My post failed to publish. What now?

How to diagnose a failed publish and the most common fixes.

Updated May 12, 2026·1 min read

A failed publish almost always boils down to one of three things: an expired token, a content-policy violation, or the network's API being temporarily unavailable. Here is how to tell them apart.

Step 1: read the error chip

Failed posts show a red chip in the Queue with the error message returned by the network. Click the chip to expand:

text
Failed: rate_limited
Network: X
Retried: 2 / 3
Next retry: in 47s

If you see rate_limited, do nothing. Unison auto-retries with exponential backoff up to three times.

Step 2: token issues

If the chip says invalid_token or token_expired, the OAuth grant on that channel has lapsed. Reconnect:

  1. 1
    Open Settings → Channels.
  2. 2
    Find the channel with the red dot.
  3. 3
    Click Reconnect and complete the OAuth flow again.
  4. 4
    Hit Retry on the failed post.

Step 3: content rejected

If the chip says content_violates_policy or media_rejected:

  • Some networks block specific keywords or link domains. Edit the post and publish again.
  • Image rejections are usually format issues. Convert to PNG or JPEG under 8 MB and re-upload.

If the same post fails on multiple networks for the same reason, it is almost certainly the content rather than your account. Check the body for shortlinks that may have been flagged as suspicious.

Still stuck?

Contact support with the post ID (visible in the error chip) and we will dig through the publish logs.

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