phaserjs/phaser · error · Error

Audio key "

Error message

Audio key "

What it means

Thrown by WebAudioSound constructor when manager.game.cache.audio.get(key) returns a falsy value. Identical cause to the HTML5 path but for the WebAudio backend: the decoded AudioBuffer must be present in the audio cache before a WebAudioSound can wrap it.

Source

Thrown at src/sound/webaudio/WebAudioSound.js:58

    initialize:

    function WebAudioSound (manager, key, config)
    {
        if (config === undefined) { config = {}; }

        /**
         * Audio buffer containing decoded data of the audio asset to be played.
         *
         * @name Phaser.Sound.WebAudioSound#audioBuffer
         * @type {AudioBuffer}
         * @since 3.0.0
         */
        this.audioBuffer = manager.game.cache.audio.get(key);

        if (!this.audioBuffer)
        {
            throw new Error('Audio key "' + key + '" not found in cache');
        }

        /**
         * A reference to an audio source node used for playing back audio from
         * audio data stored in Phaser.Sound.WebAudioSound#audioBuffer.
         *
         * @name Phaser.Sound.WebAudioSound#source
         * @type {?AudioBufferSourceNode}
         * @default null
         * @since 3.0.0
         */
        this.source = null;

        /**
         * A reference to a second audio source used for gapless looped playback.
         *
         * @name Phaser.Sound.WebAudioSound#loopSource
         * @type {?AudioBufferSourceNode}

View on GitHub (pinned to 41be1e462b)

Solutions

1. Preload with this.load.audio(key, url) using the exact key.
2. Defer sound.add to create() or a loader.on('complete') callback.
3. Guard with this.game.cache.audio.has(key).
4. Confirm the file is a browser-supported codec and loads without 404.

Example fix

// before
this.sound.add('music'); // not loaded

// after
preload() { this.load.audio('music', 'audio/music.ogg'); }
create() { this.sound.add('music'); }

function addWebAudioSound(manager, key) {
  if (!manager.game.cache.audio.has(key)) {
    throw new Error(`Audio '${key}' not in cache; call this.load.audio first`);
  }
  return new Phaser.Sound.WebAudioSound(manager, key);
}

function audioCached(game, key) { return game.cache.audio.has(key); }

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing new Phaser.Sound.WebAudioSound(manager, key) for an unloaded key; misspelled key; loader not yet complete; audio decode failed so the buffer is missing from cache.

Common situations: Forgetting the load.audio call; calling from preload instead of create; failed/aborted decode (corrupt file, unsupported codec); key mismatch between load and add; audio type mismatch (e.g. loading as text).

Related errors

• No cached audio asset with key "
• Invalid File type:
• Invalid File key:
• URL Error in File:
• BaseFilterShader: No fragment shader source provided and no

AI-assisted analysis of phaserjs/phaser@41be1e462b (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f22cb6ea9328ed3b. Report an issue: GitHub.