remotion-dev/remotion · critical · Error

Failed to create WebGL program

Error message

Failed to create WebGL program

What it means

Thrown by linkProgram (packages/effects/src/paper.ts:678) when gl.createProgram() returns null before attaching the paper shaders. Null signals a lost WebGL2 context or exhausted program-object budget, independent of the shader sources.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/paper.ts:678

	gl.shaderSource(shader, source);
	gl.compileShader(shader);
	if (!gl.getShaderParameter(shader, gl.COMPILE_STATUS)) {
		const log = gl.getShaderInfoLog(shader);
		gl.deleteShader(shader);
		throw new Error(`Paper shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}`);
	}

	return shader;
};

const linkProgram = (
	gl: WebGL2RenderingContext,
	vs: WebGLShader,
	fs: WebGLShader,
): WebGLProgram => {
	const program = gl.createProgram();
	if (!program) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL program');
	}

	gl.attachShader(program, vs);
	gl.attachShader(program, fs);
	gl.linkProgram(program);
	if (!gl.getProgramParameter(program, gl.LINK_STATUS)) {
		const log = gl.getProgramInfoLog(program);
		gl.deleteProgram(program);
		throw new Error(`Paper program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}`);
	}

	return program;
};

const createSourceTexture = (gl: WebGL2RenderingContext): WebGLTexture => {
	const texture = gl.createTexture();
	if (!texture) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL texture');

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Ensure cleanup runs gl.deleteProgram between usages and cap concurrent WebGL2 effects.
2. Render with a healthy GPU context (GPU-enabled headless Chrome) and handle context-loss events.
3. Probe gl.isContextLost() before setup and skip/retry when true.

Example fix

// before
const program = linkProgram(gl, vs, fs); // createProgram() returned null

// after
if (gl.isContextLost()) {
  throw new Error('Cannot link paper program: WebGL2 context lost');
}

function canCreatePaperProgram(): boolean {
  try {
    const c = document.createElement('canvas');
    const gl = c.getContext('webgl2');
    if (!gl || gl.isContextLost()) return false;
    const p = gl.createProgram();
    const ok = !!p;
    if (p) gl.deleteProgram(p);
    return ok;
  } catch {
    return false;
  }
}

try {
  scene.push(paper({amount: 1}));
} catch (err) {
  if (/Failed to create WebGL program/.test(String(err?.message))) {
    // program budget exhausted or context lost: reduce effects and retry
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: setupPaper linking on a lost context or after too many program objects were allocated without cleanup; compiling into a dead context.

Common situations: Render farms running many paper/WebGL2 effects without deleting programs; context loss during a batch; GPU memory pressure.

Related errors

• Failed to create WebGL program
• Failed to create WebGL shader
• Paper program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Failed to create WebGL texture
• Failed to create WebGL noise texture

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/caf47815dde2be12. Report an issue: GitHub.