BotFather troubleshooting & FAQ
The common things BotFather says or does that look like errors, declined actions, a not-yet-wired tool, no workspace selected, a slow model, the daily limit, and what each one actually means.
Most of the time BotFather just does the thing you asked and streams the steps. When it stops short, declines, asks for a workspace, or shows an error. It is almost always being honest about a real boundary rather than breaking. This page maps each of those moments to its cause and the fix.
"It says it can't do that"
Two different things wear this look:
- The action isn't in its approved set. BotFather drives a bounded catalogue of real platform operations. Ask for something the platform doesn't expose to it, for example renaming an object that only supports reads, and it declines rather than hunting for an endpoint that might work. Fix: do that step manually in the relevant screen, or rephrase toward something it does support.
- The action is turned off for your space. Which channels, integrations, and account actions are available depends on what your operator has enabled. If a connector or admin action is disabled for your space, BotFather won't offer it. Fix: ask your operator to enable it, then try again.
Either way it will not delete-and-recreate something to fake an edit, and it won't paraphrase a failed call as success. See Using BotFather for what falls inside the set.
A tool isn't wired yet
Two tools are present but stubbed in the current build, and BotFather says so instead of pretending:
- Web search is not connected. There's no search provider in this build, so it can't browse the live web for you.
- PDF creation / file export is not available. It can draft long-form copy in the conversation, but it cannot hand you a generated PDF.
If you ask for either, expect a polite "not yet wired" rather than a fabricated document or citation.
"No workspace selected"
Many of BotFather's actions are space-scoped, creating an agent, connecting a channel, listing leads all need an active workspace. If none is selected it will say so and point you to pick or create one first. Brand-new accounts get a create-a-workspace nudge; if you already have workspaces, just select one from the space switcher and re-ask. Reads that aren't tied to a space (like "what can you help me with?") still work with none selected.
"Something went wrong" and long pauses
- It's thinking, not stuck. Reasoning models can pause for several seconds before any text appears; that thinking still counts as the model being alive. A genuine stall is watchdog-timed and surfaces a Something went wrong card with a Retry button, hit Retry, and note that BotFather caps how many steps and API calls one turn may take, so a hard multi-part request may end early rather than loop.
- A step failed. If a platform call errors, BotFather reports the failure plainly instead of continuing as if it worked. Re-run the request; if it keeps failing, the underlying action is genuinely erroring (check permissions and that the target still exists).
"Daily limit reached"
BotFather messages are metered per day by plan. When you hit the cap it shows a Daily limit reached notice, wait for the reset, or upgrade for more daily usage. See Plans.
"File is too large"
Attachments are capped at 10 MB per file. Split the document or attach a smaller version. BotFather reads files you attach on demand to ground its next step, so trimming to the relevant pages is usually enough.
Your session expired mid-task
Because BotFather acts as you, it uses your login to call the platform. If your session token lapses during a turn, the underlying call returns unauthorized and the action stops. Refresh the page or sign in again, then re-ask, nothing partial is left in a fake "done" state.
The shortcut won't open it
Cmd/Ctrl + J toggles the window from anywhere, including inside a text field. If nothing happens, a browser extension has likely claimed that key combo, click the Ask BotFather button in the top bar instead. Press Escape to minimize an open window.
Quick FAQ
Will it do something I didn't ask for? No. It acts only on approved actions and shows each step as it goes.
Can it make things up? No, if it can't perform an action or a call fails, it tells you instead of inventing a result.
Does it have more access than I do? No, every action runs under your role and permissions.
Why did it refuse to retry a call? It short-circuits an identical, already-failed request rather than hammering it, a safeguard, not a bug. Change the request and it will try again.