Troubleshooting & FAQ

Something not working the way you expect? Start here. Each answer says what's going on and what to do about it.

#Assistants and connectors

#An assistant shows as disconnected, or its tools fail

Open Profile → Connectors. Each assistant shows Connected or Not connected. If you see Couldn't check which apps are connected., check your connection and open the screen again.

If the assistant shows Not connected, or it says it can't reach Idea Bucket:

1. In the assistant's own settings, remove the Idea Bucket connector.
2. Copy the Server URL from Profile → Connectors and add the connector again.
3. Select Allow on the Idea Bucket screen that opens.

If the approval screen says This link has expired. Start connecting again from your assistant., start again from step 2 in the assistant.

For apps that use an access key (like Grok Bot), check the key under Access keys. If it was revoked, or you can't find it, create a new one and paste the new header into the app. Keys are only shown once.

#An assistant says "Hourly limit reached"

You've reached one of the hourly limits for AI features (search and indexing, or tag summaries). Wait until the top of the hour and ask again. If the assistant was adding an idea when this happened, the idea wasn't saved. See Limits, privacy & security.

#Signing in

#I opened the magic link on a different device or browser

A magic link signs you in wherever you open it, not where you asked for it. If you request a link on your laptop and tap it on your phone, your phone gets signed in. The laptop tab stays on the sign-in screen.

To sign in somewhere specific, request the link there and open the email in that same browser. Or use Continue with Google. Each link works once, so if you get an error saying the link is invalid or has expired, request a new one.

#A sign-in link from the Mac app doesn't work

A link you request in the Mac app hands the sign-in back to the app, so open it on the same Mac. If it fails, the app shows That sign-in link didn't work. Try again. Request a fresh link from the app.

#I used www.ideabucket.app or an older address

www.ideabucket.app redirects to ideabucket.app automatically. Older addresses for the app and for the assistant connector still work, so connectors you set up with them keep running. We recommend switching to ideabucket.app. Each address keeps its own sign-in and offline copy, so you may need to sign in again there.

#Offline and syncing

#I dropped ideas while offline. Are they safe?

Yes. When Idea Bucket can't reach the server, you'll see Offline · showing saved ideas at the top, and new ideas are kept on your device with Saved offline — it will sync later. They appear on the Drop screen marked Waiting to sync.

They're sent by themselves as soon as you're back online, in the order you dropped them and with their original times. You'll see Synced 3 ideas. Automations run for them as usual.

While offline you can read and search the ideas saved on the device (Find shows Saved ideas · offline). Editing, archiving, deleting and adding notes need a connection: they show You're offline and nothing changes.

#An idea says "Couldn't save"

If the server refuses an idea, or it fails several times in a row, it's marked Couldn't save and you'll see An idea saved offline couldn't be saved — see Drop. The idea is still kept on your device. On its card:

• Retry sends it again.
• Delete throws it away (only this unsynced copy).

Tap the card to see the server's reason.

#Will signing out lose unsynced ideas?

No. If ideas are still waiting, Sign out asks first. They stay on the device and sync the next time the same account signs in there.

#It says "Can't reach Idea Bucket. Check your connection."

The app couldn't reach the server and has nothing saved on this device to show you yet. Check your connection. The app keeps checking, and Reconnecting… shows while it tries.

#Dictation

#Dictation says "Listening… (basic)"

Idea Bucket transcribes with Gemini when it can. When it can't, it uses your browser's built-in speech recognition, and the composer shows Listening… (basic) instead of Listening…. That happens when:

• you're offline, or the connection to the transcription service couldn't be set up in time,
• you've used your hourly dictation allowance (you'll also see Dictation limit reached for this hour — using basic dictation), or
• your browser doesn't support what Gemini transcription needs.

Basic dictation works, but it's less accurate and doesn't know your tags. Try again later for Gemini transcription.

#"Microphone access is blocked"

Your browser or system is blocking the microphone for Idea Bucket. Allow it in the site settings for ideabucket.app (usually the icon next to the address bar), then try again. In the Mac app, turn on Idea Bucket in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.

If you see Voice input is not available here, this browser has no dictation support at all. Try a current version of Chrome, Edge or Safari.

#Search

#Search finds nothing

Find searches by meaning and by keyword together (Meaning + keywords). If nothing comes up:

• Try other words, or fewer of them. Search by meaning finds related ideas, but a very specific phrase may still miss.
• Check the filters. A tag or date filter applies to the search too.
• Archived ideas are searched separately, under Archive.
• Ideas in the Trash aren't searched.
• To find everything with a tag, search #tag, for example #garden.

#Find shows "Keyword only"

Search by meaning wasn't available for that search, so only exact words matched. Usually that means you've reached the hourly limit for search and indexing, or Gemini didn't answer. Ideas dropped in the meantime are saved and indexed automatically later. Search by meaning comes back when the hour rolls over.

#The app

#The app doesn't show the latest version

Idea Bucket updates itself: when you open it and a new version is ready, it reloads into it. If it still looks out of date, close every Idea Bucket tab or window (or quit the installed app) and open it again.

#Where's my deleted idea?

In the Trash (on the Profile screen, or in the sidebar on wider screens). Deleted ideas stay there, notes and all, for 30 days. Select Restore to put one back where it was. After 30 days, or after Delete forever or Empty trash, it's gone for good.

Archived ideas aren't deleted. Find them under Archive.

#Mac app

#Mac permissions stopped working after an update

The Mac app uses three macOS permissions:

• Accessibility, to add the text you've selected in another app,
• Microphone, for dictation,
• Automation, to read the page you're on in your browser so an idea can link back to it.

After an update, macOS sometimes stops honouring a permission it granted before. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, find the permission, turn Idea Bucket off and on again (or remove it and add it back), then restart the app. More fixes are in Mac app troubleshooting.

#Automations

#Grok Bot dispatches fail

See Grok Bot troubleshooting for the common errors and how to fix them.

#My webhook's signature doesn't match

Check the signature against the exact raw request body, using the rule's Signing secret. See Verify the signature.

#A run failed with "Hourly automation limit reached"

Your account ran more automations (or AI notes) in an hour than the limit allows. Failed runs aren't retried by themselves. Select Retry in Recent runs on the Automations screen once the hour rolls over. See Limits, privacy & security for the numbers.