Automation not working I think.

Status: Open · Asked by anant yadav on · 0 views

anant yadav — Question ·
https://connect.pabbly.com/v2/app/workflow/share/WhJUZgBXBWZVH1Q-UzZRdgEVVVFSCFVpXURRQwYJBX1QCglcBkcLYVoWV3VTAAdmXxZTOQFdAj8OGlVRAFYFdlRZVXlQU1MpVBlULw1YCTpaBFR8AGE#

I created this workflow, but it is not working why it is not working. It says the media URL is not properly placed which I can see on the first trigger note the Instagram trigger note the media URL is not present, so what to do in that case, I can give you the URL and work so you are well. Everything here is the workflow URL. I authorise you to make changes and tell me what is this issue and how will it be fixed?
Pabbly Support — Reply ·

Hello Anant!

As we checked on our end for the YouTube: Upload Video action step, we found that you have not mapped either the Google Drive File ID or a public video URL. At least one of these fields is required for the action to work.

You can either map the Google Drive File ID or provide a publicly accessible video URL. Please update the mapping accordingly, and if you still face any issues, do let us know. We'll be happy to assist you further.

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Thanks & Regards,
Soumya Tripathi
Customer Support Lead
🌐 Pabbly.com

Pabbly Support — Reply ·

Hi Anant,

Thank you for reaching out to Pabbly Support!

We have thoroughly analyzed your workflow [Inta2u2] and reviewed the task history payload received from Instagram. Here is a full explanation of why this error is occurring and how you can achieve your automation goal:

Why the media_url is Empty

  1. Meta API Platform Restrictions:

    When posting Reels/Videos on Instagram, Meta's API does not include direct .mp4 downloadable file links (media_url) in their webhook payloads or Get Media Details API calls. Instead, Meta only returns webpage links (permalink) and image thumbnails (thumbnail_url).

  2. YouTube Upload Requirement:

    The YouTube: Upload Video action step strictly requires a direct downloadable video source link (ending in .mp4 or a direct video file stream). Passing an Instagram post webpage link (permalink) causes YouTube to fail because it cannot download an HTML webpage as a video file.

How to Resolve / Workaround This Issue

Since Meta blocks direct video file links from Reels via their standard API, here are recommended alternative setups:

Use Google Drive or Dropbox as the Source (Recommended)

Instead of posting directly to Instagram first and trying to pull the video from Instagram to YouTube:

  1. Upload your original video file to a designated folder in Google Drive or Dropbox.

  2. Set your Pabbly Connect trigger to Google Drive (New File in Folder).

  3. Add Step 1: YouTube (Upload Video) using the direct file link from Google Drive.

  4. Add Step 2: Instagram for Business (Publish Reel/Video) using the same Google Drive file link.

This guarantees both YouTube and Instagram receive a direct, high-quality video source file without API restrictions.

Let us know if you face any other issues.

Thanks & Regards,
Hrishabh
Customer Support Associate
🌐 Pabbly.com
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