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Dynamic Feed Error Handling

Overview

Lucit is designed to be resilient when data sources experience issues. Every data source in Lucit can define its own rules for what to do when data is unavailable or malformed. One core principle guides all scenarios: errors from data sources never surface directly onto live creatives. Advertisers and the public will never see a broken or error-state ad on a screen because of a feed problem.

How Errors Are Handled

Data Source-Level Rules

Each data source integration in Lucit can define its own behavior when:

  • The data source is temporarily unavailable
  • The feed returns no results (e.g., zero inventory items in stock)
  • The feed returns data that falls outside expected parameters

These rules vary by integration type. For example, an automotive inventory feed might stop serving creatives for vehicles that are no longer in inventory, while a pricing feed might continue showing the last known price until fresh data is available.

No Error Messages on Live Screens

Lucit never renders error messages, broken placeholders, or raw error codes onto live creatives. If a data source cannot provide valid data for a creative, that creative simply becomes ineligible to run and is replaced by a fallback.

Fallback / Default Creative Behavior

When a data feed error or misconfiguration causes no creatives to be eligible for a campaign, Lucit automatically falls back to a default creative that you configure in advance.

Setting a Default Creative

Account-level default (applies across all campaigns for that account): - Navigate to Settings → Default Fallback Creative - Select or upload the creative to use when no other creative is eligible

Campaign-level default (overrides the account-level default for that campaign): 1. Navigate to Campaigns → {Campaign Name} 2. Click the {3-Dots Icon} → Settings 3. From the Default Creative Item dropdown, select an existing creative in this campaign 4. Save your changes

Any user with permission to edit campaigns or accounts can set the default creative. The campaign-level setting takes precedence over the account-level setting.

What the Fallback Creative Should Be

Best practice is to set a well-designed, universally applicable static creative as your fallback — such as a brand awareness ad, a general promotional image, or a "coming soon" creative. This ensures your screens always show something meaningful even when a dynamic feed is temporarily unavailable.

For more information see: https://www.lucit.cc/post/what-is-a-default-creative

Common Scenarios

Scenario What Happens in Lucit
Data feed is temporarily offline Creatives sourced from that feed become ineligible; fallback creative runs
Feed returns zero items (e.g., all inventory sold) No dynamic creatives are generated; fallback creative runs
Feed returns a bad price or malformed value The affected creative is skipped; other eligible creatives continue to run
Data source is permanently disconnected All creatives tied to that source become ineligible; fallback creative runs until reconnected
A trigger condition is no longer met (e.g., weather changed) The triggered creative moves to Pending state; other eligible or fallback creatives run

How Operators Can Monitor Feed Health

Operators and advertisers can view the status of all their data sources at any time:

  1. Navigate to Apps & Data
  2. Click on any data source app to view its status
  3. The DATA tab shows the current data being pulled in
  4. The SETTINGS tab shows the feed schedule and configuration

If a feed has stopped updating, you will typically see stale timestamps on the data. Lucit's internal monitoring systems also track data source health and alert Lucit staff to investigate persistent issues.

Alerts

When a data feed fails or causes campaign issues:

  • Lucit internal staff receive alerts and work the issue
  • Operators and advertisers can see the effect in real time by monitoring which creatives are in Active, Pending, or Available state in their campaign
  • If a creative you expect to be running is stuck in Pending, check whether the associated data source or trigger condition is the cause