Troubleshooting

Common issues and where to look when something isn't working.

Sign-in and access

"Sign in with email opened my browser — is that right?" Yes. Email sign-in completes on the Rolltop website and hands the session back to the app automatically, which is what keeps it working with the bot protection on our authentication service. Continue with Google works the same way. Once you're signed in, the session is kept in your OS keyring and you shouldn't need to repeat it.

"I'm signed in but I have no credits." You're most likely in the trial queue. Trials are released in daily batches, so if the day's allocation was taken when you applied, you're queued and we'll email you when a spot opens. You can still sign in and look around in the meantime — you just can't run cloud AI requests until credits arrive. Two ways forward: subscribe to start immediately (it skips the queue), or use free local Ollama models, which cost no credits. See Quick Start.

"There's an issue with your account." That message means the account has been blocked. Contact support@rolltop.ai.

Credits

"My balance is running low." The Rolltop Info & Feedback panel shows your real-time balance and warns when it's low. Local Ollama models and local tools are free — switch to a local model to keep working at no cost. Review where credits went in the Usage Report, and top up or subscribe from within the app. See Credits & Pricing.

Rate limits

If a provider rate-limits a request, Rolltop shows a visual indicator in the chat (Limit reached / Retrying / Reset) and retries automatically with backoff. Usually you just wait a moment.

Long replies and truncation

Rolltop manages the conversation's context automatically — there's nothing to configure. Two effects are visible:

  • A reply gets cut off. If the model hits its output-length limit, you'll see a note that the response was truncated. Ask it to continue, or break the task into smaller steps.
  • A very large tool result is trimmed. Big results (for example a huge file read) are shortened with a [Content truncated…] marker so the conversation stays within the model's context window.

Both are automatic and not user-tunable.

Local models won't connect

Make sure Ollama is installed and running, and that the Ollama API URL in Settings → Ollama is correct, then use Test Connection. See Local Models.

A tool isn't available to the AI

In Smart Select mode the AI only has tools you've approved. If it can't do something, it will usually request the relevant server via an inline approval card — approve it, and the tool is available on the next turn. You can also enable servers yourself from MCP Tools. See Tools & Smart MCP Selection.

Working offline

Rolltop starts and is usable without an internet connection. When you're offline:

  • The app opens straight to the project picker / main UI — no sign-in required to get in.
  • You can browse earlier projects and conversations (they live in local databases) and use local Ollama models, which need no network.
  • Cloud AI calls fail with a clear error instead of hanging — cloud API keys are never fetched while offline. Switch to a local model to keep working.
  • A red Offline pill shows in the top bar, and the model settings show a banner noting cloud models are unavailable.

Rolltop enters offline mode automatically when it can't reach its servers at startup, and you can also enter it deliberately with the "Continue in offline mode" link on the sign-in screen. When connectivity returns, restart to sign back in and restore cloud access.

Logs and diagnostics

  • Application log — structured logs for the app.
  • Per-MCP-server logs — each server (built-in or external) has a Logs tab in its details, useful when a tool misbehaves.
  • Crash dumps — privacy-preserving crash reports (no user data — only the operation, IDs, stack trace, and runtime state) are written to the logs folder, for example ~/Library/Application Support/Rolltop/logs/crash_dumps/ on macOS. The most recent dumps are kept and older ones rotate out.

System requirements

  • macOS — current versions (Intel and Apple Silicon).
  • Windows — current versions.
  • Linux — coming later.

Still stuck?