Handling Asynchronous Task Failures: A Recovery Sequence for NumDetect

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Handling Asynchronous Task Failures: A Recovery Sequence for NumDetect

When building automated pipelines for bulk phone-number processing, the asynchronous nature of the NumDetect workflow requires a robust approach to state management. Because tasks are submitted via POST /api/v1/bulk-tasks and processed in the background, your integration must account for the full lifecycle of a task—specifically the transition into a failed state.

Designing a Recovery Sequence

A common failure point in bulk processing is the input file format. If a task transitions to failed due to an unexpected file-format error or invalid E.164 formatting, simply polling the status via GET /api/v1/bulk-tasks/{id} is not enough. You need a programmatic recovery sequence that treats failure as a first-class event:

1. State Verification: After receiving a failed status from the API, trigger a cleanup routine. This ensures that partially processed data or stale local references do not pollute your CRM or downstream analytics.
2. Audit Logging: Log the specific task_id along with the timestamp of the failure. This provides the necessary trail for troubleshooting why a specific TXT or CSV file may have been rejected.
3. Human-in-the-Loop Alerting: Since the API cannot resolve input-file errors automatically, your script should trigger an alert to your operations team. This allows for manual verification of the input file before a re-submission is attempted.

By implementing this feedback loop, you ensure that your integration remains operator-safe, preventing silent failures from impacting your campaign planning or list segmentation efforts.

Discussion prompt

When managing asynchronous bulk workflows, what specific signals or logging patterns have you found most effective for distinguishing between transient API errors and persistent input-file issues?