Why your code stopped working (and the fix)

Published Jul 27, 2026

Every code on ReferralCommons has a freshness timer, and codes eventually stop being served if it runs out. If your code was working and then quietly disappeared from rotation, it's almost always one of two things.

It expired

Codes live for a set number of days from the last time they were added or refreshed, not from when they were last drawn. The exact figure is stated on every draw page. A code that's popular and a code that's never touched decay at the same rate, which is deliberate: it keeps the pool from filling up with codes nobody's checked on in months.

It got reported

A few "didn't work" reports in a row retire a code automatically. Programs change their referral terms, links expire on their end, or a typo slipped in at submission, the report button is how the pool catches that without anyone having to moderate it by hand.

The fix takes about a minute

Open your manage link (the one you bookmarked when you first added a code) and hit "refresh" on the code in question. That clears any strikes, resets the timer, and puts it straight back in rotation. If the underlying code itself stopped working, edit the value first, then save; that refreshes it too.

Lost your manage link entirely? There's no recovery flow by design, the link itself is the only credential. The fastest path back in is to submit the code again; if it matches something already in the pool, ReferralCommons treats it as a refresh rather than a duplicate, so nothing is lost but the shortcut.