# Deactivating creators and accounts

> Pause a creator or one of their accounts without removing them. Choose what happens to their videos and payouts, then bring them back later.

Deactivate a creator when they leave your program for a while, stop posting for you, or you just want them out of your active lists. trackagoat stops looking for their new posts, but keeps their goals, payout assignments and campaigns, and you can reactivate them at any time. Their accounts stop counting toward your plan's account limit while they are deactivated.

You can deactivate a whole creator (all of their accounts) or a single account, for example their Instagram while you keep tracking their TikTok.

## Deactivate, remove or auto-disable

trackagoat has three ways a creator or account can stop being tracked. They are separate, and each one works differently.

| | Deactivated | Removed | Auto-disabled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does it | An org admin | An org admin | trackagoat, after 5 failed updates in a row |
| What stops | New-post checks and profile updates. You choose what happens to the videos already tracked | Everything: the accounts stop being updated | Updates for the failing account |
| Goals and payout assignments | Kept | Ended | Kept |
| Plan's account limit | Doesn't count. Reactivating needs a free slot | Doesn't count | Still counts |
| Shown in lists | Hidden by default, with a **Deactivated** filter and badge | Hidden | Shown, with an **Auto-Disabled** badge |
| Undo | **Reactivate**, in the app, the API or MCP | Can't be undone in the app, the API or MCP. You can add the handles again as new | **Re-enable** |

Use **deactivate** when you might want the creator back, or when their old videos should keep counting. Use **remove** when they are gone for good. See [Removing a creator](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/accounts.md#removing-a-creator) and [Auto-disabled creators](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/accounts.md#auto-disabled-creators).

## Who can deactivate

Only org admins can deactivate and reactivate, the same people who can remove creators. Members don't see the controls. Over the API and MCP, the key or connection must act as an org admin.

## What deactivating does

When you deactivate a creator or an account:

- trackagoat stops looking for new posts and stops updating the profile (followers, likes and bio).
- It is hidden from your active lists: the Creators and Accounts lists, the content calendar, the Creator Goals page, the creator and account leaderboards and pickers in Insights, the pickers for adding creators to a campaign, and Program Health.
- Wherever it still shows up (for example on its own page, or in a campaign it belongs to), it has a **Deactivated** badge.
- It keeps its goals, payout assignments, campaign membership and stats history.
- Its accounts stop counting toward your plan's account limit, so you can add other accounts in their place. See [Reactivating and your account limit](#reactivating-and-your-account-limit).

Deactivating a creator deactivates all of their active accounts with it. Those accounts are marked as deactivated *via the creator*.

You can add a **reason** (up to 1,000 characters). The creator's **History** tab records who deactivated them, when, the choices you made for their videos and payouts, and the reason.

## Choose what happens to their videos

When you deactivate, you choose what happens to the videos trackagoat already tracks for them. New posts stop being found either way.

| | Keep tracking their videos | Freeze their videos | Stop tracking their videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stats (views, likes, comments) | Keep updating | Stop updating. The videos keep the numbers they have now | Stop updating |
| Campaigns | Keep counting, and totals keep growing | Keep counting with the frozen numbers | Keep the views they already had, but stop growing |
| Creator goals | Count as before | Count, with the frozen numbers | Stop counting, including in the current period |
| Insights and project totals | Count | Count, with the frozen numbers | Stop counting |
| CPM payouts | Keep paying for new views | No new views to pay for. The open period still pays views gained before the freeze | Pays views gained up to the moment you deactivate, nothing after |
| View-threshold bonuses | Can still fire | Can't fire any more | Can't fire any more |
| Your plan's tracked-video limit | Still count toward it | Don't count | Don't count |

**Keep tracking their videos** is for a creator whose old videos should keep earning and counting, but who isn't posting for you any more.

**Freeze their videos** keeps everything as it is today. Their videos stay in your campaigns, goals and totals with the numbers they have now, but nothing grows.

**Stop tracking their videos** takes their videos out of goals, Insights and payouts from now on. Campaigns keep the views the videos already had, because campaigns add up what happened, but the totals stop growing.

## Choose what happens to their payouts

If the creator has payout structures assigned, deactivating asks a third question: **What should happen to their payouts?** For an account, it only comes up when the account is the creator's last active one. While they still have another active account, their payouts carry on as normal.

There is no default. Pick one:

| | Pause their payouts | Keep their payouts running |
|---|---|---|
| New payout periods | Don't accrue while they are deactivated | Accrue as usual, including fixed recurring amounts |
| The period in progress when you deactivate | Settles on what happened before you deactivated, as if they left the structure at that moment. The structure's [pro-ration mode](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/payouts.md#pro-ration-mode) decides what that part of the period pays | Accrues as usual |
| CPM views, view thresholds and conversions while deactivated | Never paid | Paid as usual, depending on the choice for their videos |
| After you reactivate | Payouts start again from the next period | Nothing changes |

**Pause their payouts** is for a creator who isn't part of the program while they are away. A few things to know:

- A payout period that starts while their payouts are paused earns nothing. That includes the period in progress when you reactivate them, because it started while they were paused. For example, a monthly payout for a creator you reactivate on September 1 starts again in October. Reactivate them before September starts if September should count.
- Views their videos gain, view thresholds they cross and conversions recorded while paused are never paid, even after you reactivate. Posts they made while deactivated only earn on views gained after payouts start again.
- Their payout assignments don't change, so you don't need to unassign them or assign them again later.
- Reactivating the creator, or any one of their accounts, ends the pause.

**Keep their payouts running** is for a creator who should keep earning while they are deactivated, for example on a recurring fee, or on CPM from videos you keep tracking.

Whichever you pick, a goal period that starts while they are deactivated isn't judged and earns no goal-based payout. See [Payouts, goals and campaigns](#payouts-goals-and-campaigns).

## Reactivating

Open the deactivated creator or account and click **Reactivate**. You answer one or two questions. If you paused their payouts, they start again from the next period.

**Posts they made while deactivated.** trackagoat didn't look for them, so it asks what to do with them:

| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| **Send them to the Tracking Inbox** (recommended) | They wait in the [Tracking Inbox](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/inbox.md) for you to approve or exclude each one. |
| **Track them all** | Every one is tracked and counts like any other post, subject to your plan's tracked-video limit. |
| **Don't track them** | They are never tracked, now or later. trackagoat still records them as excluded. |

After you reactivate, trackagoat schedules a full check of the account for the posts made while it was deactivated. It runs with the next discovery cycle, usually within 12 hours. If trackagoat already has some of those posts (for example because another organization tracks the same account), they are added straight away. New posts after that follow the account's normal [tracking mode](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/accounts.md#tracking-modes) again.

**Their frozen or stopped videos.** This question only appears if some of their videos are frozen or stopped because of the deactivation:

| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| **Resume tracking them** | Stats update again and the videos count again. Views they got while frozen or stopped are not paid. |
| **Leave them as they are** | Frozen videos stay frozen and stopped videos stay stopped. |
| **Stop tracking them** | Frozen videos are stopped too. Stopped videos stay stopped. |

You can add a **note**, which goes into the creator's History.

### Reactivating and your account limit

Deactivated accounts don't count toward your plan's account limit, and the Usage page leaves them out. Reactivating puts them back in the count, so it needs room under the limit. If reactivating would take you over, trackagoat stops and says: "You're at your plan's account limit. Deactivate or remove another account, or upgrade." Nothing changes until you make room.

When you reactivate several at once, the ones that fit are reactivated, and the rest are listed as not done with the reason.

> **Note:**
>
> If you chose **Leave them as they are**, you can still turn tracking back on for one video later from that video's page. The same rule applies: views gained while it was frozen or stopped are not paid.

### Creators and their accounts

- Reactivating a creator reactivates the accounts that were deactivated with them.
- An account you deactivated on its own before you deactivated the creator stays deactivated. Reactivate it on its own.
- While a creator is deactivated, you can't reactivate one of their accounts by itself. Reactivate the creator.
- If you add a new account to a deactivated creator, it is deactivated with them, with the same choices, and comes back when you reactivate the creator.
- You can't move an existing account to a deactivated creator. Reactivate the creator first.
- If you remove a deactivated account and later add the same handle again, that is a fresh add. The account comes back active: its frozen or stopped videos are tracked again (views they gained in the meantime are still not paid), and any payout pause it started ends. Removing the account ended its deactivation, and an account you just added should be tracked, not hidden.

## Payouts, goals and campaigns

Deactivating never changes money that already exists:

- **Payouts already earned or paid never change.** Deactivating and reactivating don't touch existing accruals or payments.
- **No back-pay for paused views.** Views a video gains while it is frozen or stopped are never paid by CPM, even if you resume tracking it later. Counting starts again from the first stats update after you resume.
- **No bonuses for paused crossings.** A view threshold that a video crosses while it is frozen or stopped never fires.
- **Deactivated accounts never hold a payout.** Goal and CPM periods normally wait for a full check of every account after the period closes. A deactivated account is skipped, so the period is paid on the posts trackagoat already has.
- **Payout assignments stay.** Unlike removing, deactivating doesn't end a creator's payout assignments. Whether they keep earning while away is the [payout question](#choose-what-happens-to-their-payouts): **Pause their payouts** or **Keep their payouts running**.
- **Conversions keep being recorded.** They come from your own system, so they are recorded and attributed as before. With **Pause their payouts**, conversions recorded while paused are never paid.

**Goals.** Posts made before you deactivate count as usual, and the period in progress when you deactivate is judged on what happened. A goal period that starts while the creator is deactivated isn't judged: it shows **Deactivated** instead of **Missed** everywhere goals appear (the creator's Goals tab, the API and Program Health), and it earns no goal-based payout. The same applies to a goal for one platform or account when every account it measures is deactivated. With **Stop tracking their videos**, goals are judged without those videos, including the current period.

**Posts found after reactivating.** If you choose **Track them all**, those posts count like any post trackagoat finds late: a goal period that hasn't been paid can be recalculated, a paid one is flagged for review and never changed, and CPM pays their views in the next period.

**Campaigns.** Campaign leaderboards keep deactivated creators and accounts, so a campaign still shows everyone who contributed.

## Finding deactivated creators and accounts

Deactivated creators and accounts are hidden from the Creators and Accounts lists by default. Turn on the **Deactivated** filter in either list's toolbar to see only them; turn it off to go back to your active list. Each one has a **Deactivated** badge, and hovering it shows when it happened, what was chosen for the videos, and the reason.

Their own pages still work, with their stats, videos, goals and payouts, and a note at the top saying they are deactivated.

Their videos are hidden from the Videos page and the Tracking Inbox too. On the Videos page, the deactivated filter can include them or show only them. Each video is labelled so you know why its stats do or don't update: **Stats frozen**, **Tracking stopped**, or **Still tracking** for a creator who was deactivated with **Keep tracking their videos**.

## Where to deactivate and reactivate

Org admins can deactivate and reactivate from:

- the **Creators** list: the menu at the end of each row, or select several creators and use **Deactivate** or **Reactivate** in the bar that appears;
- a creator's page: the **...** menu next to **Update Now**;
- the **Accounts** list: the menu at the end of each row, or select several accounts;
- a creator's **Accounts** tab and an account's own page: the **Deactivate** or **Reactivate** button.

Each one opens the same dialog with the choices above. Reactivating asks about frozen or stopped videos only when there are some.

## Examples

### A creator leaves the program for a month

Their contract is paused for August and you don't want to pay them for anything while they are away.

1. Deactivate the creator and choose **Freeze their videos** and **Pause their payouts**. Their videos stay in your campaigns and totals with today's numbers, CPM and view bonuses stop growing, and no new payout period accrues. The period you deactivate in is paid on what happened before you deactivated.
2. Goal periods that start while they are away show **Deactivated** and aren't judged. You don't need to change their goals or payout assignments.
3. When they come back, reactivate them before September starts, so September counts. Choose **Don't track them** for posts made in August, since those weren't part of the program, and **Resume tracking them** for their frozen videos. Views those videos got in August are not paid.

### A creator stops posting, but their old videos still earn

They have stopped making new videos for you, but their CPM deal pays on views for as long as the videos are tracked.

Deactivate the creator and choose **Keep tracking their videos** and **Keep their payouts running**. Their videos keep updating and keep earning CPM and view bonuses, and they still count toward your tracked-video limit. trackagoat stops looking for new posts and the creator leaves your active lists. Goal periods that start while they are deactivated show **Deactivated** and aren't judged.

### You only want to stop tracking one of their accounts

A creator posts for you on TikTok, but their Instagram is personal.

Deactivate just the Instagram account from its page or the Accounts list. The creator and their TikTok account stay active, so you aren't asked about payouts. Choose **Stop tracking their videos** if their Instagram posts shouldn't count toward goals or payouts any more. To bring it back later, reactivate the account on its own.

### A creator leaves for good

If you won't work with them again, [remove the creator](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/accounts.md#removing-a-creator) instead. Removal ends their goals and payout assignments and can't be undone in the app or the API.

## With the API and MCP

Every action in this guide is available over the [REST API](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/api-reference/creators.md#post-apiv2creatorsiddeactivate) and the [MCP server](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/agents/mcp.md). The key or connection needs the `write` scope and must act as an org admin.

Deactivate a creator, freeze their videos and pause their payouts:

```bash
curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tga_<key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{"videos": "freeze", "payouts": "pause", "reason": "Paused for August"}' \
  https://www.trackagoat.com/api/v2/creators/<uuid>/deactivate
```

Reactivate them, sending missed posts to the Tracking Inbox and resuming their frozen videos:

```bash
curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tga_<key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{"missed_posts": "inbox", "existing_videos": "resume"}' \
  https://www.trackagoat.com/api/v2/creators/<uuid>/reactivate
```

`payouts` (`pause` or `keep`) is required when the payout question applies. Without it the call fails with `400 payouts_required`, and `meta.assignments` says how many payout structures they have assigned. Reactivating fails with `402 limit_reached` when you're at your plan's account limit.

List deactivated creators with `GET /api/v2/creators?status=deactivated`. Accounts work the same way under `/api/v2/accounts`, and there are bulk endpoints for up to 100 at a time. See [Creators](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/api-reference/creators.md#post-apiv2creatorsiddeactivate) and [Accounts](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/api-reference/accounts.md#post-apiv2accountsiddeactivate).

Over MCP, ask your agent something like "Deactivate @someuser but keep counting their videos". It uses `deactivate_creator` with `videos: "keep_tracking"` (and asks you about payouts if they have any assigned), and `list_creators` with `status: "deactivated"` to find who is deactivated. See the [agent guide](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/agents/guide.md#deactivate-and-reactivate-creators).

## Related

- [Creators and accounts](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/accounts.md)
- [Payouts](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/payouts.md)
- [Creator goals](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/goals.md)
- [Tracking Inbox](https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/inbox.md)

---
Source: https://www.trackagoat.com/docs/guides/deactivating