Troubleshooting

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Stenox asks for a trial or license

Stenox requires an active trial or license to start new work. Open Settings → License to Start 7-day trial or Activate an existing key while online. Stenox checks paid access automatically when verification is due; inspect the displayed access status and any connection error. Trial expiry is separate from the 30-day paid offline allowance. Viewing and exporting saved history remains available. See Release and access. If all device slots are in use, release an old Mac through Manage purchase and devices. Valid earlier paid licenses cover Stenox without another purchase and keep their original allowance. If an older key is rejected, contact support to check its status before buying again; inactive, refunded, revoked, or expired licenses do not qualify. A temporary network failure does not extend the cached verification deadline. If the app says Licensing is not configured, it cannot start a trial or activate a key. Check that you have the intended build and contact support. Changing API keys or permissions will not configure licensing.

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Permissions

Check that you opened Stenox from Applications. Review Microphone, Accessibility, and Screen & System Audio Recording under System Settings → Privacy & Security, and reopen the app if requested. If Accessibility refers to an older copy, remove that entry and add the installed Stenox app again.

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Recover provider and license access

If Stenox reports that a saved credential needs access, use Allow Keychain access for the affected provider in Settings → API Keys, or the same button in Settings → License for licensing. Unlock your login Keychain if requested, and verify that the macOS request is for your installed Stenox copy before approving it. Recovery keeps the saved credential and provider/model selections. Denying or cancelling leaves the credential unchanged; retry from Settings when ready. Licensing recovery does not start a trial or create a new activation. Only add a provider key again if it is missing or you intend to replace it. Notetaker subscription sign-ins use their separate connection controls. If recovery fails, check for another running Stenox copy and send support the error wording with private details removed. Do not erase Keychain, delete saved history, or allow all applications to access a credential. If a licensing identity was actually deleted or lost, activate your key again and release the old device slot through Manage purchase and devices if necessary. A denied access request alone does not require those steps.

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Recording does not start

Check that Stenox is running with an active trial or license, your input device is selected under Microphone, and Microphone permission is enabled in macOS. Wait for the selected speech provider to be ready. End any active meeting before dictating, or finish dictation before starting a meeting. A language model is optional for dictation readiness. Do not troubleshoot a disabled Polish model as though it were the speech recognizer.

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A model is downloaded but not ready

Downloaded files and a loaded runtime are separate. Review the status in the relevant model controls and allow preparation to finish. Check internet access for missing files and free storage for the download. If preparation failed, use the offered retry after resolving the error. Avoid deleting model folders by hand while Stenox is using them. Use Settings → Models to manage downloads and read any profile warnings.

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Text does not appear

Enable Accessibility for the installed Stenox app under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Put the cursor in an editable field and check whether your output mode copies to the clipboard. Some targets do not permit verified replacement; use Copy or retrieve the text from History. If you installed a different signed build, check that permission is granted to the app you actually opened. Reopen it when macOS requests that step.

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Polish is unavailable or failed

Enable Polish on demand in Text cleanup and prepare the selected model or Gemini key. Polish is an explicit action after transcription. Missing local models are not downloaded implicitly by that action. A failure or cancellation keeps the dictated text. If the field or clipboard changed, the result may be available to copy rather than safely replace. Fixed cleanup models ignore unsupported custom style controls; see Local AI cleanup.

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A meeting has missing or duplicated speech

Confirm both Microphone and Screen & System Audio Recording access. Current meetings capture both sources. Headphones reduce the chance that remote voices also enter the microphone. Check the active speech language and input signal. Speaker separation is not echo cancellation. Overlap and background noise can affect words and attribution. Edit or reassign passages rather than assuming the labels identify people automatically. If microphone delivery stalls after an audio-device change, Stenox can show Reconnecting audio… and attempt to restart capture. Recovery is limited, and missing audio is not reconstructed. If the session is interrupted, check the device and start a new session; completed text is preserved.

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Insights or Ask stopped updating

Check the selected Notetaker provider, model, account, and reasoning choice. Account errors, limits, or timeouts can pause automatic reviews until explicit retry. Recording and saved text continue when optional insights fail. A very short session may not yet have enough conversation: scheduled reviews need two contributions; Generate insights needs one and also works with Automatic insights off. Google-linked context uses the selected provider. After changing providers or models, pending old results are cancelled; wait for preparation and explicitly generate again if needed. Reference import supports readable text, not OCR of scanned pages. Check the coverage label for partial input.

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A saved session looks incomplete

Review the session’s completion or interruption status. A recovered paused session cannot resume recording after the app restarts. Refinement failure does not erase accepted Current insights; export those if a refined draft is unavailable. Personal notes, references, and Ask history are not bundled in the transcript exports. See Export and keep your session. If the problem persists, send feedback with your app version, macOS version, selected provider/model, and the visible error. Remove keys and private content from any example.