youtube-dl-exec Fails to Install on macOS M1 Silicon Due to Postinstall Script Error

[izzetemredemir]

Description:
The youtube-dl-exec package fails to install on macOS M1 Silicon using both npm and pnpm. The error occurs during the postinstall script.

Environment:

• Device: MacBook with M1 Silicon (Apple Silicon)
• Operating System: macOS
• Node.js Version: v20.7.0
• npm Version: 10.2.4
• youtube-dl-exec Version: 3.0.9 and 3.0.10 and 3.0.12

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Initialize a new Node.js project:

   mkdir test-project
   cd test-project
   npm init -y  # or pnpm init -y

2. Install the package:

   npm install youtube-dl-exec
   # or
   pnpm add youtube-dl-exec

Expected Behavior:
The package should install without any errors.

Actual Behavior:
The installation fails with the following error:

npm ERR! code 1
npm ERR! path /[project-path]/node_modules/youtube-dl-exec
npm ERR! command failed
npm ERR! command sh -c node scripts/postinstall.js
npm ERR! /[project-path]/node_modules/youtube-dl-exec/scripts/postinstall.js:17
npm ERR!   const { browser_download_url: url } = assets.find(
npm ERR!                                                ^
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'find')
npm ERR!     at getLatest (/[project-path]/node_modules/youtube-dl-exec/scripts/postinstall.js:17:48)
npm ERR!     at getBinary (/[project-path]/node_modules/youtube-dl-exec/scripts/postinstall.js:26:22)
npm ERR!     at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
npm ERR!     at async Promise.all (index 0)
npm ERR!     at async installBinary (/[project-path]/node_modules/youtube-dl-exec/scripts/postinstall.js:33:20)
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Node.js v20.7.0

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in: /[user-home]/.npm/_logs/2025-01-15T10_54_47_345Z-debug-0.log

Additional Notes:

• The issue occurs with both npm and pnpm.
• Tried using --ignore-scripts, but the issue persists.
• shamefully-hoist and cache clearing didn’t resolve the problem.
• The error seems related to the assets variable being undefined in the postinstall.js.

[Kikobeats]

Thanks for reporting; I have experienced this a few times on my side, and I guess it's because the GitHub API is temporarily preventing you from getting the release version.

I added some debug information; please report back with what your terminal logs if you experience this again 🙂