🔍 Overview
If OTTO reported redirect errors and you then tried to reprocess your site, you may have seen a message that manual reprocessing is on cooldown. This wait is separate from crawl allowances and can remain active even if the accepted crawl later fails. This article explains the wait, how to address redirect problems, and what to do next.
⏳ Why a Playbook Cooldown Appears
OTTO has two separate waiting rules. Its recommendation system places the same Playbook on cooldown for the same project for 14 days after a qualifying run. Separately, accepted manual site reprocessing requests are limited to once every 24 hours per project.
Playbook runs with reserved, started, or succeeded status count toward the recommendation system’s 14-day cooldown; failed or cancelled runs do not. The 24-hour manual-reprocessing wait starts when a processing task is successfully accepted, even if that task later fails because of redirect errors. Rejected retries do not extend this wait or accumulate toward a separate retry limit.
These cooldowns are system-controlled, not account preferences. If you need help with a blocked retry, contact support to investigate; an override is not guaranteed.
🔁 Common Causes of Redirect Errors
Redirect errors can occur when the crawler cannot follow a redirect successfully or when your homepage redirects to a different registered domain, even if that destination loads in your browser. Possible causes include:
- Redirect loops: Page A sends visitors to page B, and page B sends them back to page A.
- Long redirect chains: A URL passes through several redirects before reaching the final page.
- Conflicting rules: Your hosting, CMS, or a plugin redirects to a different version of the URL than another tool does, such as http vs https or www vs non-www.
- Trailing slash differences: One rule adds a trailing slash while another removes it.
- Cross-domain redirect: the homepage entered for your project redirects to a different registered domain. Use the final destination URL where your content is hosted when creating the audit.
✅ How to Fix Redirect Errors Before Re-Running
Fixing the cause first avoids another failed run and another wait. Follow these steps:
- Open the affected URLs in a private browser window. If the page fails to load or keeps reloading, you likely have a loop.
- Confirm which version of your domain is your main one (https or http, www or non-www).
- Check that the website in your Search Atlas project is the final destination URL where your content is hosted, including the right protocol and www or non-www form.
- Review redirect rules in your hosting panel, CMS, and any redirect or security plugins. Remove duplicate or conflicting rules.
- Shorten chains so each old URL redirects once, directly to its final destination.
- Check that your OTTO installation is still present and working after site or plugin changes. Caching and JavaScript optimization plugins can interfere with the OTTO script even when it remains installed.
- Clear your site cache and any CDN cache so the fixes are live.
🚀 Re-Running Your Playbook or Crawl
After your fixes are live and any applicable cooldown has expired, submit one Playbook or manual-reprocessing request and let it finish. Manual reprocessing is refused while the site audit is processing. Once a manual reprocess is accepted, another is blocked for 24 hours, even if the accepted task later fails. A qualifying Playbook run places that Playbook on recommendation cooldown for the same project for 14 days.
If the same errors appear after a clean run, note the exact error message and the affected URLs. This helps our team find the cause faster.
💳 If You Think Failed Crawls Were Counted
If several crawls failed because of redirect errors, you may be concerned about being charged for them. Our team can review your usage history and the failed runs on your account. Review outcomes depend on what the records show, so we cannot promise a specific result in advance.
📝 What to Include in Your Request
To speed up the review, have the following ready when you contact us:
- The website or project name
- The Playbook name and the Otto error message you saw
- The approximate date and time of the failed runs
- How many crawls or runs you believe were affected
- Whether you need the Playbook cooldown reviewed so you can re-run it
- Any redirect fixes you have already made
💬 Getting Help
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.
💡 Tips to Avoid This Next Time
- Check your redirects after any site migration, SSL change, or plugin update.
- Avoid re-running a Playbook repeatedly while errors are still showing.
- Keep your project domain in sync with your site's main domain.
- Review Otto error reports as soon as they appear so small issues do not turn into repeated failures.