hunter.io 202 accepted verification never completes

TL;DR

A 202 means the verification was accepted and is still processing, which is normal for seconds, not hours. Poll the result endpoint with the returned ID on a backoff schedule, and set a timeout after which you mark the address unknown. If verifications never complete, the usual causes are a stuck queue on Hunter's side or an identifier the verifier cannot process. Do not poll forever.

hunter.io 202 accepted verification never completes

Use this when

• The verify endpoint returns 202 and the result stays pending.
• Some verifications complete and others hang.
• You are polling and want to know the sane limits.

Not for this skill when

• The response is 422. The email format is invalid; nothing will ever complete.
• The error is 401. That is the API key.

Steps

1. Poll the result endpoint with the verification ID, starting at 10s intervals and backing off to minutes. Verify: most results land within a few polls.
2. Set a hard timeout: after 30 minutes pending, mark the address verification-unknown and move on. Verify: your pipeline never blocks on one address.
3. Check whether the hanging addresses share a pattern (role accounts, catch-all domains, unusual TLDs). Verify: the pattern explains which ones hang.
4. For bulk work, prefer the bulk verification job over single calls; it has its own completion semantics. Verify: the job status endpoint shows real progress.
5. If nothing completes for hours across all addresses, check Hunter's status page and your quota. Verify: the problem is platform-side, not your code.

Variant phrasings

hunter verification stuck pending

The short search, same polling-timeout fix.

hunter.io 202 no result

Status phrasing, points at step 1.

email verification never finishes hunter

Symptom phrasing, lands on the pattern check.

Compatibility: Hunter.io email verification API. Single verification is async by design; 202 is not an error.

Why it happens

Verification involves live mailbox checks that take real time, so the API accepts the job (202) and finishes later. Some addresses cannot be verified at all (greylisting servers, catch-alls that never answer), and those jobs sit pending until they time out server-side. Your code has to impose its own deadline because the API will not do it for you.

Edge cases / pitfalls

• Polling every second for an hour burns quota and goodwill. Back off.
• A verification that completes as "risky" is a completed result. Do not treat non-deliverable as pending.
• Catch-all domains verify slowly by nature. Budget extra time or skip them.
• Never treat a perpetually pending verification as valid. Unknown is unknown.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_TIayU3Ls-CyQ5rkMQ1a-qg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_TIayU3Ls-CyQ5rkMQ1a-qg

Thread query: hunter.io 202 accepted verification never completes

TL;DR: A 202 means the verification was accepted and is still processing, which is normal for seconds, not hours. Poll the result endpoint with the returned ID on a backoff schedule, and set a timeout after which you mark the address unknown. If verifications never complete, the usual causes are a stuck queue on Hunter's side or an identifier the verifier cannot process. Do not poll forever.