Troubleshooting SideNote Pro

The provider will not connect

Start with the connection test in Settings, AI providers. It calls GET {BaseUrl}/models, which isolates the problem to credentials, URL or reachability.

The key works but the model is rejected

A connection test that passes proves the key and base URL. A model rejected on send means that specific model is not available to your account, or the ID is not exactly right.

• Model IDs are usually case-sensitive and often carry a version suffix or vendor prefix. Copy the exact string from the provider's documentation.
• Some models require a specific account tier or a verification step.
• A model available yesterday can be deprecated. Re-run discovery to see the current list.
• On a local provider, the model has to be pulled or loaded before it can be served.

Shortcuts do nothing

1. Check whether shortcuts are pausedThe tray menu has Pause and Resume. Pausing releases every global binding without ending the process, and the tray tooltip reports the paused state. This is the most common answer.
2. Check for a conflictAnother application may hold the combination. Windows registration failures are reported and the previous valid shortcut is restored, so try a different combination in Settings, Keyboard.
3. Check integrity level for selected-text actionsWindows blocks input injection into applications running at a higher integrity level. If one application refuses to give up its selection while everything else works, it is probably running as administrator.
4. Check SideNote Pro is runningGlobal shortcuts need the process resident. If it was quit rather than hidden, nothing is listening.

The window is missing or in the wrong place

• Retracted, not gone. In drawer mode, Esc and the close button retract to the leash on the right edge of the display. Look for a small tab there, or press the summon shortcut.
• On another display. The leash re-docks on resolution, work-area, DPI and display changes, but check other monitors if a display was recently disconnected.
• Saved bounds no longer fit. Startup normalises saved position and size against current work areas and falls back to a visible placement rather than restoring off-screen.
• Started silently. A --startup launch never shows the window. That is by design: use the shortcut, the leash, or a tray double-click.
• No leash at all. If the drawer is switched off, a silent start goes to the tray icon only.

Documents, images and folders

A PDF is rejected

Most likely it is scanned or image-only. There is no OCR, so a picture of text contains no extractable text. Attach it as an image instead and use a vision-capable model. Otherwise check the 20 MB file limit.

Images seem to be ignored

Almost always the model rather than the app. Image input is a model capability; text-only models ignore or reject images. This catches people most often on local providers, where many small models are text-only.

Context is too large

Oversized context is rejected rather than silently truncated, which is deliberate. Raise the context budget in Settings, History and context, remove an attachment, or start a new thread with Ctrl+N. The last option is usually the right one.

Folder search finds nothing useful

Retrieval is lexical, so vocabulary matters: use the words your files use. Also check that the folder indexed successfully, that the file types are supported, and that what you are looking for is not inside an excluded directory such as node_modules, bin, obj, dist or build.

A screenshot comes out blank

Protected or DRM-restricted content is blocked from capture by Windows itself. No application can work around it.

Responses fail or stop early

• Transient failures are already retried. Network errors, HTTP 429 and 5xx responses get up to three attempts with short delays, under a two-minute timeout. A failure you see has usually been retried.
• A stopped response is kept. Partial answers can be continued rather than restarted, which saves re-sending the whole context.
• Empty or truncated output on a custom provider usually means non-standard streaming. SideNote Pro expects SSE data: records terminated by [DONE].
• A rejected request mentioning reasoning means the model does not support reasoning_effort. Set it back to Provider default.
• Hit the daily limit? The optional daily estimate limit stops sending, and can stop a stream mid-response. Raise or clear it in Settings.

Startup and licensing

• Startup registration refused. A managed device can lock the per-user Run key. The rest of your settings still save, and SideNote Pro reports the one setting it could not apply.
• The trial will not start. Trial start is authorized by the licensing service, so it needs connectivity. There is no offline fallback period.
• Reinstalling does not reset the trial. By design: the trial is tied to your Windows installation, so a reinstall resumes the original period.
• After expiry, saved conversations, viewing, copying, exporting, Settings, purchase and activation all remain available. Sending, regenerating, continuing and editing for generation show the purchase experience instead.
• A launch failure is written to launch-error.log in the application's local data folder. A silent startup launch stays silent, so that file is where to look.

Anything not covered here is worth an email. Include your Windows version and which provider and model you have configured, and never include your API key. Contact BediniLabs.