Troubleshooting

Common errors and how to work around them.

The short version

Extractions fail for three main reasons:

  1. The URL points at something we can't extract (a profile page, a private post, a deleted post).
  2. The platform is actively blocking automated requests — our circuit breaker is open and we're backing off.
  3. The platform changed its URL shape or page structure and our adapter hasn't caught up yet.

Below are the specific error messages and what to do about each one.

"Couldn't detect platform"

The URL doesn't match any of our known URL shapes. See Supported platforms for what works on each platform.

What to try:

  • Make sure you copied the full URL, including https://.
  • Strip off any tracking parameters like ?igsh=... or ?fbclid=....
  • For Facebook, try the post's direct URL rather than a share card you copied from inside another app.
  • Confirm you pasted a post URL, not a profile or a search results page.

"Couldn't find media at this URL"

We reached the page but couldn't locate a downloadable photo or video. Usually this means:

  • The post has been deleted.
  • The account is private and we don't have access.
  • The post is text-only (no media).
  • The post is behind a login wall we couldn't work around.

Open the URL in an incognito window in your browser. If you can't see the media there either, we won't be able to extract it.

"Platform is temporarily unavailable"

This means our circuit breaker for that platform is open — we've seen several recent blocks and we're pausing to avoid making the problem worse. It's a cooldown, not a permanent failure.

What to do: wait about ten minutes and try again. If it persists for much longer, the platform may have made a change we need to adapt to.

"Extraction timed out"

The platform was slow to respond. This is almost always transient — try again in a minute.

Download works but the file is tiny or corrupt

Rare, but it happens when a platform serves a preview placeholder instead of the real media. Try the extraction again — a second pass usually lands on the real file.

Cloud delivery failed

If the extraction succeeded but the cloud delivery shows "failed," the media is still downloadable from the status page (the Download button still works). Check your destination settings — specifically the API URL and API key. You can try again by re-saving the destination and re-running the request.

Still stuck?

LiftMonkey is a product of Llama Monkey. If you hit something that isn't covered here, get in touch through the Llama Monkey site.