba499fb0f0c4a0. Report an issue: GitHub.