remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE. directive must have a value

Error message

#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE. directive must have a value

What it means

Thrown by parseM3uDirective() at parse-directive.ts:70 when a line matches #EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE but has no value. This optional directive indicates whether the playlist is EVENT or VOD. (Note: the error message contains a stray period — '#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE. directive...' — which is a typo in the source.) The parser requires a value to store as playlistType.

Source

Thrown at packages/media-parser/src/containers/m3u/parse-directive.ts:70

		if (!value) {
			throw new Error('EXTINF has no value');
		}

		return {
			type: 'm3u-extinf',
			value: parseFloat(value),
		};
	}

	if (directive === '#EXT-X-ENDLIST') {
		return {
			type: 'm3u-endlist',
		};
	}

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

		return {
			type: 'm3u-playlist-type',
			playlistType: value,
		};
	}

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

		return {
			type: 'm3u-media-sequence',
			value: Number(value),
		};
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

  1. Ensure the directive specifies EVENT or VOD: #EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE:VOD
  2. Remove the directive entirely if the playlist type is not important (it is optional per spec)
  3. Regenerate the playlist with a compliant packager

Example fix

// before
#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE:

// after
#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE:VOD
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

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

Try / catch

try {
  await parseMedia({src: url});
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message.includes('EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE')) {
    // fix the value or remove the optional directive
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: A playlist line '#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE' with no colon, or '#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE:' with an empty value.

Common situations: Hand-edited playlist where the type value was accidentally deleted; encoder or packager bug producing an incomplete directive; malformed playlist from a CDN.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cb0554ebcfcb259f. Report an issue: GitHub.