## TL;DR
The conversations API requires LinkedIn's partnership program, and the app does not have it. Do not retry; retries cannot grant a partnership. Check the app's approved products, move the agent to endpoints the app is allowed to call, and apply for the partnership if the conversations API is truly needed.

```text
linkedin API PARTNER_NOT_WHITELISTED when agent calls the conversations API without the partnership
```

## Steps
1. Read the full error and confirm it names partner whitelisting, not credentials or scopes.
   Expected: the message explicitly says the partner is not whitelisted.
2. Open the LinkedIn developer app settings and list the approved products. Confirm the conversations product is absent.
   Expected: you know exactly which products the app holds.
3. Stop the agent from calling the conversations endpoint. Every call will 403 the same way.
   Expected: the 403 stream stops.
4. Redesign the agent's flow around allowed endpoints: use the messaging or share APIs the app does hold, or queue conversation work for a human step.
   Expected: the agent delivers value without the gated endpoint.
5. If the conversations API is genuinely required, start the partnership application through LinkedIn's partner program with the use case documented, and keep the agent on the fallback until approval lands.
   Expected: a real path to the API with a working agent in the meantime.

## Use this when
- The API returns PARTNER_NOT_WHITELISTED on the conversations endpoint.
- The app works on other LinkedIn endpoints but 403s on this one.
- The agent was built assuming open access to conversations.

## Not for this skill when
- The error is an expired credential or a scope problem (fixable without a partnership).
- The endpoint 429s instead of 403ing.
- A different LinkedIn API returns the error (check that endpoint's own access rules).

## Variant phrasings
- "linkedin conversations api partner program required"
- "PARTNER_NOT_WHITELISTED linkedin app"
- "linkedin api 403 not whitelisted conversations"

## Why it happens
LinkedIn gates its most sensitive APIs, including conversations, behind a partnership program with a manual approval process. Standard developer apps get a 403 with PARTNER_NOT_WHITELISTED no matter how correct the OAuth flow is. It is an access-tier gate, not a bug, and no header, retry, or credential change clears it.

## Edge cases
- Partnership approval can take weeks. Plan the agent's roadmap around the fallback, not the approval date.
- Applying with a vague use case gets rejected. Document exactly what the agent reads and why.
- Do not route conversation traffic through a partner's credentials without their explicit agreement; that violates the program terms.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_ubf0YkR_LcgVq5txRd6mQg