First payment hop is not in the publisher's ads.txt
The publisher's ads.txt does not list the first payment node's asi and sid as DIRECT or RESELLER.
What it means
The cache has ads.txt for site.domain, but no DIRECT or RESELLER row matches the first SupplyChain node with hp not equal to 0.
Why it matters
That hop is the seller the publisher authorised. If ads.txt does not list it, the inventory is being sold by someone the publisher did not name, which is the failure ads.txt exists to catch.
How to fix it
The publisher must add a line `<asi>, <sid>, DIRECT` or `RESELLER` to ads.txt, or the chain's first payment node must use an asi/sid pair that is already listed.
Example that trips it
{ "site": { "domain": "publisher.example" }, "source": { "schain": { "nodes": [{ "asi": "ssp.example", "sid": "99", "hp": 1 }] } } }Requires --resolve --cache with ads/publisher.example/ads.txt that does not list ssp.example / 99.
Check your payload
Paste a bid request or response into the tester to see whether this code fires against it, or gate on the id in CI with the CLI: the id is stable, wording is not.
Back to the full diagnostic code reference.