workflow · how to

Recover failed jobs

Follow the recover failed jobs workflow in Slack.

Goal

Recover failed generation, render, or publish jobs from the same Slack surfaces that reported the failure. You review what went wrong, retry when the underlying issue is fixed, or cancel jobs that should stop retrying.

When to use this

Use this workflow when:

  • A post shows generation failed and needs another generation attempt.
  • A render or publish job failed and you want to retry or inspect the error.
  • App Home, a DM, or the Create work center shows a failed job count you need to clear.
  • A job is stuck retrying and you want to stop it.

Skip recovery when the item was intentionally deleted or the failure was already dismissed after you fixed the root cause.

Before you begin

Confirm you can access the Plan work center for the active brand.

You need a visible failure signal in one of these places:

  • Recent Failures on App Home
  • The failed count button in the Create work center
  • A failure notification in a DM
  • The retry task when you type /social and search for retry

Counts and lists use the same active brand filter. The number on a button should match the rows in the failed jobs list.

Steps

Open the failed jobs list

Choose any entry point that fits where you saw the failure:

  1. On App Home, open Recent Failures or choose View all failures when more rows exist than the summary shows.
  2. In the Create work center, click the failed count button to open the failed jobs modal.
  3. Type /social, search for retry, and open the retry task. Depending on context, Slash Social opens the failed jobs modal or an ephemeral list.
  4. From a failure card in a DM or channel post, follow the link or action that opens failure details.

Review the list before you retry. Note the job type (generation, render, or publish) so you pick the right recovery action.

Inspect failure details

  1. On a row, open Failure details (or View job details when you need the broader job view).
  2. Read the error message and any recovery guidance shown in the modal.
  3. Fix external blockers first when the error points to a disconnected account, missing media, or platform limits.

Opening details does not start a retry. Use it to decide whether Retry, Retry publish, or Cancel is appropriate.

Retry a single job

  1. From the failed jobs list or failure details, choose Retry for generation or render failures.
  2. For publish failures, choose Retry publish when the target social account is connected. Slash Social validates account connectivity before enqueueing another publish attempt.
  3. Wait for the job to move to a pending or in-progress state. You can open job details again to confirm progress.

Clicking Retry more than once does not create duplicate recovery attempts.

Retry publish after a publishing failure

Use Retry publish only when:

  • The failure was a publish attempt, not generation or render.
  • The platform account for that target is connected and healthy.

If platform targets are missing, Slash Social blocks the retry and shows a clear message instead of sending an unsafe attempt.

Dismiss resolved failures

When a failure card or post card shows Dismiss, use it after you have fixed or retried the job and no longer need the alert. Dismissing archives the failure state and refreshes App Home so the count drops.

Cancel stuck jobs

  1. Open job details for the stuck job.
  2. Choose Cancel when the job should stop retrying.

Use cancel when the item is obsolete, the wrong account was targeted, or you plan to recreate the post from scratch. Cancel does not delete the content item; it stops the background job.

Success criteria

You have recovered successfully when:

  • Retried jobs show pending or in-progress status in job details.
  • Successful publishes update the item status in Plan.
  • Failed counts on App Home and in the Create work center drop after retries succeed or you dismiss resolved failures.
  • Canceled jobs no longer retry in the background.

Recovery can end in a few ways: the job moves to retry started, the item is recovered, the failure is escalated for follow-up, or the job remains failed until you fix the root cause.

Troubleshooting

The failed count does not match the list

Check that the same brand is active in App Home. Switch brands if your team manages more than one, then reopen the failed jobs list.

Retry publish is blocked

Reconnect or refresh the social account for that platform target, then try Retry publish again. See Publishing failed for platform-specific checks.

Generation keeps failing

Open Failure details, fix any media or copy issues noted in the error, then retry. See Retry a failed generation for generation-specific recovery.

Missing platform targets on retry

Slash Social blocks unsafe retries when targets are incomplete. Open the item in Plan, confirm platform targets are set, then retry.

Cancel did not clear the alert

Refresh App Home. If the failure still appears, open failure details and use Dismiss after confirming the job is canceled.