Troubleshoot Job Sync API errors

Common Job Sync API errors and how to resolve them.

 

How to detect errors

The Job Sync API returns errors in these ways:

• HTTP status codes - Only for rate limiting (HTTP 429) and network-level failures
• GraphQL errors array - Most errors return HTTP 200 with error details in the response body

Always check the errors array in the response body, even with HTTP 200:

{
  "data": null,
  "errors": [{
    "message": "Error description",
    "extensions": {
      "code": "BAD_USER_INPUT",
      "classification": "ValidationError"
    }
  }]
}

The extensions.code field contains the error type (such as FORBIDDEN, BAD_USER_INPUT, GRAPHQL_PARSE_FAILED).

FORBIDDEN error

FORBIDDEN error

message	Client is not authorized
code	FORBIDDEN
Summary	The access token is missing, invalid, expired, or lacks the required permissions.

The Client is not authorized message with FORBIDDEN code means your OAuth client lacks Job Sync API authorization:

{
  "data": null,
  "errors": [{
    "extensions": {
      "code": "FORBIDDEN"
    },
    "message": "Client is not authorized."
  }]
}

To resolve:

1. Verify the Authorization header format: Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>
2. Check that the token has not expired (valid for 1 hour).
3. Contact your Indeed representative to verify API access.
4. Ensure your OAuth application has Job Sync API permissions.
5. Verify that sourceName matches your registered feed.

For OAuth token errors, see Troubleshoot OAuth errors.

BAD_USER_INPUT error

BAD_USER_INPUT error

message	Exception while fetching data
code	BAD_USER_INPUT
Summary	The client sent data that was not valid.

A BAD_USER_INPUT validation error occurs when the request contains invalid data.

Example with an invalid phone number:

{
  "errors": [{
    "extensions": {
      "code": "BAD_USER_INPUT",
      "classification": "ValidationError"
    },
    "message": "Validation error (WrongType@[jobsIngest/createSourcedJobPostings]) : argument 'input.jobPostings[0].metadata.contacts[0].contactInfo.contactPhone' with value 'StringValue{value='5551234567'}' is not a valid 'PhoneNumber' - String value `5551234567` is not a valid E.164 phone number"
  }]
}

Common causes of BAD_USER_INPUT errors:

Missing required fields

The error message indicates which field is missing. Required fields include:

Missing required fields error

Section	Required fields
body	title, description, benefits (can be empty array), location.country
metadata	jobPostingId, jobSource.sourceName, datePublished, contacts (at least one)

Invalid datetime

DateTime values must use RFC 3339 format with timezone:

Invalid datetime

Format	Valid?
2024-01-15T10:30:00-05:00	Yes
2024-01-15T15:30:00Z	Yes
2024-01-15	No (missing time)
01/15/2024 10:30	No (wrong format)

Invalid country code

Country codes must use ISO-3166-1 alpha-2 format (2 uppercase letters):

Invalid country code

Format	Valid?
US	Yes
USA	No (use 2-letter code)
us	No (must be uppercase)

Invalid currency code

Currency codes must use ISO-4217 format (3 uppercase letters):

Invalid currency code

Format	Valid?
USD	Yes
$	No (use ISO code)
usd	No (must be uppercase)

Invalid phone number

Phone numbers must use E.164 format:

Invalid phone number

Format	Valid?
+15125551234	Yes
512-555-1234	No (missing country code, no dashes)
(512) 555-1234	No (no formatting characters)

String length exceeded

String length exceeded

Field	Maximum length
title	255 characters
description	65,000 bytes
seatPostingId	250 characters
sourceName	250 characters

GRAPHQL_PARSE_FAILED error

GRAPHQL_PARSE_FAILED error

message	Syntax Error: Invalid number, expected digit but got: "a".
code	GRAPHQL_PARSE_FAILED
Summary	A GraphQL operation string contains a syntax error. Usually, this error occurs if you do not escape HTML tags in the description field.

The GRAPHQL_PARSE_FAILED error indicates syntax errors in the query or mutation:

{
  "errors": [{
    "message": "Syntax Error: Invalid number, expected digit but got: \"a\".",
    "locations": [{
      "line": 7,
      "column": 33
    }],
    "extensions": {
      "code": "GRAPHQL_PARSE_FAILED"
    }
  }]
}

Common causes:

• Unescaped special characters in string values (quotes, backslashes)
• Malformed GraphQL syntax
• Invalid JSON in variables

note

The description field supports raw HTML when using descriptionFormatting: RICH_FORMATTING. HTML tags do not need escaping.

HTTP 429 Too Many Requests

You exceeded your rate limit. This is one of the few cases where the API returns an HTTP status code other than HTTP 200.

To resolve:

• Check the Retry-After response header for seconds to wait before retrying.
• Spread requests over time rather than sending large batches.
• Send 1 job per request and call APIs in real-time rather than hourly batches.

For more details, see Rate limiting.

Feed type errors

All jobs on this feed must have seats

You are using a multiseat feed but did not include seats.

Add a seats array with at least one seat:

body: {
  title: "Software Engineer"
  location: {
    country: "US"
  }
  seats: [{
    seatPostingId: "SEAT-001"
    seatLocation: {
      country: "US"
      cityRegionPostal: "Dallas, TX 75201"
    }
  }]
}

No jobs on this feed may have seats

You are using a standard feed but included seats.

Remove the seats array and specify location at the job level:

body: {
  title: "Software Engineer"
  location: {
    country: "US"
    cityRegionPostal: "Austin, TX 78701"
    streetAddress: "100 Congress Ave"
  }
}

tip

If unsure of your feed type, try submitting a job without seats first.

Contact validation errors

No contacts found with type "contact"

Your request is missing a contact with "contact" in contactType.

Include exactly one contact with "contact" in its contactType array:

contacts: [{
  contactType: ["contact", "hiring manager"]
  contactInfo: {
    email: "hr@example.com"
  }
}]

Multiple contacts with type "contact" found

More than one contact has contact in its contactType array. Only one contact can have the contact type. Use types like recruiter or hiring manager for other contacts.

Salary validation errors

Maximum amount cannot be less than minimum amount

The maximumMinor value is less than minimumMinor.

Ensure maximumMinor is greater than or equal to minimumMinor, or omit maximumMinor for minimum-only salary:

salary: {
  currency: "USD"
  minimumMinor: 5000000 # $50000
  maximumMinor: 7500000 # $75000
  period: "YEAR"
}

note

Salary values are in minor currency units (cents for USD). $50,000 = 5000000, not 50000.

Duplicate entry errors

The request contains duplicate job entries

Each job must have a unique sourceName and jobPostingId pair. The same pair appears more than once in the request.

The request contains duplicate seat entries

Each job must have a unique sourceName and seatPostingId pair. The same pair appears more than once in the request.

Multiseat validation errors

All seats must be located in the same country

Seat locations have different countries than the top-level job location.

All seats must use the same country code as the job's top-level location:

body: {
  location: {
    country: "US"
  }
  seats: [{
    seatPostingId: "SEAT-001"
    seatLocation: {
      country: "US"
      # Must match top - level
      cityRegionPostal: "Dallas, TX 75201"
    }
  }, {
    seatPostingId: "SEAT-002"
    seatLocation: {
      country: "US"
      # Must match top - level
      cityRegionPostal: "Austin, TX 78701"
    }
  }]
}

Location validation errors

cityRegionPostal cannot be null when remote type is not "Fully Remote"

Non-remote jobs require cityRegionPostal.

Provide cityRegionPostal or set the job as fully remote:

# Option 1: Provide location
location: {
  country: "US"
  cityRegionPostal: "Austin, TX 78701"
}
# Option 2: Set as fully remote
location: {
  country: "US"
}
taxonomyClassification: {
  remoteType: "Fully Remote"
}

Job lifecycle issues

Created job does not appear on Indeed

Possible causes:

• Job is still processing (allow 1-2 hours).
• Job was rejected during processing.
• Incorrect sourceName.

To resolve:

1. Wait 1-2 hours for jobs to become searchable.
2. Query job status using the employerJobId.
3. Check lifecycleStatus and isRejected fields.
4. Verify sourceName matches your registered feed.

Job won't reactivate

Jobs can only be reactivated within 30 days of expiration.

• Within 30 days: Call createSourcedJobPostings with original jobPostingId and sourceName, and update datePublished

• Beyond 30 days: Create as a new job (might receive a new sourcedPostingId)

Jobs don't auto-expire

Jobs do not automatically expire. You must explicitly call expireSourcedJobsBySourcedPostingId to expire them.

Retry strategy

The Job Sync API uses an upsert pattern, making retries safe. Submitting a job with the same sourceName and jobPostingId updates the existing job rather than creating a duplicate.

Retryable errors

Retryable errors

Error	Retryable?	Strategy
HTTP 429 Too Many Requests	Yes	Wait for Retry-After header value
Network timeout	Yes	Exponential backoff
Connection refused	Yes	Exponential backoff
FORBIDDEN (expired token)	Yes	Refresh token, then retry once
BAD_USER_INPUT	No	Fix the request
GRAPHQL_PARSE_FAILED	No	Fix the query syntax

Best practices

• Use exponential backoff with jitter for retries.
• Start with a 1-second delay, doubling with each retry.
• Add random jitter (0-1 second) to prevent thundering herd.
• Limit to 3-5 retry attempts.

Get support

If you encounter issues not covered in this guide:

1. Check the GraphQL error message and extensions object.
2. Verify all required fields are present and correctly formatted.
3. Test with minimal input first, then add fields incrementally.
4. Contact your Indeed representative for feed-specific issues.

See also:

• Troubleshoot GraphQL errors
• Troubleshoot OAuth errors
• Rate limiting

 

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