fix(cli): expose render debug mode

Adds the render --debug CLI flag, forwards it through Docker/local render paths, and captures full producer debug artifacts from pipeline start.

Author: miguel-heygen

packages/cli/src/commands/render.test.ts

@@ -252,6 +252,21 @@ describe("renderLocal browser GPU config", () => {
     expect(producerState.createdJobs[0]?.videoFrameFormat).toBe("png");
   });
 
+  it("forwards debug mode to createRenderJob", async () => {
+    await renderLocal("/tmp/project", "/tmp/out.mp4", {
+      fps: { num: 30, den: 1 },
+      quality: "standard",
+      format: "mp4",
+      gpu: false,
+      browserGpuMode: "software",
+      hdrMode: "auto",
+      quiet: true,
+      debug: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(producerState.createdJobs[0]?.debug).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("omits variables from createRenderJob when not provided", async () => {
     await renderLocal("/tmp/project", "/tmp/out.mp4", {
       fps: { num: 30, den: 1 },

packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts

@@ -241,6 +241,12 @@ export default defineCommand({
       description: "Suppress verbose output",
       default: false,
     },
+    debug: {
+      type: "boolean",
+      description:
+        "Write full render diagnostics and keep intermediate artifacts under the producer .debug directory.",
+      default: false,
+    },
     strict: {
       type: "boolean",
       description: "Fail render on lint errors",
@@ -548,6 +554,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
     const browserGpuArg = args["browser-gpu"];
     const browserGpuMode = resolveBrowserGpuForCli(useDocker, browserGpuArg);
     const quiet = args.quiet ?? false;
+    const debug = args.debug ?? false;
     const batchJson = args.json ?? false;
     const effectiveQuiet = quiet || (batchPath != null && batchJson);
     const strictAll = args["strict-all"] ?? false;
@@ -763,6 +770,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
         pageNavigationTimeoutMs,
         protocolTimeout,
         playerReadyTimeout,
+        debug,
         exitAfterComplete: false,
         throwOnError: true,
         skipFeedback: true,
@@ -815,6 +823,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
         videoBitrate,
         videoFrameFormat,
         quiet,
+        debug,
         variables,
         entryFile,
         outputResolution,
@@ -840,6 +849,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
         videoFrameFormat,
         quiet,
         browserPath,
+        debug,
         variables,
         entryFile,
         outputResolution,
@@ -876,6 +886,7 @@ interface RenderOptions {
   videoBitrate?: string;
   videoFrameFormat?: VideoFrameFormat;
   quiet: boolean;
+  debug?: boolean;
   browserPath?: string;
   variables?: Record<string, unknown>;
   entryFile?: string;
@@ -1124,6 +1135,7 @@ async function renderDocker(
       entryFile: options.entryFile,
       outputResolution: options.outputResolution,
       pageSideCompositing: options.pageSideCompositing,
+      debug: options.debug,
       pageNavigationTimeoutMs: options.pageNavigationTimeoutMs,
     },
   });
@@ -1206,7 +1218,7 @@ export async function renderLocal(
 
   const startTime = Date.now();
   const logger = createRenderTelemetryLogger(
-    producer.createConsoleLogger?.("info") ?? createNoopProducerLogger(),
+    producer.createConsoleLogger?.(options.debug ? "debug" : "info") ?? createNoopProducerLogger(),
   );
 
   const job = producer.createRenderJob({
@@ -1233,6 +1245,7 @@ export async function renderLocal(
     variables: options.variables,
     entryFile: options.entryFile,
     outputResolution: options.outputResolution,
+    debug: options.debug,
   });
 
   const onProgress = options.quiet

packages/cli/src/utils/dockerRunArgs.test.ts

@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ describe("buildDockerRunArgs", () => {
         videoBitrate: undefined,
         videoFrameFormat: "png",
         quiet: true,
+        debug: true,
         entryFile: "compositions/intro.html",
       },
     });
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ describe("buildDockerRunArgs", () => {
     expect(args).toContain("--video-frame-format");
     expect(args).toContain("png");
     expect(args).toContain("--quiet");
+    expect(args).toContain("--debug");
     expect(args).toContain("--gpu");
     expect(args).toContain("--no-browser-gpu");
     expect(args).toContain("--hdr");
@@ -352,6 +354,18 @@ describe("buildDockerRunArgs", () => {
     expect(args).toContain("--no-page-side-compositing");
   });
 
+  it("keeps Docker debug artifacts under the mounted output directory", () => {
+    const args = buildDockerRunArgs({
+      ...FIXED_INPUT,
+      options: { ...BASE, debug: true },
+    });
+    const envIdx = args.indexOf("PRODUCER_RENDERS_DIR=/output/renders");
+    const imageIdx = args.indexOf(FIXED_INPUT.imageTag);
+    expect(envIdx).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(envIdx).toBeLessThan(imageIdx);
+    expect(args).toContain("--debug");
+  });
+
   it("omits --no-page-side-compositing when pageSideCompositing is not explicitly false", () => {
     const args = buildDockerRunArgs({ ...FIXED_INPUT, options: BASE });
     expect(args).not.toContain("--no-page-side-compositing");

packages/cli/src/utils/dockerRunArgs.ts

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ export interface DockerRenderOptions {
   videoBitrate?: string;
   videoFrameFormat?: "auto" | "jpg" | "png";
   quiet: boolean;
+  debug?: boolean;
   variables?: Record<string, unknown>;
   entryFile?: string;
   /** Output resolution preset (e.g. "landscape-4k"). Forwarded as `--resolution`. */
@@ -109,6 +110,10 @@ export function buildDockerRunArgs(input: DockerRunArgsInput): string[] {
     `${projectDir}:/project:ro`,
     "-v",
     `${outputDir}:/output`,
+    // Keep debug artifacts on the mounted host output path. The producer roots
+    // `.debug` at dirname(PRODUCER_RENDERS_DIR), so `/output/renders` maps to
+    // `/output/.debug/<job id>` instead of a disposable container path.
+    ...(options.debug ? ["-e", "PRODUCER_RENDERS_DIR=/output/renders"] : []),
     imageTag,
     "/project",
     "--output",
@@ -128,6 +133,7 @@ export function buildDockerRunArgs(input: DockerRunArgsInput): string[] {
       ? ["--video-frame-format", options.videoFrameFormat]
       : []),
     ...(options.quiet ? ["--quiet"] : []),
+    ...(options.debug ? ["--debug"] : []),
     ...(options.gpu ? ["--gpu"] : []),
     ...(options.browserGpu ? [] : ["--no-browser-gpu"]),
     ...(options.hdrMode === "force-hdr" ? ["--hdr"] : []),

packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts

@@ -914,6 +914,14 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
     assertNotAborted();
     assertConfiguredFfmpegBinariesExist();
 
+    if (!existsSync(workDir)) mkdirSync(workDir, { recursive: true });
+
+    if (job.config.debug) {
+      const logPath = join(workDir, "render.log");
+      restoreLogger = installDebugLogger(logPath, log);
+      log.info("[Render] Debug artifacts enabled", { workDir, logPath });
+    }
+
     log.info("[Render] Pipeline started", {
       platform: process.platform,
       arch: process.arch,
@@ -939,13 +947,6 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
       requestedWorkers: job.config.workers ?? "auto",
     });
 
-    if (!existsSync(workDir)) mkdirSync(workDir, { recursive: true });
-
-    if (job.config.debug) {
-      const logPath = join(workDir, "render.log");
-      restoreLogger = installDebugLogger(logPath, log);
-    }
-
     const entryFile = job.config.entryFile || "index.html";
     let htmlPath = join(projectDir, entryFile);
     if (!existsSync(htmlPath)) {