SideNote Pro Troubleshooting Guide

The provider will not connect

Start with Test & Load models in Settings, AI providers. It calls GET {BaseUrl}/models, which isolates the problem to credentials, URL or reachability, and its message tells you which.

Settings › AI providers

Test & Load models is the button that turns a vague it does not work into one of the rows below. Check the base URL in the same frame while you are here, particularly if you edited it.

What Test & Load models reports, and what to do about it
Message	Usual cause	Fix
`✓ Connected · 47 models found`	Nothing. The endpoint and key are good	Pick a model from the list, or type one.
Connected, but the provider returned no models	The endpoint answered with an empty list	Enter a model ID manually. Everything else about the profile is fine.
This provider does not expose model discovery	The service has no `/models` route	Normal for some compatible endpoints. Type the model ID.
No API key set	A hosted provider needs one	Add your key and test again, or type a model ID if the service has no model list.
Credentials rejected	Key mistyped, revoked, or from a different account	Re-enter the key. Generate a new one if unsure.
Endpoint not found	Base URL wrong	Check it against the provider's own documentation, or restore the default endpoint.
Endpoint unreachable	Local server not running, or a network or proxy issue	For local providers, start the server and load a model.
Rate limited	Too many requests or a provider-side rate limit	Wait briefly and try again, or check the provider's rate limits.
Provider account needs credit	The API account has no available credit or has reached its billing limit	Add credit or check billing in your provider account, then try again. SideNote Pro does not retry this as a rate limit.

Finish AI setup appears above the message box

The profile your messages go to is a hosted provider that still needs an API key. AI providers on the notice opens that profile in Settings; Quick Setup, where it is offered, runs the guided setup, with OpenRouter sign-in first and an OpenAI key under it. Sending without a key keeps your message and attachments and sends nothing. Ollama, LM Studio and custom endpoints work without a key and never show the notice.

A key your provider rejects is reported after you send, with Open AI providers in the message. A key that is accepted proves the connection, not that the account has API credit: the OpenAI guide and the OpenRouter guide cover both.

The key works but the model is rejected

A pass proves the key and the 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. Select Test & Load models again 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

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.
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: the summon shortcut is under Settings › Keyboard, and the Selection actions, Capture a region and action shortcuts under Settings › Actions & prompts.
Check integrity level for selected-text actionsWindows does not let SideNote Pro copy from an app running as administrator while SideNote Pro is not. If one application refuses to give up its selection while everything else works, it is probably running as administrator.
Check SideNote Pro is runningGlobal shortcuts need the process resident. If it was quit rather than hidden, nothing is listening.

The Keyboard section: a Global shortcut box holding Ctrl+Shift+Space, with a caption explaining that a shortcut is modifiers plus Space, a letter or a number. — The summon shortcut lives here. The Selection actions, Capture a region and per-action shortcuts are separate, under **Actions & prompts**. If Summarize stopped working but the assistant still opens on `Ctrl+Shift+Space`, that is the section to look at.

An answer cannot go back to the app

Only Copy is offered: SideNote Pro could not confirm the selection: it changed, the document closed, 30 minutes passed, or the editor does not let Windows report its selection. Password fields, read-only text and apps running as administrator only ever offer Copy. The answer says which.
Return is not available yet: It is offered only for a complete answer. A stopped or cut-short answer can be copied instead.
The change could not be confirmed: The paste was sent, but SideNote Pro could not read it back, often because you typed or clicked while it was on its way. Check the document. Nothing is undone, and the answer stays on the clipboard.
Already returned: A return is used up by its paste. Select the text and run the action again to put another answer back.

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 has no readable text

It is probably scanned. SideNote Pro does not run text recognition, so it offers to read chosen pages as images for a model that accepts images: see asking AI about scanned PDF pages. A damaged, encrypted or oversized PDF, over 20 MB, stays refused.

An Office or email file is refused

SideNote Pro reads .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .eml files. Older formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt), macro-enabled ones (.xlsm, .pptm), Outlook .msg files, password-protected files and encrypted emails are refused. Save the file in a supported format, or without its password, and attach it again.

No more images fit

A message holds five images, PDF pages read as images included, and up to 50 MB of images together. Remove one, or ask in two messages.

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 profile's Context window, 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. Excel, PowerPoint and email files in a folder indexed before SideNote Pro 1.16 are added at the next Refresh.

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, genuine HTTP 429 rate limits and 5xx responses get up to three attempts with short delays. The provider gets up to two minutes to start responding; once streaming begins, five minutes of silence ends the request and offers Retry.
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.
Timeouts and empty replies are named: A provider that never starts answering is reported as a timeout rather than a cancelled request, and a reply of nothing but blank lines is reported as empty.

Takeaways do not appear

No rail: The Takeaways rail needs a window at least 1,560 logical pixels wide, and conversation history switched on. On a 1920 × 1080 display at 125 percent scaling, even a maximized window is just narrower than that. At any narrower width, the Takeaways button in the title bar opens the same cards.
No Save as takeaway: It is offered only while conversation history is on, and only under an answer that finished: a stopped one does not offer it. Saved to Takeaways in its place means the answer already has a card.
No automatic cards: Usually that is the expected result, because most responses give none. Check that Automatic Takeaways is on, and remember that it checks only responses that finish after it was switched on, and skips very long exchanges.
Could not use the provider: Takeaways could not use the selected AI provider means recent checks failed. Check the key, model and endpoint of that profile under AI providers, or choose another under Settings › Takeaways.
A card has gone: Regenerate or Edit and resend replaced the answer it quoted, or the conversation was deleted or removed by retention.

Takeaways covers how the feature works in full.

Active Notes problems

Couldn't save: Another program, such as a backup or sync tool, may be holding the notes file. Your words are kept: choose Retry, or keep typing, which tries again. SideNote Pro asks before quitting with words it could not save.
Windows could not encrypt the notes file: With history protection on, a note is never written unencrypted instead. Your words stay in the editor with Retry.
No note button: A narrow window has no room for it in the title bar. Open History and choose Active Notes.
Send is refused with a note attached: The provider still needs an API key, as above, or the message is too large for the context window, in which case the message names the largest notes. The note stays attached either way.
Source unavailable: The conversation or message a captured note came from was deleted or changed. The note keeps its words.

Startup and licensing

License information unavailable: Another program, often a backup or antivirus scan, is holding SideNote Pro's licence file. Close it and choose Try again; SideNote Pro also checks again every ten seconds. Sending pauses meanwhile, and the file itself is left untouched.
A licensing request times out: Starting a trial, activating and refreshing wait up to 20 seconds for the licensing service. Try again later; a licence you already have keeps working meanwhile.
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 SideNote Pro'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.

The version number is at the top of Settings › About; include it in a support email. Contact support further down the same section opens a draft addressed correctly.

Troubleshooting SideNote Pro