remotion-dev/remotion · error · error

could not get location of S3 bucket %q: %w

Error message

could not get location of S3 bucket %q: %w

What it means

Returned by isBucketInRegion when GetBucketLocation fails for a reason other than NoSuchBucket (that one is swallowed and treated as 'not in region'). The %w carries the underlying AWS error. Most often this is a permissions issue: the caller can list bucket names but cannot call GetBucketLocation on a specific bucket.

Source

Thrown at packages/lambda-go/s3.go:87

		config.WithRegion(region),
	)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not load AWS config: %w", err)
	}
	return s3.NewFromConfig(awsConfig, func(options *s3.Options) {
		options.UsePathStyle = forcePathStyle
	}), nil
}

// isBucketInRegion reports whether the given bucket lives in region.
func isBucketInRegion(svc bucketLocationGetter, bucket string, region string) (bool, error) {
	out, err := svc.GetBucketLocation(context.TODO(), &s3.GetBucketLocationInput{Bucket: new(bucket)})
	if err != nil {
		var awsErr smithy.APIError
		if errors.As(err, &awsErr) && awsErr.ErrorCode() == "NoSuchBucket" {
			return false, nil
		}
		return false, fmt.Errorf("could not get location of S3 bucket %q: %w", bucket, err)
	}
	location := string(out.LocationConstraint)
	return location == region || (location == "" && region == regionUsEast1), nil
}

// getRemotionBuckets lists the Remotion buckets that exist in region.
func getRemotionBuckets(svc *s3.Client, region string) ([]string, error) {
	out, err := svc.ListBuckets(context.TODO(), &s3.ListBucketsInput{})
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not list S3 buckets: %w", err)
	}
	buckets := []string{}
	for _, bucket := range out.Buckets {
		name := aws.ToString(bucket.Name)
		if !strings.HasPrefix(name, bucketNamePrefix) {
			continue
		}
		isInRegion, err := isBucketInRegion(svc, name, region)

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Grant s3:GetBucketLocation on `arn:aws:s3:::*` in the caller's IAM policy.
2. Inspect the wrapped smithy.APIError code: AccessDenied → add the permission; AuthorizationHeaderMalformed → check endpoint/region; PermanentRedirect → bucket is in a different region.
3. If the bucket is foreign, delete it or migrate so only one Remotion-managed bucket remains.

inRegion, err := isBucketInRegion(svc, name, region)
if err != nil {
    var awsErr smithy.APIError
    if errors.As(err, &awsErr) && awsErr.ErrorCode() == "AccessDenied" {
        // caller can list but not GetBucketLocation: add s3:GetBucketLocation
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: svc.GetBucketLocation returns a non-NoSuchBucket error — typically AccessDenied, PermanentRedirect (bucket in a different account/region requiring a different endpoint), or a transport error. The function re-raises the wrapped error.

Common situations: IAM policy grants s3:ListAllMyBuckets but not s3:GetBucketLocation. A `remotionlambda-` bucket exists in the account but was created by a different principal whose bucket policy denies the caller. Network egress to S3 is intermittent.

Related errors

• could not list S3 buckets: %w
• failed to create bucket: %w
• you have multiple buckets (%s) in your S3 region (%s) starti
• failed to upload inputProps to S3: %w
• could not invoke Lambda function %q: %w

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4d4ed8aceace8328. Report an issue: GitHub.