remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME directive must have a value

Error message

#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME directive must have a value

What it means

Thrown by parseM3uDirective() at parse-directive.ts:147 when a line matches #EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME but has no value. This optional directive associates the first sample of a segment with an absolute date and time using ISO 8601 format. The parser stores the raw string without validation but requires it to be non-empty.

Source

Thrown at packages/media-parser/src/containers/m3u/parse-directive.ts:147

	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');
		}

		// Store the raw ISO 8601 date-time string without validation.
		// This directive associates media segments with absolute dates but
		// doesn't affect parsing of tracks, dimensions, or other metadata.
		return {
			type: 'm3u-program-date-time',
			dateTime: value,
		};
	}

	throw new Error(`Unknown directive ${directive}. Value: ${value}`);
};

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Ensure the directive carries an ISO 8601 date-time: #EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME:2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
2. Remove the directive if absolute timestamps are not needed (it is optional per spec)
3. Regenerate the playlist with a compliant packager

Example fix

// before
#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME:

// after
#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME:2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

// Pre-fetch and check EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME 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-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME')) {
    const colonIdx = trimmed.indexOf(':');
    if (colonIdx === -1 || !trimmed.slice(colonIdx + 1).trim()) {
      throw new Error('#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME is missing its value');
    }
  }
}

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

When it happens

Trigger: A playlist line '#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME' with no colon, or '#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME:' with an empty value.

Common situations: Corrupted playlist where the timestamp was removed; encoder bug producing an incomplete directive; hand-edited live playlists where the date-time was accidentally deleted.

Related errors

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

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6d3f290340c8aaf3. Report an issue: GitHub.