LinkedIn EXPIRED_UPLOAD_URL (400): why it happens and how to retry

EXPIRED_UPLOAD_URL is a 400 on the LinkedIn Videos API that says the video upload URL is expired. The fix is to call initializeUpload again for a fresh video URN and upload instructions, then upload the file once more. It is a queue problem more than a file problem: a clip waited too long between initialize and upload.

When do LinkedIn upload URLs expire?

The initialize response carries uploadUrlsExpireAt, in milliseconds since the epoch, and LinkedIn says all upload URLs expire at the same time. Uploading to an expired URL throws a 401, and the page lists EXPIRED_UPLOAD_URL as a 400 error for the expired upload URL. The page says URLs typically expire 30 days after the upload is initialized, so a stuck pipeline can run for weeks before it hits this, which is why it often surprises teams that cache upload instructions.

What is the safe retry order?

Do not reuse the old video URN after an expiry. Initialize again, take the new uploadInstructions and uploadToken, upload each part, collect the ETags, and finalize. The video file is split in 4 MB parts, and the finalize body lists the part ids in the same order as the instructions.

If you referenced the old URN in a post before the upload finished, you will hit MEDIA_ASSET_WAITING_UPLOAD. Create the post only after the video status reads AVAILABLE.

Where does the Sume clip sit meanwhile?

A finished Sume job returns its video on a media.sume.com artifact URL, and you read it back with GET /v1/jobs/:id/result. Store the job id from the submit response, as the jobs docs advise, and you can fetch the result again instead of regenerating. I could not confirm a retention period for results in the docs, so do not rely on an old link surviving indefinitely; re-read the job result when you retry.

Never regenerate to retry an upload. A new avatar render is billed again, whereas a repeat upload of the same file is just LinkedIn bandwidth. If you do need to resubmit generation after a network error, send the same Idempotency-Key as the first request.

curl https://api.sume.com/v1/jobs/job_123/result \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY"

Limits of this advice

Sume does not hold your LinkedIn upload session and does not publish for you according to the docs I read. Initialization, part upload and finalization are your code. The 30-day figure is LinkedIn's "typically" and not a guarantee, so always read uploadUrlsExpireAt from the response and compare against the clock before each part.