POST /v1/content/:containerId/reject

POST/v1/content/:containerId/reject

Phase 1stable

Auth: Bearer

Flips approvalStatus to rejected and stamps the reviewer. Rejected containers can't be scheduled. To produce a new take, call POST /v1/projects/:projectId/content with a fresh hook.

Path parameters

containerId
string (uuid)required
The container to reject.

Body

reason
stringrequired
Rejection note, 1–1024 chars. Stored on the container for audit.

Request

terminal

curl -X POST https://api.layers.com/v1/content/{containerId}/reject \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LAYERS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "reason": "Hook is off-brand; want something punchier." }'

reject.ts

const res = await fetch(
  `https://api.layers.com/v1/content/${containerId}/reject`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.LAYERS_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ reason: 'Needs a new angle.' }),
  },
);
const result = await res.json();

reject.py

import os, httpx

r = httpx.post(
    f"https://api.layers.com/v1/content/{container_id}/reject",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ[\'LAYERS_API_KEY\']}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={"reason": "Off-brand hook."},
)
result = r.json()

Responses

200Rejected.

{
  "id": "cnt_7d18b9a1...",
  "approvalStatus": "rejected",
  "rejectedAt": "2026-04-18T09:44:50Z",
  "rejectedBy": "api_key_c2037bb9...",
  "reason": "Hook is off-brand; want something punchier."
}

409Container is already rejected or approved.

{
  "error": {
    "code": "CONFLICT",
    "message": "Container is already rejected.",
    "requestId": "req_...",
    "details": { "approvalStatus": "rejected" }
  }
}

409Container does not require approval (e.g. project policy is `auto_approve`, or the first-N gate self-disabled before this container was generated).

{
  "error": {
    "code": "CONFLICT",
    "message": "Container does not require approval.",
    "requestId": "req_...",
    "details": { "approvalStatus": "not_required" }
  }
}

approvalStatus: "not_required" means the container was never gated — there is nothing to reject. If you want to suppress an ungated container, skip schedule entirely or cancel it after the fact.

422Missing or empty `reason` field (Zod schema validation).

{
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION",
    "message": "Invalid body.",
    "requestId": "req_...",
    "details": { "issues": [{ "path": ["reason"], "message": "Required" }] }
  }
}

422State precondition failed — container exists but its generation hasn't completed yet.

{
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION",
    "message": "Container status must be completed to reject.",
    "requestId": "req_...",
    "details": { "status": "processing" }
  }
}

The VALIDATION 422 has two distinct shapes: body-level (missing/empty reason — the schema rejects it before any DB read; details.issues[] carries Zod paths) and state-level (container exists and is approval-eligible but status !== "completed"; details.status carries the live status). Both share the same code; differentiate via details.

Notes

Approved → rejected isn't supported. Once a container is approved, rejecting it is a CONFLICT. If approved content is wrong, cancel any scheduled posts and call generate again with a fresh hook.
Rejection counts toward the first-N threshold same as approval. Both are "this container moved out of pending". The counter measures throughput of human review, not net positive verdicts — so once firstN containers have hit any terminal state (approved or rejected), the gate self-disables and subsequent generations land at not_required.
To produce a new take, call POST /v1/projects/:projectId/content with a fresh hook.

Errors

Code	When
`CONFLICT`	Container is already rejected or approved.
`VALIDATION`	Container isn't `completed`; or missing `reason`.
`NOT_FOUND`	Container id not in this org.