jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

String(data.error)

Error message

String(data.error)

What it means

CommandExecutionError raised by `youtube channel` when the in-page evaluate script returns an object with an `error` property. The library forwards YouTube's own error string (String(data.error)) so the developer sees the underlying page-side failure. It means the fetch script ran but reported a failure instead of channel data.

Source

Thrown at clis/youtube/channel.js:205

          }
        }

        return {
          name: metadata.title || '',
          channelId: metadata.externalId || browseId,
          handle: metadata.vanityChannelUrl?.split('/').pop() || '',
          description: (metadata.description || '').substring(0, 500),
          subscribers: subscriberCount,
          url: metadata.channelUrl || 'https://www.youtube.com/channel/' + browseId,
          keywords: metadata.keywords || '',
          recentVideos,
        };
      })()
    `);
        if (!data || typeof data !== 'object')
            throw new CommandExecutionError('Failed to fetch channel data');
        if (data.error)
            throw new CommandExecutionError(String(data.error));
        const result = data;
        const videos = result.recentVideos;
        delete result.recentVideos;
        // Channel info as field/value pairs + recent videos as table
        const rows = Object.entries(result).map(([field, value]) => ({
            field,
            value: String(value),
        }));
        if (videos && videos.length > 0) {
            rows.push({ field: '---', value: '--- Recent Videos ---' });
            for (const v of videos) {
                rows.push({ field: v.title, value: `${v.duration} | ${v.views} | ${v.url}` });
            }
        }
        return rows;
    },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Read the forwarded message — it is YouTube's own error string; fix the underlying cause it names.
2. Verify the channel handle/URL passed to the command exists and is current.
3. Re-run after checking login/cookie state, since private/restricted data can surface as a page error.
4. Retry later or update the library if YouTube changed its page structure (data.error persists for all channels).

Example fix

// before
const { data } = await run(); // throws with raw YouTube error string
// after
try {
  const { data } = await run();
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof CommandExecutionError) {
    console.error('YouTube channel fetch failed:', e.message); // inspect forwarded page error
  } else throw e;
}

const handle = 'yours';
if (!handle || typeof handle !== 'string') throw new Error('channel handle required');

function hasError(d) {
  return typeof d === 'object' && d !== null && 'error' in d && Boolean(d.error);
}

try {
  const channel = await yt.channel(handle);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof CommandExecutionError) {
    console.error(`channel fetch failed: ${e.message}`); // message is YouTube's own error
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running the `youtube channel` command when the embedded page.evaluate script returns {error: ...} — e.g. YouTube returned an error response, the channel handle/ID does not resolve, or the page DOM/API shape changed and the script caught an exception and reported it via data.error.

Common situations: Scraping a non-existent or removed channel handle; running without a page prepared for YouTube (region/consent wall); YouTube internal API changes after a site update; transient network failures inside the browser page.

Related errors

• errMsg
• Failed to fetch YouTube feed
• Failed to fetch YouTube history
• Failed to fetch playlist data
• String(data.error)

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c2e55f04dea102f2. Report an issue: GitHub.