Troubleshooting

Find the message you see, then read the cause and the fix. The messages are quoted literally from the package. The flash messages appear in session('linkedin_error'); the exception messages appear in storage/logs/laravel.log.

Two fixes solve a large share of the problems, so try them first:

php artisan config:clear   # .env changes are ignored while the config is cached
php artisan route:clear    # route changes are ignored while the routes are cached

Opening the connect route

I am sent to the login page

Cause. The connect and callback routes require a signed-in user since 1.8 (routes.middleware is ['web', 'auth']).

Fix. Sign in first. When your administrators sign in through another guard, set that guard’s middleware in the published config, for example ['web', 'auth:admin'].

Route [login] not defined.

Cause. A guest opened the connect route, and the auth middleware wants to redirect to a route named login that your application does not have.

Fix. Give your login route the name login, or use the middleware of the guard your application does use; see Who may connect.

403 on /linkedin/connect

Cause. You added an ability such as can:manage-linkedin and the signed-in user fails it, or the gate is not defined. An undefined gate denies everybody.

Fix. Define the gate in AppServiceProvider::boot(); see the quick start.

404 on /linkedin/connect

Cause. LINKEDIN_ROUTES_ENABLED is false, LINKEDIN_ROUTE_PREFIX changed the address, or the route cache is out of date.

Fix. Run php artisan route:list --name=linkedin to see the real addresses, and php artisan route:clear.

Session store not set on request.

Cause. routes.middleware in your published config/linkedin.php is null or an empty array. That removes every middleware, including web, and the routes need the session.

Fix. Set it to ['web', 'auth'], plus your own ability.

Every visitor can still open the connect route after upgrading to 1.8

Cause. A config/linkedin.php that was published before 1.8 still says 'middleware' => ['web']. A published config wins over the package default.

Fix. Change it to ['web', 'auth'] or stricter.

Flash messages after connecting

Configure LINKEDIN_CLIENT_ID and LINKEDIN_CLIENT_SECRET first.

Cause. One of the two values is empty, or the config was cached before you filled them in.

Fix. Fill in both in .env, then php artisan config:clear.

LinkedIn connection denied: ...

Cause. LinkedIn sent the user back with an error instead of a code. Either the member declined, or the request asked for a scope your LinkedIn app may not use. In the second case the message continues with Your LinkedIn app is missing the "Community Management API" product, which company pages require. Request it, or connect with your personal profile only.

Fix. Request the product, or connect with route('linkedin.connect', ['profile_only' => 1]). When the message names openid or profile, add the Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect product to the LinkedIn app; for w_member_social, add Share on LinkedIn.

Invalid or expired connection session. Please try again.

Cause. The callback got no code, or the state in the address does not match the one in the session. The session cookie did not survive the trip to LinkedIn and back: the flow started on another host (example.com against www.example.com), the session expired, or the callback was opened twice.

Fix. Start again from the connect route, on the same host as the redirect URL in the LinkedIn app.

Connecting failed: LinkedIn did not accept the authorization. Please try again.

Cause. LinkedIn refused to exchange the code for a token. The log has the reason: look for LinkedIn returned an error while fetching the token: followed by LinkedIn’s answer. Two things to check: the redirect URL in the LinkedIn app must equal the address of the callback route exactly, and LINKEDIN_CLIENT_SECRET must be the current secret.

Fix. Correct what the log names, then connect again. See the redirect URI.

Connecting failed: the LinkedIn profile could not be fetched. Please try again.

Cause. The token was issued, but the call that reads the member’s name and id failed. The log has Could not fetch the LinkedIn profile: followed by LinkedIn’s answer, or LinkedIn returned a profile without a member id.

Fix. Check that the LinkedIn app has the Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect product, then connect again.

Connecting failed: LinkedIn could not be reached. Please try again.

Cause. No answer came back: a timeout, a DNS failure or a refused connection.

Fix. Try again. When it keeps happening, check whether your server can reach www.linkedin.com and api.linkedin.com.

Connecting failed because of an unexpected error. Please try again.

Cause. Something outside the package failed while the connection was stored. The log has the real exception. The usual ones:

In the log	Cause	Fix
A database error that names the table linkedin_accounts	The migration did not run	php artisan migrate
No application encryption key has been specified.	APP_KEY is empty; the tokens are stored encrypted	php artisan key:generate

Publishing

No active LinkedIn connection.

Exception. LinkedInNotConnected.

Cause. Nobody connected an account yet, or LinkedIn::disconnect() removed it.

Fix. Send an administrator to the connect route.

The LinkedIn connection has expired. Please reconnect the account.

Exception. LinkedInConnectionExpired.

Cause. The access token expired, and there is no refresh token or the refresh token expired too.

Fix. Connect again. This is the one failure a user of your application can solve.

The LinkedIn connection was not granted the "w_organization_social" scope ...

Exception. LinkedInScopeMissing. The full message is The LinkedIn connection was not granted the "w_organization_social" scope (which requires the "Community Management API"). Reconnect the account after adding the product to your LinkedIn app. The same sentence exists for r_organization_admin.

Cause. The stored token does not carry the scope. You set LINKEDIN_ORGANIZATION_URN or LINKEDIN_ORGANIZATIONS_ENABLED after connecting, or you connected with profile_only=1. No request was sent.

Fix. Make sure the LinkedIn app has the Community Management API, then connect again. Do not retry and do not edit the scopes column; a token never gains scopes.

No LinkedIn company page given, and none configured (linkedin.organization_urn).

Exception. LinkedInConfigurationException.

Cause. postAsOrganization() was called without a URN, and LINKEDIN_ORGANIZATION_URN is empty or the config is cached.

Fix. Pass the URN as the second argument, or set the env value and run php artisan config:clear.

LinkedIn rejected the post: ...

Exception. LinkedInApiException with operation publish. $e->status is the HTTP status and $e->body is LinkedIn’s answer.

Status	Cause	Fix
401	LinkedIn no longer accepts the token, for example because the member revoked the app	Connect again
403	The token lacks the scope (a connection from before 1.4 has no recorded scopes, so the package could not tell), or the member has no role on that company page that may post	Connect again, or fix the role on the page
Another 4xx on every call, from one day to the next	LINKEDIN_API_VERSION names a version LinkedIn has retired	Set a current version from LinkedIn’s versioning page
5xx	A failure at LinkedIn	Retry later

LinkedIn could not be reached (publish)

Exception. LinkedInApiException with status 0; $e->isConnectionProblem() is true. The word between brackets is the operation: token, profile, publish, organizations or image.

Cause. No answer came back at all.

Fix. Retry. In a queued job, rethrow the exception so the queue tries again; see the quick start.

The post went out, but urn and permalink are empty

Cause. LinkedIn answered with a success status but without the x-restli-id header. The package returns ['urn' => '', 'permalink' => ''] and throws nothing.

Fix. Check for an empty urn before you store the result. In a test, fake the header; see Testing.

Hashtags and mentions show up as plain text

Cause. The package escapes every reserved character in the text, including # and @.

Fix. None within the package; see What the text may contain.

The application posts as the wrong account

Cause. The package keeps one connection. LinkedIn::account() is the account that was connected last, and rows of earlier connects stay in the table.

Fix. Check LinkedIn::account()?->name. Call LinkedIn::disconnect() and connect the right account.

The payload is invalid. or The MAC is invalid.

Exception. Laravel’s Illuminate\Contracts\Encryption\DecryptException.

Cause. APP_KEY changed after the account was connected. The tokens were encrypted with the old key.

Fix. Call LinkedIn::disconnect() and connect again.

Images and company pages

Could not initialize the LinkedIn image upload: ..., LinkedIn returned no upload URL for the image or LinkedIn refused the image upload: ...

Exception. LinkedInApiException with operation image.

Cause. One of the two upload calls failed. $e->status and $e->body have LinkedIn’s answer. The owner URN you passed must be the author you post as.

Fix. Upload with the URN of the author: the member URN for postAsMember(), the company page URN for postAsOrganization().

Could not fetch the LinkedIn company pages: ...

Exception. LinkedInApiException with operation organizations.

Cause. LinkedIn refused the list. With status 403 the token has no r_organization_admin.

Fix. Follow the three steps on Company pages, in that order.

LinkedIn::canListOrganizations() stays false

Cause. It needs both LINKEDIN_ORGANIZATIONS_ENABLED=true and a token with r_organization_admin.

Fix. Turn the setting on, run php artisan config:clear, and connect again.

A new company page is missing from the list

Cause. The list is cached for organizations.cache_ttl seconds, one hour by default.

Fix. LinkedIn::organizations(fresh: true) or LinkedIn::forgetOrganizations().