remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

You have tried to call a Remotion Lambda function, but have

Error message

You have tried to call a Remotion Lambda function, but have not set the environment variable AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY or REMOTION_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY.

What it means

Companion to the access-key check: checkCredentials throws if neither AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY nor REMOTION_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY is set, and no profile resolves. Same skip rules apply (REMOTION_SKIP_AWS_CREDENTIALS_CHECK, AWS_PROFILE, detected profile file).

Source

Thrown at packages/lambda-client/src/check-credentials.ts:45

	if (isLikelyToHaveAwsProfile()) {
		return;
	}

	if (
		!getEnvVariable('AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID') &&
		!getEnvVariable('REMOTION_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID')
	) {
		throw new Error(
			messageForVariable('AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID or REMOTION_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID'),
		);
	}

	if (
		!getEnvVariable('AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY') &&
		!getEnvVariable('REMOTION_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY')
	) {
		throw new Error(
			messageForVariable(
				'AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY or REMOTION_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY',
			),
		);
	}
};

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Set AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY (or REMOTION_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY) alongside the access key id
2. Verify the secret was not truncated/filtered by CI masking
3. Use a profile / IAM role instead of long-lived env secrets where possible

Example fix

# .env
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIA...
# before: secret missing
# after
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=<your-secret>

function assertAwsSecret() {
  const secret = process.env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY ?? process.env.REMOTION_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY;
  if (!secret && !process.env.AWS_PROFILE && !process.env.REMOTION_AWS_PROFILE) {
    throw new Error('Set AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY before calling Remotion Lambda');
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Access key id is set but the secret access key env var is missing when an AWS call begins.

Common situations: Partial .env (key copied, secret forgotten), CI secret only partially configured, secret redacted by a CI mask.

Related errors

• You have tried to call a Remotion Lambda function, but have
• UnrecognizedClientException: The AWS credentials provided we
• could not load AWS config: %w
• Lambda Insights is not supported by AWS in region ${region}.
• No valid AWS Caller Identity detected

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/11ac2988ffac8849. Report an issue: GitHub.