🚨 Cannot resume Live HLS stream after VAST ad ends – suppressedTracks error

[AmirhosseinDanesh]

Hi,
Thanks for the great work on this plugin. I'm currently integrating it into a Video.js player with an HLS live stream as the main content in next.js. However, I'm facing a breaking issue when trying to play a VAST ad before the live stream starts.

🔍 Problem Description
When using the plugin with a live .m3u8 HLS stream, the player fails to resume playback after the ad ends. Instead, I get the following error in the console:

java
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VIDEOJS: ERROR: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'suppressedTracks')
at restorePlayerSnapshot (videojs-contrib-ads.es.js:1569:41)
This error seems to be related to the snapshot restoration logic used by videojs-contrib-ads, which assumes that a suppressedTracks array exists – something that appears to be missing or invalid when using a live HLS stream as the main source.

💡 Expected Behavior
After the VAST ad finishes, the live stream should resume automatically, without breaking or throwing errors.

⚙️ Environment
"@arte/videojs-vast": "^1.4.0",
"next": "14.2.2",
"video.js": "^8.18.1",

Stream type: HLS (Live)

CODE :

`const vastVjsOptions = {
vastUrl: advertisment.adsWebLink,
timeout: 5000,
verificationTimeout: 2000,
skipButtonOptions: {
text: "skip ADS",
},
};
player.vast(vastVjsOptions);
player.src({
src: link,
type: "application/x-mpegURL",
});

        player.on("adplay", () => {
          console.log("adsPlaying");
          setAdsPlaying(true);
        });
        player.on("adpause", () => {
          player.play();
        });

player.on("vast.play", (event, data) => {
console.log("VAST ad is playing");
player.controls(false);
setAdsPlaying(true);
});
player.on("adended", () => {
console.log("VAST ad adended");
player.controls(true);
setAdsPlaying(false);
player.play();
});
player.on("vast.skip", () => {
console.log("VAST ad skip");
player.controls(true);
setAdsPlaying(false);
});`

[kasty]

Hi @AmirhosseinDanesh, thanks for your feedback.

The error you encounter seems to be related to videojs-contrib-ads configuration for live streams.

We've made an update in it's configuration, could you try @arte/videojs-vast@1.5.2-beta.0 on your project and tell me if this version fixes your issue ?

[AmirhosseinDanesh]

Hi @kasty, thanks again for the beta version @arte/videojs-vast@1.5.2-beta.0.

✅ The previous suppressedTracks error no longer appears — great!

However, I’m still facing two major issues with HLS live streams:

⚠️ 1. VAST ads are skipped immediately (inconsistent behavior)
In most cases, the VAST ad is skipped instantly and never plays. In a few cases it does work, but it’s completely inconsistent and unpredictable.

Here’s how I’m initializing the player and the plugin:

         const vastVjsOptions = {
           vastUrl: vastLink,
            timeout: 5000,
            verificationTimeout: 2000,
            debug: true,  
          };
          player.vast(vastVjsOptions);
          player.src({
            src: link,
            type: "application/x-mpegURL",
          });

          player.on("adplay", () => {
            console.log("adsPlaying");
          });
          player.on("adpause", () => {
            player.play();
          });
          player.on("vast.play", (event, data) => {
            console.log("VAST ad is playing");
            player.controls(false);
          });

          player.on("adended", () => {
            console.log("VAST ad adended");
            player.controls(true);
            player.play();
          });
          player.on("vast.skip", () => {
            console.log("VAST ad skip");
            player.controls(true);
          });


          player.on("ready", () => {
            console.log("ready");
          });

          player.on("play", () => {});

          player.on("pause", () => {
            console.log("pause...");
          });

          player.on("dispose", () => {});

          player.hlsQualitySelector({
            displayCurrentQuality: true,
          });

Whether or not I add the event listeners, the result is the same — the ad is usually skipped and the stream resumes incorrectly.

⚠️ 2. Live stream does not resume correctly after ad
After the skipped (or completed) ad, the stream resumes, but not at the live edge.
Instead, it seeks to the earliest bufferable position, which breaks the live experience completely.

🛠️ Console error:
This sometimes shows up in the console:

Uncaught (in promise) AbortError: The play() request was interrupted by a new load request.
https://goo.gl/LdLk22

🧪 Test Repository
To help you reproduce the issue, I’ve created a test repo:

🔗 https://github.com/AmirhosseinDanesh/videojs

Please clone it and test using your beta plugin with:

link: a live .m3u8 stream (replace with a test one)

vastLink: your test VAST tag

Let me know if you need access to a sample stream or ad tag.

Thanks again for your time — happy to test further if needed 🙏

[privaloops]

Hi @AmirhosseinDanesh,

Can you try on our demo by using this file https://github.com/ArteGEIE/videojs-vast/blob/develop/docs/index.html#L7 (change the video url to fit your livestream and adapt or remoe the type property too). You can fetch demo.js here https://artegeie.github.io/videojs-vast/demo.js)](https://artegeie.github.io/videojs-vast/demo.js

Use the "skip" option in the select menu

Thank you !