Desktop troubleshooting

Desktop says it is not activated or is locked

• Activation screen: press Sign in to activate, sign in with the account that has Basic, Pro or the add-on. If the browser does not return, paste the licence.
• Reconnect to keep using Desktop: you were offline too long. Go online and press Check again.
• This account no longer includes Desktop: your plan changed. Upgrade to Basic or buy the add-on, then check again.
• This computer was removed: sign in to add it again. All 3 slots full? Remove another computer on the Devices page first.
• Clock looks wrong: fix the date and time, then check again.

Windows SmartScreen warning

The Windows installer is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may say Windows protected your PC. Click More info, then Run anyway. Only do this for an installer you downloaded from your Desktop account or the official releases page.

Research is slow, skipped or throttled

• Sources are paced on purpose. Reddit through Clipper is about one page a second, Google Trends waits 4 to 5 seconds, and Apple searches are spaced out.
• If a site says slow down, Desktop waits and retries. A throttled item may fail without stopping the job. Run it again in a few minutes.
• A site that refuses (rather than asking to slow down) is not retried: see Reddit says refused and A review site says Needs you below.
• Lab: Apple asked us to slow down means some searches were skipped. Wait and press Check now again.
• Lab: No connection to Apple means you are offline. Check your internet.

A review site says Needs you (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Trustpilot)

Clipper opened a page on that site in a background tab of your browser and the site showed a check (are you a human), a login page, or a refusal instead of the reviews. Clipper stops right there and puts the site on hold. It never tries to get past a check, so nothing more is requested from that site until you say so.

1. 1

   Open the site yourself

   In the same Chrome, open the site (for example g2.com) in a normal tab and finish whatever it shows: tick the check, sign in, or wait until it loads normally.

2. 2

   Resume in Clipper

   Open the Clipper popup, Desktop tab, and press Resume on that site.

3. 3

   Resume in Desktop

   In Desktop, Settings, Connect Clipper, review sites, press Resume on that site. Restarting Desktop also clears it.

4. 4

   Try one product

   Run a single check before starting a big run.

• Best prevention: make a free account on the site and stay signed in to it in the Chrome that runs Clipper. Signed-in visits get far fewer checks.
• While a site is on hold, every request to it fails at once with site on hold. That is Desktop protecting your account, not the site refusing you again.
• If the check comes back on the first page every time, that site is challenging automated tabs. Keep its checks small and spaced out, and lean on the review sites that load for you.
• Clipper's popup, Desktop tab, says which one it was: showed a check, asked for a login, or is limiting requests.

Reddit says refused

• Sign in to reddit.com in the same Chrome that runs Clipper. Reddit refuses its data to browsers that are not signed in.
• Reddit refused the requests means Reddit said no, not slow down, so Desktop does not keep retrying. Fix the cause, then run it again.
• Reddit refuses search requests made behind the scenes. Clipper 1.5.1 or later gets around this the normal way: it opens Reddit's search page in one background tab, scrolls it a few times slowly, reads the results and closes the tab. Update Clipper to 1.5.1 or later.
• Until you have Clipper 1.5.1, search with Reddit history (the archive) instead: it does not need Clipper or a login. Subreddit listings and threads are unchanged and keep working.
• If Reddit shows a check or a login on the search page, searching pauses for 30 minutes. Open reddit.com in that Chrome, sign in or finish the check yourself, and try again later.

No AI agent found

Desktop uses an agent that is already on this computer. It does not bring its own.

1. 1

   Install one

   Install Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode, or start Ollama.

2. 2

   Sign in once

   Run the agent once in a terminal and sign in, or connect a provider for OpenCode.

3. 3

   Look again

   In Settings, AI agent, press Look again. Then press Test to confirm it works.

Clipper will not connect

• Make sure Desktop is open and activated. A locked Desktop cannot pair.
• Press Connect Clipper again for a fresh code. Codes work once and expire in 5 minutes.
• Type the port shown next to the code. Desktop uses a port from 17321 to 17330.
• Another program using those ports shows a message. Close it and restart Desktop.
• Update Clipper to 1.3.0 or later.
• Clipper says Desktop not running after you reopen Desktop: wait up to 30 seconds, or open Clipper and press Connect now. You do not need a new code.
• Still stuck: press Forget on the browser in Desktop, then pair again.

My AI client cannot see the tools

• Keep BigIdeasDB Desktop open. If it says the local server is not running, restart Desktop.
• In Settings, Connect your AI, check the client's row. Press Update if it says Needs update.
• Quit and reopen the client so it reads its config again.
• Config file not readable: use Show what to add and paste the snippet into the client by hand.
• Client not detected: install it first, then reopen Settings.
• ChatGPT desktop: connect Codex to share its config, or follow the Guided setup.

Still stuck

Send feedback from the Feedback page in your Desktop account.