Overview
After running an OTTO scan, some tasks may remain in a Pending status even after attempting manual deployment. This article explains the most common reasons this happens and the concrete steps you can take to resolve it on your own.
Why Tasks Stay Pending After an OTTO Scan
Pending tasks after a scan are typically caused by one of the following:
- WordPress connection issues: OTTO deploys changes directly to your site via a plugin connection. If the plugin is disconnected, outdated, or the site credentials have changed, deployment may fail and tasks will remain pending.
- Insufficient permissions: The connected WordPress user account may not have the required admin-level permissions to write changes to the site.
- Conflicting plugins or themes: Security plugins, caching layers, or page-builder themes can block OTTO's write requests, causing tasks to stall.
- Site downtime or server errors: If your site is temporarily unavailable at the time of deployment, OTTO cannot push changes and the task stays queued.
- Task dependencies: Some tasks require a parent task to be completed first. If a prerequisite task has failed, dependent tasks will remain pending until the blocker is resolved.
How to Fix Pending Tasks and Manual Deployment Failures
Work through the steps below in order. Most pending-task issues can be resolved without contacting support.
- Reconnect the Search Atlas plugin to your WordPress site. In Search Atlas, go to your OTTO project and open the site connection settings. Disconnect and then reconnect your WordPress site. This refreshes the plugin token and clears stale credential errors. After reconnecting, return to the OTTO task list and retry the pending tasks by clicking the deploy/retry option next to each task.
- Verify the connected WordPress user has Administrator privileges. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Users. Confirm that the account connected to Search Atlas has the Administrator role. If it does not, update the role and then retry deployment from OTTO.
- Temporarily disable conflicting plugins. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins and deactivate security plugins (e.g., Wordfence, iThemes Security), caching plugins (e.g., WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache), or firewall tools one at a time. After each deactivation, return to OTTO and retry the pending tasks to identify which plugin is blocking deployment. Re-enable any plugin that does not affect OTTO's ability to deploy.
- Confirm your site is online and reachable. Visit your site in a browser and verify it loads without errors. If your host is experiencing downtime or your site returns a 500/503 error, wait for it to recover and then retry deployment in OTTO.
- Resolve any failed parent tasks first. In the OTTO task list, look for tasks marked as Failed or Error. Pending tasks that depend on a failed parent will not deploy until the parent is fixed. Address the failed task first, then retry the dependent pending tasks.
- Manually retry deployment. Once the steps above are complete, select the pending tasks in OTTO and use the manual deploy option to push them again. Check the task status after a few minutes to confirm they have moved out of Pending.
If the Issue Persists
If tasks remain pending after completing all steps above, please have the following ready when you contact support:
- The name of the project or site where the pending tasks appear
- The specific task names or task types that are stuck in Pending status
- Any error messages you see when attempting manual deployment
- Whether you have recently changed your WordPress credentials, updated the Search Atlas plugin, or made changes to your hosting environment
- The approximate date and time when the issue began
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.