remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

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

Error message

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

What it means

The speckle() effect attached its compiled vertex and fragment shaders but gl.linkProgram() failed (LINK_STATUS false). linkProgram() deletes the program and throws with the driver's info log. Because both shaders compiled, a link failure here signals a driver/linker non-conformance — speckle's fragment shader uses several uniforms and varyings whose matching the linker may reject on buggy implementations.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/speckle.ts:196

};

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

	return program;
};

export const speckle = createEffect<SpeckleParams, SpeckleState>({
	type: 'dev.remotion.effects.speckle',
	label: 'speckle()',
	documentationLink: 'https://www.remotion.dev/docs/effects/speckle',
	backend: 'webgl2',
	calculateKey: (params) => {
		const r = resolve(params);
		return `speckle-${r.density}-${r.size}-${r.randomness}`;
	},
	setup: (target) => {
		const gl = target.getContext('webgl2', {
			premultipliedAlpha: true,
			alpha: true,

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Switch to ANGLE (--gl=angle / chromiumOptions.gl='angle' / Studio OpenGL=angle) for a conformant linker.
2. Inspect the info log in the error text, then update/replace the GPU driver accordingly.
3. Run on a host with verified WebGL2 conformance.
4. As a stopgap, remove speckle() from the affected composition.

Example fix

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

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

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 && /Speckle program link failed/.test(err.message)) {
    console.error('speckle() program link failed — non-conformant WebGL2 linker:', err.message);
    throw err;
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Linking SPECKLE_VS + SPECKLE_FS on a WebGL2 implementation whose linker rejects the valid GLSL ES 3.00 (e.g. varying mismatch, unsupported uniform optimization). The appended info log states the linker's complaint.

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

Related errors

• Skew program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Speckle shader compile 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/1f4e001b3798ab88. Report an issue: GitHub.