remotion-dev/remotion · critical · Error

Failed to create WebGL vertex array

Error message

Failed to create WebGL vertex array

What it means

Thrown by setupPaper (packages/effects/src/paper.ts:792) when gl.createVertexArray() returns null while building the VAO that binds the paper effect's quad attributes. Null indicates a lost WebGL2 context or an exhausted per-context VAO budget.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/paper.ts:792

const setupPaper = (target: HTMLCanvasElement): PaperState => {
	const gl = target.getContext('webgl2', {
		premultipliedAlpha: true,
		alpha: true,
		preserveDrawingBuffer: true,
	});
	if (!gl) {
		throw createWebGL2ContextError('paper effect');
	}

	const vs = compileShader(gl, gl.VERTEX_SHADER, PAPER_VS);
	const fs = compileShader(gl, gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER, PAPER_FS);
	const program = linkProgram(gl, vs, fs);
	gl.deleteShader(vs);
	gl.deleteShader(fs);

	const vao = gl.createVertexArray();
	if (!vao) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL vertex array');
	}

	gl.bindVertexArray(vao);

	const data = new Float32Array([
		-1, -1, 0, 0, 1, -1, 1, 0, -1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
	]);

	const vbo = gl.createBuffer();
	if (!vbo) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL buffer');
	}

	gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, vbo);
	gl.bufferData(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, data, gl.STATIC_DRAW);

	const aPos = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aPos');
	const aUv = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aUv');

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Run effect cleanup (gl.deleteVertexArray) between usages and limit concurrent WebGL2 effects.
2. Render on a GPU-capable host with WebGL enabled in headless Chrome.
3. Check gl.isContextLost() before setup and retry after restoration.

Example fix

// before
const vao = gl.createVertexArray(); // null -> throws

// after
if (gl.isContextLost()) {
  throw new Error('WebGL2 context lost; cannot create paper VAO');
}

function canCreatePaperVao(): boolean {
  try {
    const c = document.createElement('canvas');
    const gl = c.getContext('webgl2');
    if (!gl || gl.isContextLost()) return false;
    const v = gl.createVertexArray();
    const ok = !!v;
    if (v) gl.deleteVertexArray(v);
    return ok;
  } catch {
    return false;
  }
}

try {
  scene.push(paper({amount: 1}));
} catch (err) {
  if (/Failed to create WebGL vertex array/.test(String(err?.message))) {
    // VAO budget exhausted or context lost: omit the effect
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: setupPaper creating the VAO on a lost context or after too many live VAOs; running many paper/WebGL2 effects concurrently without disposing their VAOs.

Common situations: Context loss mid-render; long Studio sessions leaking VAOs; GPU memory pressure on integrated graphics; headless render without a real GPU.

Related errors

• Failed to create WebGL vertex array
• Failed to create WebGL shader
• Failed to create WebGL program
• 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/2b3e9c64aaeb127a. Report an issue: GitHub.