remotion-dev/remotion · critical · Error

Program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}

Error message

Program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}

What it means

The mirror effect's vertex and fragment shaders compiled successfully but failed to link into a complete WebGL program. gl.getProgramParameter(program, gl.LINK_STATUS) returned false, and the linker log is included. This indicates a mismatch between vertex shader outputs and fragment shader inputs, or a library-level shader defect — the shader sources are static and library-controlled.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/mirror/mirror-runtime.ts:59

};

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(`Program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}`);
	}

	return program;
};

const createProgram = (
	gl: WebGL2RenderingContext,
	vertexSource: string,
	fragmentSource: string,
): WebGLProgram => {
	const vs = compileShader(gl, gl.VERTEX_SHADER, vertexSource);
	const fs = compileShader(gl, gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER, fragmentSource);
	const program = linkProgram(gl, vs, fs);
	gl.deleteShader(vs);
	gl.deleteShader(fs);
	return program;
};

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Report the linker log and GPU/driver details to the Remotion team — the shader pair is library-controlled.
2. Update GPU drivers.
3. Test on a different GPU or SwiftShader software renderer to isolate driver-specific linker bugs.
4. On CI, ensure the headless browser has adequate WebGL2 program-linking support.

// Program link failures are driver/library bugs — catch and report
try {
  // render with mirror effect
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message.startsWith('Program link failed')) {
    console.error('Mirror program link failed:', e.message);
    // Fallback: render without the effect
  } else {
    throw e;
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: During setupMirror, linkProgram attaches both compiled shaders, calls gl.linkProgram, and gl.getProgramParameter(program, gl.LINK_STATUS) returns false. The program info log from gl.getProgramInfoLog is surfaced in the message.

Common situations: GPU driver bugs in the program linker; varying/in-out declarations that mismatch on certain drivers; exceeding driver-specific uniform or attribute limits. Rarely caused by user input since the shaders are fixed within the library.

Related errors

• Shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Noise displacement shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)
• Noise displacement program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Failed to create WebGL shader
• Checkerboard shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/18efb741cc13f6be. Report an issue: GitHub.