Postback Tester
Fires callbacks with real macros and stores the transcript for escalations.
Open tool >Postback troubleshooting
Postback Not Working
Networks show zero conversions because callbacks never trigger, fail validation, or stop before partner logs can credit the event.
Introduction
Postback Not Working appears when trackers register conversions yet affiliate dashboards stay flat. Callbacks either never leave your infrastructure or arrive missing authentication, goal IDs, or payout data.
Treat postback debugging like a forensic exercise: capture the click ID, rebuild the callback, log the response, and confirm whether the tracker even attempted delivery.
The objective is a reusable playbook that clarifies whether the breakage lives inside your tracker, on the transport layer, or at the partner endpoint.
Why the problem happens
Postbacks close the loop between media spend and payouts. When they fail, ad platforms lose optimization signals, finance cannot match revenue, and partner trust erodes.
Networks rarely take responsibility unless you provide detailed logs. Without proof, you are expected to fix the issue even if the failure sits upstream.
- Offer templates change macro names but teams keep using the previous callback.
- Partners tighten security (HTTPS, signatures, IP allowlists) without warning.
- Tracker job queues pause during deployments and no one notices until the queue overflows.
Common causes
Bucket failures into delivery (callback never sent), transport (callback blocked), and payload (callback rejected).
Delivery issues typically boil down to paused workers or misconfigured endpoints. Transport issues usually implicate firewalls or TLS. Payload issues come from missing or malformed fields.
- Background services crashed, so no callbacks leave the tracker.
- Partner endpoint enforces HTTPS but the template still uses HTTP.
- Auth tokens or goal IDs expired and no one rotated them.
- Callbacks exceed size limits because optional parameters ballooned.
Step-by-step troubleshooting
Work methodically: prove a conversion exists, rebuild the callback, fire it manually, then inspect tracker delivery logs.
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Capture a fresh conversion
Pull a recent click and sale from the tracker. Note the click ID, goal, payout, and timestamp.
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Rebuild the callback
Use Postback Builder or your template to insert the captured values. Double-check encoding and auth tokens.
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Run Postback Tester
Send the callback manually and archive the full request/response (headers, body, latency).
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Inspect tracker delivery
Review background job queues or delivery dashboards to confirm whether callbacks fire automatically.
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Share findings
Provide your Postback Tester transcript and tracker logs so partners can validate their side.
Tools that help solve the problem
Postback Tester pairs with Postback Builder, Redirect Checker, and Click ID Extractor to reproduce the entire journey.
Postback URL Builder
Keeps macro names and authentication parameters consistent.
Open tool >Redirect Checker
Proves the original click carried the identifiers you expect downstream.
Open tool >Conclusion
Document the root cause, the evidence you gathered, and the remediation plan. Store that runbook next to every offer so future incidents resolve faster.
Add monitoring: send scheduled Postback Tester pings or review tracker delivery dashboards daily so you catch outages before finance does.