From 3641eeeedbf171ff8744d421038f17bf00a3d7cd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ryan Clark <ryan.clark@goteleport.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2026 16:12:13 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Surface errors during recording playback/loading errors
 (#64847)

* Return a nicer error when a session recording cannot be accessed

* Surface loading and playback errors in the recording player

* Remove test error

* Add comment about hasReceivedData
---
 lib/web/recordingplayback.go                  |  5 ++
 .../view/player/RecordingPlayer.tsx           | 54 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../view/stream/SessionStream.ts              | 12 +++++
 3 files changed, 71 insertions(+)

diff --git a/lib/web/recordingplayback.go b/lib/web/recordingplayback.go
index 0c9db057206..064220adfa9 100644
--- a/lib/web/recordingplayback.go
+++ b/lib/web/recordingplayback.go
@@ -631,6 +631,11 @@ func (s *recordingPlayback) sendEventBatch(batch []sessionEvent, requestID int)
 
 // sendError sends an error event to the client.
 func (s *recordingPlayback) sendError(err error, requestID int) {
+	if trace.IsAccessDenied(err) {
+		s.sendEvent(eventTypeError, 0, []byte("Session recording not found"), requestID)
+		return
+	}
+
 	s.sendEvent(eventTypeError, 0, []byte(err.Error()), requestID)
 }
 
diff --git a/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/player/RecordingPlayer.tsx b/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/player/RecordingPlayer.tsx
index a4043be66b8..5d351baec3a 100644
--- a/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/player/RecordingPlayer.tsx
+++ b/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/player/RecordingPlayer.tsx
@@ -25,12 +25,16 @@ import {
   useState,
   type RefObject,
 } from 'react';
+import { Link } from 'react-router';
 import styled, { keyframes } from 'styled-components';
 import { useEventListener } from 'usehooks-ts';
 
 import { Box, Flex } from 'design';
+import { ButtonSecondary } from 'design';
+import { Alert } from 'design/Alert';
 import { Pause, Play } from 'design/Icon';
 
+import cfg from 'teleport/config';
 import type { SessionRecordingEvent } from 'teleport/services/recordings';
 import {
   CurrentEventInfo,
@@ -47,6 +51,7 @@ import {
   SessionStream,
 } from 'teleport/SessionRecordings/view/stream/SessionStream';
 import type { BaseEvent } from 'teleport/SessionRecordings/view/stream/types';
+import useStickyClusterId from 'teleport/useStickyClusterId';
 
 export interface RecordingPlayerProps<
   TEvent extends BaseEvent<TEventType>,
@@ -84,7 +89,11 @@ export function RecordingPlayer<
   ref,
   ws,
 }: RecordingPlayerProps<TEvent>) {
+  const { clusterId } = useStickyClusterId();
+
   const [playerState, setPlayerState] = useState(PlayerState.Loading);
+  const [errorText, setErrorText] = useState('');
+  const [isLoadingError, setIsLoadingError] = useState(false);
   const [speed, setSpeed] = useState(1);
 
   const [showPlayButton, setShowPlayButton] = useState(true);
@@ -103,6 +112,15 @@ export function RecordingPlayer<
       setPlayerState(next);
     });
 
+    stream.on('loadingError', message => {
+      setErrorText(message);
+      setIsLoadingError(true);
+    });
+
+    stream.on('error', message => {
+      setErrorText(message);
+    });
+
     stream.on('time', time => {
       if (controlsRef.current) {
         controlsRef.current.setTime(time);
@@ -165,6 +183,25 @@ export function RecordingPlayer<
     moveToTime: handleSeek,
   }));
 
+  if (isLoadingError) {
+    return (
+      <Flex
+        height="100%"
+        flex={1}
+        p={3}
+        flexDirection="column"
+        alignItems="center"
+        justifyContent="center"
+      >
+        <Alert kind="danger">{errorText}</Alert>
+
+        <ButtonSecondary as={Link} to={cfg.getRecordingsRoute(clusterId)}>
+          Go back to Session Recordings
+        </ButtonSecondary>
+      </Flex>
+    );
+  }
+
   return (
     <Box height="100%" flex={1} p={3}>
       <Flex
@@ -177,6 +214,14 @@ export function RecordingPlayer<
         overflow="hidden"
         position="relative"
       >
+        {errorText && (
+          <ErrorOverlay>
+            <Alert kind="danger" bg="levels.sunken">
+              {errorText}
+            </Alert>
+          </ErrorOverlay>
+        )}
+
         {events && (
           <CurrentEventInfo
             events={events}
@@ -342,6 +387,15 @@ const AnimatedState = styled.div`
   animation: ${appear} 0.8s linear forwards;
 `;
 
+const ErrorOverlay = styled.div`
+  position: absolute;
+  top: 20px;
+  left: 50%;
+  transform: translateX(-50%);
+  z-index: 10;
+  padding: ${p => p.theme.space[2]}px;
+`;
+
 const PlayerBox = styled.div`
   background: black; // black bars on the sides of the terminal
   flex: 1;
diff --git a/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/stream/SessionStream.ts b/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/stream/SessionStream.ts
index 5eb85556d3a..2d50c0904ea 100644
--- a/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/stream/SessionStream.ts
+++ b/web/packages/teleport/src/SessionRecordings/view/stream/SessionStream.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ export enum PlayerState {
 }
 
 interface SessionStreamEvents {
+  error: [string];
+  loadingError: [string];
   state: [PlayerState];
   time: [number];
 }
@@ -80,6 +82,9 @@ export class SessionStream<
   private startTime = 0;
 
   private atEnd = false;
+  // hasReceivedData is used to determine an error happened during the initial load of the recording
+  // or during the stream. It does not get reset on seek, as seeking happens after the initial load.
+  private hasReceivedData = false;
   // we track loading separately from the loading state as we can still play and load at the same time
   private loading = true;
   private requestId = 0;
@@ -362,6 +367,7 @@ export class SessionStream<
     if (isBatchEvent(parsed)) {
       // mark loading as false as soon as we get any batch event so we can start playing again
       this.loading = false;
+      this.hasReceivedData = true;
 
       this.pushBatchToBuffer(parsed.events);
 
@@ -405,6 +411,12 @@ export class SessionStream<
     }
 
     if (isErrorEvent(parsed)) {
+      if (this.hasReceivedData) {
+        this.emit('error', parsed.error);
+      } else {
+        this.emit('loadingError', parsed.error);
+      }
+
       return;
     }