remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

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

Error message

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

What it means

The skew() effect created and attached its shaders but gl.linkProgram() failed: gl.getProgramParameter(program, gl.LINK_STATUS) returned false. The library deletes the program and throws with the driver's info log. Since the shaders already compiled individually, a link failure points to a driver bug or a non-conformant linker, not caller input.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/skew.ts:204

	}

	gl.pixelStorei(gl.UNPACK_PREMULTIPLY_ALPHA_WEBGL, true);
	const vertexShader = compileShader(gl, gl.VERTEX_SHADER, SKEW_VS);
	const fragmentShader = compileShader(gl, gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER, SKEW_FS);
	const program = gl.createProgram();
	if (!program) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL program');
	}

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

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

	gl.bindVertexArray(vao);
	gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, vbo);
	gl.bufferData(
		gl.ARRAY_BUFFER,
		new Float32Array([-1, -1, 0, 0, 1, -1, 1, 0, -1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]),
		gl.STATIC_DRAW,
	);
	const aPos = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aPos');
	const aUv = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aUv');
	gl.enableVertexAttribArray(aPos);

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Switch to the ANGLE backend (--gl=angle / chromiumOptions.gl='angle' / Studio OpenGL=angle) for a conformant linker.
2. Inspect the info log in the error text to identify the link error, then update/replace the GPU driver accordingly.
3. Run on a host with verified WebGL2 conformance (real GPU or known-good ANGLE).
4. As a stopgap, remove skew() from the affected composition and use a CSS transform-based skew instead.

Example fix

// before
npx remotion render main MyComp out.mp4
// error: Skew program link failed: ...

// after
npx remotion render main MyComp out.mp4 --gl=angle

// Shaders are internal; the useful pre-check is GLSL ES 3.00 link capability.
function canLinkGlsl300Program(): boolean {
  const c = document.createElement('canvas');
  const gl = c.getContext('webgl2');
  if (!gl) return false;
  const mk = (type: number, src: string) => {
    const s = gl.createShader(type)!;
    gl.shaderSource(s, src); gl.compileShader(s); return s;
  };
  const vs = mk(gl.VERTEX_SHADER, '#version 300 es\nin vec2 p;void main(){gl_Position=vec4(p,0.,1.);}');
  const fs = mk(gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER, '#version 300 es\nprecision highp float;out vec4 o;void main(){o=vec4(1.);}');
  const prog = gl.createProgram();
  if (!prog) return false;
  gl.attachShader(prog, vs); gl.attachShader(prog, fs); gl.linkProgram(prog);
  return gl.getProgramParameter(prog, gl.LINK_STATUS) === true;
}

try {
  await renderMedia({ composition, codec: 'h264', chromiumOptions: { gl: 'angle' } });
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && /Skew program link failed/.test(err.message)) {
    console.error('skew() program link failed — non-conformant WebGL2 linker:', err.message);
    throw err;
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Linking SKEW_VS + SKEW_FS on a WebGL2 implementation whose linker rejects valid GLSL ES 3.00 (e.g. mismatches in varying interpolation, unsupported uniform optimization). The appended info log shows the linker's complaint.

Common situations: Software rasterizers or outdated drivers with incomplete linkers; virtualized GPU access; a WebGL2 context that reports support but fails on real programs; rare driver-specific bugs triggered by the shader's specific uniform/varying set.

Related errors

• Skew shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Speckle program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Linear gradient program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Noise shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Paper shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6c4878acc418f973. Report an issue: GitHub.