If the assistant cannot finish a request, start with the message it shows and the state of the item you asked it to change. A missing reply does not necessarily mean the work failed: a page, record, or message may already have been saved or sent.
This guide covers the personal assistant in your Cedros workspace. For a connection from an external AI client, see Connecting an external AI tool through MCP.
Check what happened before trying again
- Read the latest reply, progress message, and any action results. Note the exact error and whether the assistant is still working or waiting for approval.
- Open the affected page, record, or sent-message history in Cedros. Check for completed or partial changes.
- Look above the chat composer for Queued messages. Edit or delete an unwanted duplicate before it sends automatically.
- Choose the matching problem below. Retry only after you know what still needs doing.
Closing the chat panel does not stop a running request or cancel queued messages. Use Stop generating if you want to request a stop, then wait for its result and review any completed changes. Stopping does not undo earlier actions.
Chat is missing, offline, or disconnected
If the assistant orb or Chat tab is missing, ask your administrator to check your workspace view and account access. See Why can't I see or edit a feature?.
For a visible chat panel, use its connection message:
- Offline or Connection lost: check your internet connection. Cedros can reconnect after the connection returns.
- Connecting or Reconnecting: allow the connection to recover before submitting another copy of your request.
- Disconnected or Chat refresh failed: read the error and use Retry if offered. If the error asks you to sign in, restore your session first.
- Setup needed or Provider assignment unavailable: an administrator needs to review the provider and model setup. Follow Open Providers when offered, then use Check again after setup is corrected.
- Personal assistant unavailable with an Admin Gateway error: give the message to your site administrator or support. This concerns the service connecting chat to the assistant; changing your prompt will not repair it.
Retry on a connection or refresh notice reloads the conversation. Try again under Couldn't get a reply sends the earlier request again and can incur another AI charge. Check for earlier side effects before choosing it.
Before reloading the browser, copy any unsent text or queued requests you want to keep. Do not assume they have been saved just because they are visible in the composer.
A message is queued or the assistant is still working
A Queued message waits until the assistant is connected and ready. Check whether an earlier request is running or waiting for your approval. Use Edit queued message to revise it or Delete queued message to remove it; sending another copy does not move the first one forward.
Progress such as Performing the requested work… or Checking the response… means the request has not finished yet. If the progress no longer changes and you want to stop, use Stop generating and check the result before starting again.
If the send button is waiting for attachments, let the uploads finish and resolve any upload error first. For a request that depends on files, check which attachments the new message includes; do not assume a failed reply's Try again action reattaches them. You can write a corrected request and attach the needed files explicitly.
The assistant is waiting for approval
Read the approval card's action, target, and details. Use the offered approval or rejection control only after checking that the proposed action matches your request.
Wait for the decision status to update. Sending decision is not confirmation that the decision was accepted. If the card says Decision did not send, check the connection before trying the decision again. If it has expired, the old approval cannot authorize the action; review the current conversation and request a fresh proposal if the action is still needed.
An accepted approval allows the action to proceed. It does not prove that the action succeeded. Check the subsequent result and the affected item.
A tool or action is unavailable
Ask your administrator to review the relevant area under Settings → Assistant → Tools, together with your own account permissions. An assistant that can read an item may still lack permission to edit or publish it.
Keep access limited to the work you intend. A whole-site increase is unnecessary when only one area's access is blocking the task. See Controlling what the assistant can do for the access levels and how to review a suggested change.
Also check that the requested feature or extension is available on your site. Broader permissions cannot enable an unavailable feature, and asking the assistant to ignore a restriction does not grant access. If the action is unsupported, use the relevant Cedros page to complete it when available, or ask for help.
A provider, model, or spending limit blocks the request
Use the reported cause to choose the next step:
- Missing connection or model: an administrator should review the selected provider, credentials, and enabled model. Follow Choosing AI providers and models.
- Provider authentication or access error: check the provider account and model access. Enter credentials only in the appropriate settings, never in chat.
- Rate limit or temporary provider failure: wait as directed by the error or provider, then retry only the unfinished work. Repeated attempts can add usage without resolving the cause.
- Spending cap or unpriced-model error: review the budget or model price with an administrator. Understanding AI usage and costs explains the available controls for sites using their own API keys.
Changing the prompt will not fix invalid credentials or an exhausted allowance. A different model may help with a model-specific problem, but review its suitability and cost before changing the site's settings.
The reply is incomplete or uses the wrong information
Give the assistant the exact page title, URL, record name, or source text it should use. If it shows retrieved sources, review them and point out any that are unrelated or out of date.
State what is already complete and ask for one remaining outcome. For example:
The draft page is saved, but its contact link is wrong. Open the draft titled “About us,” check the current link, and change only that link to /contact. Keep the page as a draft and tell me where to review it.
If nothing should be changed yet, ask the assistant to explain the blocker or show a proposed correction in chat. See Writing useful requests for the assistant.
When the problem persists, ask for help with the request, exact error, approximate time and time zone, affected item, and steps already tried. Include whether anything was saved, sent, or published. Remove credentials and private customer information from screenshots and copied messages.