jackwener/OpenCLI · error · AuthRequiredError

www.youtube.com

Error message

www.youtube.com

What it means

verifyYoutubeIdentity first checks for Google session cookies (SID, SAPISID, or __Secure-1PSID). If none are present it throws AuthRequiredError with domain 'www.youtube.com', signaling the caller must log in before YouTube identity can be verified.

Source

Thrown at clis/youtube/auth.js:12

import { AuthRequiredError, CommandExecutionError } from '@jackwener/opencli/errors';
import { registerSiteAuthCommands } from '../_shared/site-auth.js';

async function hasGoogleSessionCookie(page) {
  const cookies = await page.getCookies({ url: 'https://www.youtube.com' });
  const names = new Set(cookies.map(c => c.name));
  return names.has('SID') || names.has('SAPISID') || names.has('__Secure-1PSID');
}

async function verifyYoutubeIdentity(page) {
  if (!await hasGoogleSessionCookie(page)) {
    throw new AuthRequiredError('www.youtube.com', 'Google session cookies missing');
  }
  await page.goto('https://www.youtube.com/');
  await page.wait(3);
  const probe = await page.evaluate(`
    (() => {
      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();

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

  1. Run the library's login flow for the 'youtube' site (loginUrl: accounts.google.com ServiceLogin) to establish Google session cookies
  2. Point the tool at the browser profile that is already logged into Google
  3. Re-login if the session expired (cookies are stale)
  4. Verify cookies are being loaded from the correct storage path
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// before calling youtube commands
const cookies = await getCookies('https://www.youtube.com');
const names = new Set(cookies.map(c => c.name));
if (!['SID','SAPISID','__Secure-1PSID'].some(n => names.has(n))) {
  await runLoginFlow('youtube');
}

Type guard

function hasGoogleSession(cookies) {
  const names = new Set(cookies.map(c => c.name));
  return names.has('SID') || names.has('SAPISID') || names.has('__Secure-1PSID');
}

Try / catch

try {
  const identity = await cli.youtube.whoami();
} catch (e) {
  if (e.name === 'AuthRequiredError' && e.message.includes('www.youtube.com')) {
    await cli.login('youtube');
    return cli.youtube.whoami();
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling a YouTube command with a browser profile that has never logged into Google, cookies expired/cleared, or a fresh/incognito automation profile.

Common situations: CI runners with empty cookie jars; users who cleared cookies; cookie store location changed after browser update; using a profile different from the one used to log in.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f815cb226de15008. Report an issue: GitHub.