Refusals - AskEditor

A refusal is not an error. It is the template telling you a fact about the material: retrying the same call will not change it; different material will.

Why this exists

An edit that silently produces garbage costs you credits and trust. So every template declares what it needs, checks it up front, and refuses with a machine-readable code an agent can branch on.

Common refusal codes

Code	Meaning	What to do
`NO_SUBJECT`	No person detected in the shot	Use footage with a visible person
`SUBJECT_TOO_SMALL`	The person is too small/far to carry the effect	Reframe or record closer
`SUBJECT_LEAVES_FRAME`	The subject exits mid-take	Trim to a span where they stay in frame
`SPAN_TOO_LONG`	A requested span exceeds the template’s cap	Split or shorten
`NO_USABLE_SPANS`	Nothing in the material fits the template	Different material
`UNREADABLE`	The file has no readable video stream	Re-export and re-upload

Template pages list which refusals apply to them. Estimate-time blockers (INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS, IN_FLIGHT, SCOPE_DENIED, RECIPE_NOT_ALLOWED) are documented under Jobs & polling.

Refusals are never charged, and they are deliberate: “refuse broken, allow odd.” Unusual footage that passes the gate is allowed to be unusual.