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Troubleshooting
This page lists real messages that Preen shows, and what they mean. We only list fixes that the messages themselves point to.
If your problem is not here, turn on Debug to keep a log of exactly what was sent and received. The log stays on your computer. Turn debug mode off when you are done.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Test failed (auth): ... Check the API key." | The provider did not accept your key. Check that you pasted the whole key into API key and that it is for the provider you picked. The number in the message is from the provider, 401 or 403. |
| "Test failed (network): Could not reach the provider (network error)." | Preen could not connect. Check your internet connection. |
| "Test failed (timeout): No response within 20s." | The provider did not answer in 20 seconds. Try again. |
| "Test failed (rate_limit)" or "Test failed (server)" | The provider said it was too busy with HTTP 429, or had a problem on its side with HTTP 5xx. Try again later. In a real run, Preen tries these again by itself, twice. |
| "Test failed (bad_request)" | The provider did not like the request with an HTTP 4xx error other than 401, 403 or 429. The message shows the provider's own words after "HTTP", up to 300 characters. Check the Model box. If it is not empty, try emptying it. Preen then uses the provider's default model. |
| "Test failed (bad_response): Provider returned invalid JSON" or "Provider response has no answers" | The provider answered, but not in a form Preen can read. |
| "Preen needs permission to contact the provider." | You said no when Thunderbird asked for permission to contact the provider. Click Test connection again and allow it. |
| "Enter an API key first." | The API key box is empty. |
| "Connected ... However, Preen couldn't read the model's yes/no answers, so Real person, Needs reply and To-do won't work." | The connection works, but the answers came back in a form Preen cannot read. The message asks you to report this, with the add-on console output. |
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Add your API key in Preen settings first." | There is no API key saved. Add one, test it and click Save. |
| "Preen needs permission to contact [provider]. Open Preen settings and click "Test connection"." | Thunderbird has not given Preen permission to reach that provider. Do what the message says. |
| "Waiting for your OK to send mail to [provider]" | You have not agreed yet, or you changed provider. Open Provider & cost and click I agree, allow sending. Your messages stay waiting. |
| "Settings need fixing: ..." | Preen found a problem in your saved settings. The message says what. Open the settings and fix it. The same kind of message is shown on start-up as "Settings need attention: ... Open Preen settings to fix." |
| "Daily limit of N messages reached (change it in Settings → Limits & allowance)" | You used up Messages per day. Wait for tomorrow or raise the limit. See Costs and limits. |
| "Estimated monthly cost limit of $X reached (change it in Settings → Limits & allowance)" | This month's estimate hit your monthly limit. Raise the limit or wait for next month. |
| "The provider rejected the API key or permission (...)" | The provider turned the key down during an automatic run. Check the key and your credit at your provider. The messages stay waiting. |
| "Run at [time]: N of M messages were not processed. [reason]" | This banner shows on the activity page after a run stopped early, for example at a limit. You can open Settings or Dismiss it from the banner. |
| Nothing happens, and the status says "Off" | The activity page says "Off: no mailbox is ticked in Settings → Automatic processing". Tick a mailbox there. Right-click still works without it. |
| The status says "Paused" | Automatic processing is ticked but paused. Click Resume in the toolbar pop-up, on the activity page, or in the settings. |
| Tags do not change anything | Dry run may be on. While it is on, Preen only logs what it would do. Look for "Dry run (no changes)" or "Preview (no changes)" in the activity log. See Getting started. |
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Tags do not show up in Gmail | Gmail does not keep tags. On a Gmail account, Preen's tags stay in your Thunderbird and do not show in Gmail. |
| Junk is not moving to the Junk folder | Two things must be true. You must tick Also move it to the Junk folder, and Thunderbird must allow Preen to move mail. Preen shows "Thunderbird hasn't allowed Preen to move mail yet, so junk stays where it is." and an Allow moving mail button. Dry run never moves mail. Other messages you may see here: • "Preen needs Thunderbird's permission to move mail before it can move junk. Nothing was changed." You said no to the permission, so the box was unticked. • "Thunderbird didn't allow moving mail, so junk stays where it is." |
| Messages show Review on the activity page | Preen was not sure of the category, or Jev named a category you do not have. The message gets no category. Review is not a tag. See Tags and categories. |
| Some messages were not looked at | Preen skips messages in these cases: • The message is encrypted. • The message has no Message-ID. Right-click can still work on it. • It is older than Only mail from the last days. • It is already read, and Only unread mail is on. • It was already processed. • It is in Trash, Junk, Sent, Drafts, Outbox, Templates or Archives, and you rely on automatic processing. |
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "There are no applied changes to undo." | Undo only works on real runs. Previews and dry runs change nothing, so there is nothing to undo. |
| "N message(s) could not be found (moved or deleted), so they were left as they are." | You moved or deleted those messages, so Preen could not undo its changes on them. |
| "Undo failed: ..." | The message shows the cause after the colon. |
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Part of this Preen page didn't load properly..." or "Something went wrong on this Preen page..." | Click Reload on the banner, or restart Thunderbird. If it keeps happening, report it with the detail shown in the message. |
| "This page belongs to Preen X, but Preen Y is installed. Reload the page; if this message stays, restart Thunderbird." | The page is from an older or newer version of Preen than the one installed. This can happen after an update. Click Reload. If it stays, restart Thunderbird. |
| "Preen's right-click menus could not be added; restart Thunderbird." | Restart Thunderbird. |
| "Could not set up Preen's tags in Thunderbird: ..." | Preen could not create its tags. The message shows the cause. |
| "Your provider now answers with [new model] (was [old model])..." | The provider switched to a different model. Preen's certainty levels were tuned on the earlier model. The message advises you to check the results for a few days and change the settings if the tags look off. |
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Couldn't import "[file]":" | The settings file has problems. The message lists them. Nothing is changed. |
| "Can't export: ..." | The message shows the cause. |
Open an issue at https://github.com/JR91387/Preen-AI-email-sorting/issues. If you attach a debug log, remove anything private from it first, because it holds message text.