Troubleshooting

Every message the app can show, grouped by where you meet it, and what to do about it.

Location

Message	What to do
Getting location… / Getting location (no internet — GPS can take a minute or two)…	Wait. Online it gives up after 10 seconds; offline it waits up to 2 minutes. You can save the knot at any time.
Location is off — turn it on, then tap to retry	Turn on your phone's Location switch, then tap the line.
Location unavailable — tap to retry	Tap to try again. If it keeps happening, check your phone's Location switch, Chrome's Android location permission, and the site's permission in Chrome. See Capturing knots.

Saving and attaching files

Message	What to do
Please add at least one item before saving.	A knot needs text or a media item.
A knot must have at least one item. Add some text or keep a media item.	Same, on the Edit screen.
File exceeds the 100 MB size limit. Please choose a smaller file.	Pick a smaller file.
Unsupported file format. Please use JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, MP4, MOV, or an audio file (MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, FLAC, WEBM).	Convert the file. AAC, WMA and AMR audio aren't supported. Audio goes through Library › Audio file, not Photo or Video.
Couldn't read that file — it may still be downloading to your phone. Wait a moment, then pick it again.	The file isn't fully on the phone yet (often a cloud-gallery item). Wait, then pick it again.
Could not tie knot — a photo, video or audio file couldn't be saved. Remove it and pick it again. (Edit: "Could not save changes — …")	Remove the attachment, pick it again, and save. Your form is kept.
Could not tie knot: … / Could not save changes: … (with a detail)	Some other save error, for example storage is full. Free space and retry.
Media capture is not supported in this browser. / Voice recording is not supported in this browser.	Use a browser that supports it (Chrome on Android is best supported).
Microphone access required. Please allow microphone permissions.	Allow the microphone for the site in browser settings.
Could not capture media: …	The browser reported a problem capturing; retry or use Library.
Media unavailable	A media file could not be read from storage.
Could not load knots / Could not save — please try again / Could not undo — please try again	A local storage operation failed. Try again; reload the app if it persists.
This knot isn't on this device.	The link points to a knot that was deleted or lives only on another device. Go back to Knots.

Voice: Mic, Dictate, transcription

Message	What to do
Stop dictation before recording. / Stop the voice recording before dictating.	Mic and Dictate can't run together; stop one first.
Speech recognition isn't supported in this browser.	Use Chrome on Android, or type instead.
Microphone permission denied for dictation.	Allow the microphone for the site.
No speech detected — try speaking, then tap Stop. / No speech detected.	Speak, then tap Stop.
Speech recognition needs internet (it runs in the cloud on this browser).	Go online. Dictate works offline only where the device supports offline speech recognition (Capturing knots).
No microphone available for dictation.	Check that a microphone is connected and not in use.
Recognition ended without capturing speech. Tap Dictate again and speak, or check mic permissions.	Tap Dictate again and speak.
Dictation error: …	A recogniser error code; retry.
Live transcript unavailable right now — your audio is still recording and can be transcribed after saving. / Live transcription isn't producing text on this device. …	The audio is safe. After saving, open the knot and tap 🎧 Transcribe voice.
Saved. Live transcription was blocked (mic permission). You can transcribe later from the knot.	Allow the mic, or transcribe later.
Saved. No speech detected for live transcription.	Transcribe later if you expected speech.
Saved. Live transcription isn't supported in this browser.	Transcribe later from the knot.
Saved. Offline — transcribe later from the knot when online.	Go online, open the knot, tap 🎧 Transcribe voice.
Saved. Live transcription didn't work on this device — open the knot and tap 'Transcribe voice' to transcribe it via your server.	Needs your transcription Worker.
Saved. Voice transcription was unavailable — you can transcribe later from the knot.	Same.
Saved. To transcribe the audio file, open the knot and tap 'Transcribe voice'.	Imported audio is never live-transcribed. Open the knot to transcribe it.
Voice not yet transcribed. / Last transcription attempt failed.	Tap 🎧 Transcribe voice (or retry).
Set a transcription server URL in Settings first.	Deploy transcribe-worker/ and set the URL (Self-hosting).
No internet connection — try again later. / No internet connection.	Go online and retry.
Transcription server URL must start with https://	Fix the URL in Settings.
No transcription server configured in Settings.	Set the URL in Settings → Voice Transcription.
Invalid email address	The Daily Email Summary recipient isn't a valid address (the feature is not live yet).
Could not reach the transcription server: …	Check the Worker URL and that the Worker is deployed; check its ALLOWED_ORIGIN includes your site's origin.
Server error (…) / Unexpected server response.	The Worker or Groq returned an error; check the Worker, the Groq key and Groq's file-size limit (25 MB on the free tier).
Transcription added / Re-transcribed / Transcript saved	Success messages.

Notifications

Message	What to do
Blocked in browser settings	Allow notifications for the site in your browser's site settings.
Couldn't show the notification (…). Switch this off and on to try again.	The reason in brackets says why (for example "service worker not ready"). Switch the toggle off and on; reload the app once online so the service worker installs.

Sharing

Message	What to do
Knot copied to clipboard / Knots copied to clipboard	The browser has no share sheet, so the text was copied.
Couldn't share — knot copied to clipboard (or "knots")	Sharing failed; the text was copied instead.
Couldn't share this knot / Couldn't share these knots	Neither sharing nor copying worked. Try again.
Sharing isn't supported in this browser	Neither the share sheet nor the clipboard is available.

Google Drive and sync

Message	What to do
Google Drive client ID not configured	You're running a local or otherwise unconfigured copy: the Google client ID was never injected (a normal deploy fails without it, and a DRIVE_BACKUP=off deploy hides the section). See Self-hosting.
Could not connect to Google Drive	The sign-in or token exchange failed. Retry; operators should check the OAuth Worker, its secrets and ALLOWED_ORIGIN, and the OAuth client's redirect URI.
Google Drive connection cancelled	You cancelled the Google consent screen. Tap Connect to try again.
Google Drive session expired — please reconnect	Google revoked or expired the refresh token. Tap Connect again. If it happens about weekly on a self-hosted copy, the Google OAuth consent screen is probably still in Testing status, where refresh tokens last 7 days (Self-hosting).
Old-format backup … / Old format	Leftover files from very early app versions; never imported. Safe to delete in Manage backups.
Merge failed — check your connection	Go online and retry Merge with Cloud.
Already up to date — nothing to merge	Nothing to do.
Merged — N knots brought in, N backed up, N need review	Success. Knots that "need review" are explained below.
Backup failed after 3 attempts — knot … not backed up. Tap to retry. / N knots not backed up. Tap to retry.	Tap the message to retry; check your connection and that you're still connected.
N knot(s) also has/have edits from another device — tap to review	Tap to open Review changes (Cloud backup).
Connect to the internet to review this knot	Review needs a connection.
This knot changed again on another device — please review the latest version	The cloud copy changed while you were reviewing. Nothing was overwritten; review the newer version.
Couldn't finish — please try again. Nothing was deleted.	Retry the choice.
Kept this device's version / Kept the cloud version / Kept both versions	Success.
Could not load backups — check your connection / Could not delete backup — check your connection	Go online and retry.
No backups in Google Drive yet.	Nothing is backed up yet.
Backup deleted	The cloud backup was removed; the knot stays on your devices.
☁ Not backed up / ☁ Backup deleted	See Cloud backup.
⚠ Also edited on another device	The knot needs a conflict review.
Could not save setting	Settings couldn't be written to local storage; retry.

Updates and offline

Message	What to do
New version available — tap to reload	Tap it to load the latest version.

If the app won't start offline, open it once while online so the service worker can cache it, then fully close and reopen it. If a problem persists, report it with the exact message.