# Troubleshooting

The handful of things that actually go wrong, and what each one usually means.

## The reply never arrives

**"Nymbot is still working on that message."** A long Pro reply, or a [repository task](https://nymbot.ai/docs/git/), can outlast the request that asked for it. The answer is being generated and is held for you; send the same message again and you collect it rather than paying for a second one.

**"Could not fetch your encrypted message from the relays yet."** Your wrap had not propagated when the worker went looking. Try again — nothing was charged.

**Nothing at all.** Check the connection indicator. If the app cannot reach the relays it cannot publish your message, and a network that blocks WebSockets — some corporate and hotel networks — will stop it dead.

## The balance looks wrong

`?balance` asks the server rather than reading a cached number, so start there.

A payment that settled but did not credit is usually a claim interrupted between the two. Reopen the purchase and it completes; the claim is idempotent, so you cannot be credited twice by retrying.

If you are in [anonymous mode](https://nymbot.ai/docs/anonymous/), remember the throwaway key has its own balance. `?balance` shows that one while the mode is on, and your nym's balance is untouched behind it.

A reply that cost more than you expected was probably a long Pro reply — those [scale with length](https://nymbot.ai/docs/credits/#what-a-reply-costs) — or a repo task that used several model calls. The app reports both.

## A conversation is missing

On a new device, history is restored from the relays, which takes a moment and depends on the relays still holding those wraps. Give it time before concluding it is gone.

If you are signed in with a different key than the one that had the conversation, you will not see it and cannot — it is encrypted to the other key. Check the nym in the header.

A [cleared](https://nymbot.ai/docs/chats/#clearing) conversation or a [panic wipe](https://nymbot.ai/docs/identity/#panic) is not recoverable by anyone.

## The repository will not connect

- **"That does not look like a valid token."** The token format did not match the provider you chose. GitHub, GitLab and Gitea all issue different shapes.
- **The repository list is empty.** The token is valid but not scoped to any repository, or scoped to an organisation that has not approved it.
- **It connects but cannot write.** Writes are off by default — `?git writes on` — and the token also needs write scope at the provider.
- **It works on one device and not another.** The token is [device-local by design](https://nymbot.ai/docs/git/#token-safety). Connect again there.

## Locked out of an encrypted identity

[Identity encryption](https://nymbot.ai/docs/identity/#encryption-at-rest) has no recovery path. That is what makes it worth having, and it means a forgotten passphrase, a wiped biometric enrolment or a lost hardware key ends that copy of the identity.

If you backed up your `nsec`, reinstall and sign in with it. If you did not, the identity is gone — which is the moment everyone learns why the backup is the first thing this knowledge base tells you to do.