LinkedIn Videos API templateName and linkbackContext (202602+)

LinkedIn's Videos API accepts two optional fields on initializeUpload that attribute a video to the tool or template used to make it: templateName and linkbackContext. The page says both are only supported from API version 202602 onwards. If you publish clips made in your own product, or from a template you control, they let LinkedIn show a link back. They are optional and do nothing for a file you simply render and post.

What the page says

Request fragment

The page's example puts both fields inside initializeUploadRequest, beside owner, fileSizeBytes, uploadCaptions and uploadThumbnail. The version header must be 202602 or later, or the fields are not supported.

import json

def init_body(owner, size, template=None, linkback=None):
    req = {"owner": owner, "fileSizeBytes": size,
           "uploadCaptions": False, "uploadThumbnail": False}
    if template:
        req["templateName"] = template
    if linkback:
        req["linkbackContext"] = linkback
    return {"initializeUploadRequest": req}

print(json.dumps(init_body("urn:li:organization:123", 1055736,
      "Product teaser", "https://example.com/templates/teaser"), indent=2))

Does this apply to Sume output?

Only if you are the integrator. Sume does not call LinkedIn or add attribution to files. If your app lets people make videos with Sume tools such as Timeline 1.0 and then posts them to LinkedIn, your app decides whether to set these fields, and what URL it should link back to. The page does not say what LinkedIn does with them in the feed, nor whether a missing value is penalised.

When to bother

Skip both fields if you only post files someone made by hand. Set them when your product is the origin of the video and you want viewers to find the template. Decide the string once per template, keep it stable across posts so any later reporting groups cleanly, and store it in configuration next to the template id. The two fields are independent: the page says the template name is only needed if it must be displayed later in the attribution call to action.

Limits

The values must be strings you control; never put a customer's private URL in linkbackContext. The page's example uses a third-party editor's URL purely as an illustration. With a header older than 202602 the request may reject the unknown fields, and the 202510 version sunsets on October 15, 2026, so pin a newer one.