Troubleshooting

Most problems are small — the wrong port, a missing credential, an expired session, a VPN that dropped. This page collects the ones we see most often and what to check first. If none of these match, the Status indicator in the bottom status bar and the Logs tab in the bottom panel are where to look next. Between them you can usually see what the app is trying to do and where it’s failing. Start with the bottom status bar before you dig through settings. It shows whether Studio is connecting, online, actively running work, and which local network address it sees. If a problem is really a local-helper, network, or sync issue, the status bar usually gives you the first clue.

Symptom	Check
”Can’t sign in”	Confirm internet connectivity. Confirm the email on your Altostrat account. Try signing in from the dashboard as a cross-check.
”Signed in but no organizations”	Check with your organization admin; invitations are managed from the dashboard.
”Switching organizations does nothing”	Refresh Studio. If it persists, sign out and sign back in.

Workspace

Symptom	Check
A file or host keeps replacing the tab you had open	Turn off preview mode in Settings > Workspace, or pin the tab before opening other items.
Sidebar disappeared	Toggle the primary sidebar with `Mod+B`.
Copilot panel disappeared	Toggle Copilot with `Mod+Shift+B`.
Bottom panel disappeared	Toggle the bottom panel with `Mod+J`.
Search does not find something you expect	Try the activity-specific filter first, then use the top search box. Some host files only appear after a host is selected or connected.

Terminal and sessions

Symptom	Check
Terminal tab opens but connection fails	Verify host address and port. Verify the credential or key path. Confirm jump host if the device is behind one. Check VPN or firewall.
Authentication loops	Re-enter the credential; for SSH keys, confirm the private key is valid and isn’t encrypted with an unsupported passphrase.
Session hangs mid-command	Connection may be stalled. Try `Enter` to wake the session; if no response, close and reopen the tab.
Session recording is empty	The session ended before output arrived. Re-run the command with a live session.
Host Connect button is disabled	Complete the required host details and attach a Keychain credential. Studio does not store protocol credentials inline.
Host opens the wrong access method	Set the preferred protocol in the host editor. Double-click and quick-open use the preferred protocol.
A device is reachable only through a bastion	Set the jump host on the SSH protocol instead of duplicating the target as a separate host.

SFTP

Symptom	Check
”SFTP unavailable”	Confirm the SSH session is connected. Confirm the remote server has `sftp-server` enabled.
”Permission denied” on save	Check the file’s mode and owner. Edit permissions via right-click → Properties if you have rights.

Diagnostics (ping, traceroute, packet capture)

Symptom	Check
Packet capture fails	Confirm capture permissions on your interface (admin/sudo on most systems).
Ping and traceroute show nothing	Your machine’s firewall may be blocking ICMP. Try from a host session instead.
Flow collector receives nothing	Confirm exporters are sending to your machine and the port Studio is listening on.

Copilot

Symptom	Check
Copilot “cannot use tools”	Open Status; confirm the local helper is green. If not, restart Studio.
Copilot misses obvious context	Attach the active tab or your selection explicitly.
Copilot’s response is cut off	Token budget reached — ask Copilot to continue, or switch to a more capable model in Settings > AI.
Copilot keeps asking before tool calls	Check the response mode and permissions menu. Ask and Planning are intentionally conservative; Autopilot removes per-tool prompts and should be used only in controlled scopes.
Autopilot is enabled unexpectedly	Open the response mode menu or Settings > AI and turn off Autopilot / YOLO mode.
Copilot is acting with too much confidence	Switch to Planning, ask for read-only checks only, and attach the exact terminal selection or tab you want it to reason from.
Suggested chats are too frequent	Lower the chat suggestion behavior in Settings > AI by adjusting the chat suggestion threshold.

Files and artifacts

Symptom	Check
Can’t find an artifact	Open Files, enable generated artifact search, and filter by kind. Also search for the incident, host, or command that produced it.
Host files are empty	Select the host first and confirm the SSH session or host file access path is available.
An old report keeps showing up	Archive it so it stays searchable but leaves the current working list.

Diagrams

Symptom	Check
”Diagram won’t save”	Check for unsaved edits in a sub-panel; save or discard, then retry. Reloading the editor usually clears stuck state.
Shape picker missing a library	Not every library surfaces in the toolbar by default. Use search inside the shape picker.

Calls

Symptom	Check
Poor audio or video	Close other bandwidth-heavy apps. Switch audio/video devices in the call controls.
No audio at all	Check your OS audio permissions for Studio.
Can’t share screen	Check OS screen-recording permissions for Studio.

Sync

Symptom	Check
”Studio is slow to sync”	Check your network; large organizations take longer on first sign-in. Let it finish in the background.
Changes don’t appear on another device	Confirm both devices are signed into the same organization.
Status stays on connecting	Check internet/VPN state, then restart Studio if the local helper does not recover.

Getting more help

If the tables above don’t cover what you’re seeing, the support channel inside your Altostrat dashboard is the fastest path forward. Include what you were doing, what you expected, and what you saw — a copy of the Logs tab output makes a big difference.

System requirements

Platforms, network reach, privileges, and limits.

Settings

Workspace, appearance, terminal, AI, and update preferences.

Start here

Operate devices

Work with AI

Platform

Reference

Workspace

Terminal and sessions

SFTP

Diagnostics (ping, traceroute, packet capture)

Copilot

Files and artifacts

Diagrams

Calls

Sync

Getting more help

System requirements

Settings

​Sign-in

​Workspace

​Terminal and sessions

​SFTP

​Diagnostics (ping, traceroute, packet capture)

​Copilot

​Files and artifacts

​Diagrams

​Calls

​Sync

​Getting more help

​Related

System requirements

Settings

Sign-in

Workspace

Terminal and sessions

SFTP

Diagnostics (ping, traceroute, packet capture)

Copilot

Files and artifacts

Diagrams

Calls

Sync

Getting more help

Related