WebAssembly: CompileError - invalid magic / section

Quick fix

Read the commands before running them. Anything that restarts a service, deletes data or changes permissions should be tried on a non-production system first.

curl -I https://example.com/app.wasm
xxd -l 8 app.wasm  # should start: 00 61 73 6d 01 00 00 00
# Nginx MIME type
types { application/wasm wasm; }
# Fallback if instantiateStreaming fails
const buf = await fetch('app.wasm').then(r => r.arrayBuffer());
await WebAssembly.instantiate(buf, imports);

How to diagnose WebAssembly errors

WebAssembly errors are precise about the layer that failed. A CompileError means the bytes are not a valid module: most often the file was served with the wrong MIME type, or an HTML error page was fetched instead of the .wasm file. A RuntimeError: memory access out of bounds means the module read or wrote outside its linear memory, which in a language like C or Rust is a genuine memory-safety bug caught by the sandbox.

If the quick fix above does not resolve it, work through these steps. They apply to this whole class of error, not just to this one message, which is usually what saves the time.

1. Check what the server actually returned. The wasm file must be served as application/wasm for streaming compilation, and a 404 HTML page produces a misleading magic-number error.
2. Validate the module offline with wasm-validate and inspect it with wasm-objdump -x from the WABT toolkit.
3. For out-of-bounds errors, rebuild with sanitizers or debug assertions in the source language. The wasm runtime cannot tell you which source line was responsible without DWARF info.
4. Confirm imports match: every function the module imports must be supplied by the host with the exact name and signature, or instantiation fails.
5. Build with debug symbols and use the browser's DWARF support to step through original source rather than raw wasm.

Tools worth reaching for

• wasm-validate / wasm-objdump (WABT)
• browser DWARF debugging
• wasmtime --invoke
• curl -I (check MIME type)

Authoritative references

Primary documentation for this error, worth reading before applying any fix in production.

📖 webassembly.github.io

Related WebAssembly errors

• WebAssembly: Cannot enlarge memory arraysThe module asked for more linear memory than it was built to have. Emscripten fixes the heap…
• WebAssembly: incorrect response MIME type (expected application/wasm)instantiateStreaming requires the response to be served as application/wasm. Servers that do…
• WebAssembly: null function or function signature mismatchAn indirect call went through the function table and found an empty slot, or a function whose…
• WebAssembly: RuntimeError - memory access out of boundsWASM code accessed memory outside its linear memory, usually from an out-of-bounds index…
• WebAssembly: RuntimeError: unreachable executedThe module reached an `unreachable` instruction, which compilers emit wherever the program…
• WebAssembly: SharedArrayBuffer is not definedThreaded builds need shared memory, and browsers only expose SharedArrayBuffer to cross…

See all 7 WebAssembly errors →

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