Content generation is stuck in 'pending' or 'processing'

Content generation in Shipstar runs asynchronously. When you trigger a generation request, you receive a contentid and an initial status of pending…

Written By Julian Gay

Last updated About 2 hours ago

Content generation in Shipstar runs asynchronously. When you trigger a generation request, you receive a content_id and an initial status of pending immediately — the actual content is produced in the background. Understanding the status lifecycle and how to check progress will help you determine whether a generation is still running normally or has encountered a problem.

The content lifecycle

Every piece of content moves through these statuses in order:

pending → processing → completed                    → failed

  • pending — the job is queued and has not started yet.
  • processing — generation is actively running.
  • completed — the content is ready to review, edit, and publish.
  • failed — something went wrong during generation.

How to check status

Poll the content status endpoint using the content_id you received when you triggered generation:

GET /api/internal/sources/content/{content_id}

Check the status field in the response. Most generations complete within a minute or two. If the status has not moved from pending for several minutes, or has been stuck on processing for longer than expected, that is a signal something may have gone wrong.

What to do if status is 'failed'

  1. Note any error details returned on the content record.
  2. Check whether the generation endpoint returned a 502 Bad Gateway error — this typically indicates a temporary problem reaching GitHub's API, and retrying after a short wait usually resolves it.
  3. Verify that your tracked repositories are still accessible and that the Shipstar GitHub App installation is still active on the Sources page.
  4. Try triggering a new generation. If the first attempt failed due to a transient external issue, a fresh request will start a clean job.

When to contact support

If a generation is stuck in pending or processing for more than 10 minutes, or if you see repeated failed statuses with no clear cause after retrying, contact support at support@shipstar.ai. Include the content_id so the team can investigate the specific job.