What causes "Called useVideoConfig() outside a Remotion composition." in remotion-dev/remotion?

Render the component inside the full Remotion provider tree (use the test helpers or ).

remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

Called useVideoConfig() outside a Remotion composition.

Error message

Called useVideoConfig() outside a Remotion composition.

What it means

Final useVideoConfig guard: a config was found but the CanUseRemotionHooks context is false, so the hook refuses to return it. This indicates the component receives config (e.g. via a shared module or default value) but is not actually inside the Remotion hook-enabled tree — a state that should not happen in normal usage and usually points to provider misconfiguration or version skew.

Solutions

Render the component inside the full Remotion provider tree (use the test helpers or <RemotionRoot>).
Deduplicate Remotion versions so config and CanUseRemotionHooks come from the same copy.
In tests, supply both contexts (config + CanUseRemotionHooks=true) or use the provided test wrappers.
Avoid mocking individual Remotion contexts; prefer rendering a real <Composition>/<Player>.

Example fix

// before (test)
const {result} = renderHook(() => useVideoConfig(), {
  wrapper: ({children}) => <ConfigContext.Provider value={cfg}>{children}</ConfigContext.Provider>,
});

// after — use the Remotion test wrapper that sets both contexts
const {result} = renderHook(() => useVideoConfig(), {
  wrapper: RemotionWrapper, // provides config + CanUseRemotionHooks
});

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// In tests, use the Remotion-provided wrappers that set BOTH config and CanUseRemotionHooks.
// Avoid partial mocking of contexts.

Prevention

Use the official Remotion test wrappers rather than hand-rolling context providers.
Keep a single Remotion version so config and hook-permission flags share identity.
Do not mock CanUseRemotionHooks independently of the config context.

When it happens

Trigger: A config context value leaks to a component that is not under the Remotion providers; multiple Remotion copies where one supplies config and another owns the CanUseRemotionHooks flag; manually mocking the config context in tests without also enabling CanUseRemotionHooks.

Common situations: Monorepo duplicate @remotion/core; test harnesses that partially mock contexts; provider trees where CanUseRemotionHooks.Provider was omitted but config was supplied; SSR setups that set a default config.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8db90322de67024b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/core/src/use-video-config.ts:36

			(typeof window !== 'undefined' && window.remotion_isPlayer) ||
			isPlayer
		) {
			throw new Error(
				[
					'No video config found. Likely reasons:',
					'- You are probably calling useVideoConfig() from outside the component passed to <Player />. See https://www.remotion.dev/docs/player/examples for how to set up the Player correctly.',
					'- You have multiple versions of Remotion installed which causes the React context to get lost.',
				].join('-'),
			);
		}

		throw new Error(
			'No video config found. You are probably calling useVideoConfig() from a component which has not been registered as a <Composition />. See https://www.remotion.dev/docs/the-fundamentals#defining-compositions for more information.',
		);
	}

	if (!context) {
		throw new Error('Called useVideoConfig() outside a Remotion composition.');
	}

	return videoConfig;
};

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)