Diagnose a Line Item
The oxs-delivery-troubleshoot skill guides the AI assistant through finding out why an OpenXDirect™ line item or campaign is not delivering. The assistant first looks at the delivery figures to see where items stall. It then works through a fixed checklist, starting with the quickest and most common causes, stops at the first check that fails, and provides a likely cause and the fix.
This skill only reads data. It does not modify items while diagnosing. It tells you the fix, and applies it only if you ask for it.
When to Use It
- A line item, order or campaign that is not delivering, spending or bidding.
- A line item shows as active but has no impressions.
- A line item was flagged as behind or well behind in Review Pacing. For example, “Why isn’t line item Summer Video spending?”
What You Need
The line item by name or ID. If you provide an order, the assistant checks each line item that should be delivering within the order.
How It Works
- Find where delivery stalls. The assistant reads the last 7 days of delivery figures and follows them step by step, from auctions offered, to bids, to auctions won, to impressions served. The first step that drops to zero shows where to look.
- Check the line item. If the system already provided a reason why it is not delivering, that’s the fast answer. Otherwise, the assistant checks for a paused status, dates that have not started or have already ended, or a missing deal.
- Check the creatives. At least one active creative must be attached, and it must be in the right format. For example, a banner creative on a banner line item.
- Check the order. A paused or ended order stops every line item within the order, regardless of their own status. The assistant also checks if the order’s budget is already spent.
- Check the deal. The deal must be active, its dates must cover the current day, and its format must match the line item. The assistant also checks whether the deal is receiving any auctions at all.
- Check the forecast. It checks if inventory exists for this targeting, and if the line item’s maximum bid is high enough to win.
- Compare with sibling line items. If other line items in the same order are delivering, the issue is specific to this one. If none of them are, the issue is likely the order or the account.
Where Delivery Stalls
| What the figures show | What it usually means | Where the assistant looks |
|---|---|---|
| No auctions offered | The deal is not active, has not started, or its targeting matches nothing | The deal, then the forecast |
| Auctions offered, no bids | The line item is not bidding: a setup issue | The line item, creatives, and order |
| Bids, but no wins | Losing every auction on price | The maximum bid against the forecast’s CPM range |
| Wins, but few or no impressions | The ad is not rendering | The creatives |
| Everything flowing but slowly | Behind pace, not stalled | Budget, bid price, or inventory |
If delivery was healthy and then suddenly dropped to zero, the assistant looks for a recent change, such as an edit to the line item or deal, or a creative that is paused.
Common Issues
- Paused line item, creative, order, or deal.
- Dates: checked in UTC, not your local time. A line item that starts on the current day may not have started yet on the server.
- No active creative, or a creative in the wrong format.
- Format mismatch between the line item and the deal.
- Bid too low to win against the market price.
- No inventory for the targeting.
- Frequency caps or day-parting that are too tight. The forecast does not include these. They can slow a line item that the forecast calls healthy.
Good to Know
- Active does not always mean delivering. The assistant reports three things together: the status you set, what the system is actually doing, and the reason it provides.
- Figures run through yesterday. Line item figures and deal figures are updated at different times each day. Today’s activity is never included, and a line item that started today has no data yet. If the figures look healthy but you see nothing, you may be looking at today.
- Deal still publishing: a deal can show “Publishing” for a short time after activation while OpenX prepares it. It becomes Active on its own. Nothing delivers until then.
What You Get
A short table with one row per check, showing what was read and whether it passed or failed. Then the likely cause in one sentence, the fix, and the delivery figures with the dates they cover.
If every check passes, the assistant says it plainly. It provides you the delivery figures, the forecast and the bid comparison as the remaining leads, rather than guessing a cause.
Safeguards
- Read-only while diagnosing: nothing in your account is modified.
- Fixes are suggested, and applied only when you ask for it.
- No guesswork. The assistant reports the first check that actually fails, and not a theory.
Example Prompts
“Why isn’t the line item Summer Video delivering?”
“Order Spring Launch shows active but has no impressions. What’s wrong?”
“Line item 4321 stopped spending yesterday. Can you check it?”