jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

String(data.error)

Error message

String(data.error)

What it means

This error surfaces the dynamic `data.error` value returned by the Watch Later extraction script as a CommandExecutionError. Unlike the login-failure guard, the payload here IS an object, but it carries an explicit `error` field produced by the in-page script (e.g. navigation failure, unexpected page state). The message text is not fixed — it is whatever the extraction script reported, stringified.

Source

Thrown at clis/youtube/watch-later.js:68

        while (videos.length < limit && contItem?.continuationItemRenderer && apiKey && context) {
          const token = contItem.continuationItemRenderer?.continuationEndpoint?.continuationCommand?.token;
          if (!token) break;
          const contData = await fetchBrowse(apiKey, { context, continuation: token });
          if (contData.error) break;
          const newItems = contData.onResponseReceivedActions?.[0]?.appendContinuationItemsAction?.continuationItems || [];
          if (!newItems.length) break;
          videos = videos.concat(extractVideos(newItems));
          contItem = newItems[newItems.length - 1];
        }

        return { title, stats, videos: videos.slice(0, limit) };
      })()
    `);
        if (!data || typeof data !== 'object') {
            throw new CommandExecutionError('Failed to fetch Watch Later — make sure you are logged into YouTube');
        }
        if (data.error) {
            throw new CommandExecutionError(String(data.error));
        }
        if (!data.videos?.length) {
            throw new EmptyResultError('youtube watch-later');
        }
        const statsStr = (data.stats || []).join(' | ');
        process.stderr.write(`${data.title}  ${statsStr}\n`);
        return data.videos;
    },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

  1. Read the surfaced message — it names the concrete in-page failure the script detected.
  2. Retry after a short delay if the cause looks transient (network, 5xx).
  3. Re-check login/consent state in the CLI browser session.
  4. Update the CLI if the message indicates a page-structure mismatch.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Validate payload before use; error field presence is the signal
if (result && typeof result === 'object' && result.error) {
  throw new Error(`Extraction reported: ${result.error}`);
}

Type guard

const isExtractionError = (d) =>
  d !== null && typeof d === 'object' && typeof d.error === 'string' && d.error.length > 0;

Try / catch

try {
  const videos = await run(['youtube', 'watch-later']);
} catch (e) {
  // message is the dynamic in-page error — log it verbatim for diagnosis
  console.error('watch-later extraction error:', e.message);
  if (isTransient(e.message)) await sleep(5000), retry();
  else throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `youtube watch-later` when the injected evaluation script detects an error condition and returns { error: '...' } — for example the Watch Later page failed to load, a selector found nothing and the script flagged it, or YouTube returned an error interstitial.

Common situations: Transient YouTube server errors (500s) during page load; region or consent redirects landing on a different page; the playlist page rendering in an unexpected locale/layout; network interruption mid-navigation.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4f24c8584108b442. Report an issue: GitHub.