remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

Config.addElementLibrary() expects an object, got ${received

Error message

Config.addElementLibrary() expects an object, got ${receivedType}

What it means

Config.addElementLibrary() validates its single options argument and requires a plain object. Passing an array, null, a string, or a primitive throws with the received type in the message.

Source

Thrown at packages/cli/src/config/element-libraries.ts:17

import type {StudioElementLibrary} from '@remotion/studio-shared';

export type AddElementLibraryOptions = {
	readonly url: string;
	readonly displayName?: string;
};

let elementLibraries: StudioElementLibrary[] = [];

export const addElementLibrary = (options: AddElementLibraryOptions) => {
	if (
		typeof options !== 'object' ||
		options === null ||
		Array.isArray(options)
	) {
		const receivedType = Array.isArray(options) ? 'an array' : typeof options;
		throw new Error(
			`Config.addElementLibrary() expects an object, got ${receivedType}`,
		);
	}

	const {url, displayName} = options;
	if (typeof url !== 'string') {
		throw new Error(
			`Config.addElementLibrary() expects "url" to be a string, got ${typeof url}`,
		);
	}

	let parsedUrl: URL;
	try {
		parsedUrl = new URL(url);
	} catch {
		throw new Error(
			`Config.addElementLibrary() expects an absolute URL, got ${JSON.stringify(url)}`,
		);

View on GitHub (pinned to 8f97758157)

Solutions

Pass a single options object: Config.addElementLibrary({url: 'https://...', displayName: '...'})
If adding multiple libraries, call addElementLibrary once per library

Example fix

// before
Config.addElementLibrary(['https://example.com/library.json']);

// after
Config.addElementLibrary({url: 'https://example.com/library.json', displayName: 'My Library'});

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (typeof opts !== 'object' || opts === null || Array.isArray(opts)) { throw new TypeError('options object required'); }

Type guard

const isElementLibraryOptions = (v: unknown): v is {url: string; displayName?: string} => typeof v === 'object' && v !== null && !Array.isArray(v) && typeof (v as any).url === 'string';

Prevention

Type your remotion.config.ts against the documented signature
Call once per library, always with an object literal

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Config.addElementLibrary(...) with no argument, an array, a string, or a non-object value in remotion.config.ts.

Common situations: Copy-pasting a docs example incorrectly, passing a list of libraries, or calling the setter before arguments are constructed.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@8f97758157 (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bd6c8b0d0aac7b4c. Report an issue: GitHub.