remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

#EXT-X-MAP directive must have a value

Error message

#EXT-X-MAP directive must have a value

What it means

Thrown by parseM3uDirective() at parse-directive.ts:131 when a line matches #EXT-X-MAP but has no attribute value. The #EXT-X-MAP directive specifies how to obtain the initialization segment (init.mp4) for the media playlist and is required for fMP4/CMAF segment formats. The parser delegates to parseM3uKeyValue() which needs the attribute string.

Source

Thrown at packages/media-parser/src/containers/m3u/parse-directive.ts:131

		return {
			type: 'm3u-i-frame-stream-info',
		};
	}

	if (directive === '#EXT-X-ALLOW-CACHE') {
		if (!value) {
			throw new Error('#EXT-X-ALLOW-CACHE directive must have a value');
		}

		return {
			type: 'm3u-allow-cache',
			allowsCache: value === 'YES',
		};
	}

	if (directive === '#EXT-X-MAP') {
		if (!value) {
			throw new Error('#EXT-X-MAP directive must have a value');
		}

		const p = parseM3uKeyValue(value);
		if (!p.URI) {
			throw new Error('EXT-X-MAP directive must have a URI');
		}

		return {
			type: 'm3u-map',
			value: p.URI,
		};
	}

	if (directive === '#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME') {
		if (!value) {
			throw new Error('#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME directive must have a value');
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Ensure the directive includes at least a URI attribute: #EXT-X-MAP:URI="init.mp4"
2. Regenerate the playlist with a compliant packager
3. Verify the media playlist was fully received without truncation

Example fix

// before
#EXT-X-MAP:

// after
#EXT-X-MAP:URI="init.mp4"

// Pre-fetch and check EXT-X-MAP has attributes
const text = await (await fetch(url)).text();
for (const line of text.split('\n')) {
  const trimmed = line.trim();
  if (trimmed.startsWith('#EXT-X-MAP')) {
    const colonIdx = trimmed.indexOf(':');
    if (colonIdx === -1 || !trimmed.slice(colonIdx + 1).trim()) {
      throw new Error('#EXT-X-MAP is missing its attributes');
    }
  }
}

try {
  await parseMedia({src: url});
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message.includes('EXT-X-MAP')) {
    // fix the init segment declaration in the playlist
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A playlist line '#EXT-X-MAP' with no colon, or '#EXT-X-MAP:' with empty attributes — no URI=, BYTERANGE= key-value pairs.

Common situations: Corrupted init segment declaration in a CMAF/fMP4 media playlist; encoder bug producing an incomplete #EXT-X-MAP line; hand-edited playlist.

Related errors

• EXT-X-MAP directive must have a URI
• EXT-X-VERSION directive must have a value
• EXT-X-MEDIA directive must have a value
• EXT-X-TARGETDURATION directive must have a value
• EXTINF has no value

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c5b5c8372465c6c3. Report an issue: GitHub.