§ When something breaks
Troubleshooting
Symptom-first guides. Each page starts with the exact thing the user sees, names the root cause, and shows the fix path in System Settings or the Settings pane that owns the toggle.
Troubleshooting hub
Troubleshooting
Pick the symptom you are seeing. Each guide lists the most common root cause first, the macOS pane that owns the toggle, and the steps to confirm the fix worked.
Troubleshooting
Hotkey not working
Almost always Input Monitoring permission. Less commonly, a chord conflict with another app. Open Settings › Permissions → Input Monitoring → Open Settings, drag Dettivo into the allow list, restart Dettivo, try the hotkey again.
Requires permissionTroubleshooting
Text copied but not pasted
Three causes, ranked: Accessibility permission missing, the target field is secure (password), or the app refuses synthetic keystrokes. Dettivo falls back to clipboard in cases two and three — the transcript is on your pasteboard.
Requires permissionTroubleshooting
License activation failed
Three common causes: network reach to the licensing server, the wrong key (typo, leading whitespace), or hitting the three-device cap. The failure-class row in Settings › License + Updates names the cause.
Troubleshooting
MCP cannot connect
Most often: the `dettivo` CLI is not in PATH, the agent-host config points at a stale path, or Dettivo.app is not running. Run `dettivo install-helper --link`, regenerate the host config with `dettivo mcp config --host <host> --write`, and confirm Dettivo is running.
Developer toolTroubleshooting
Meeting audio missing
Three common causes, ranked: Screen & System Audio Recording permission missing, Core Audio tap blocked by macOS or a virtualization layer, or the capture target was set to a specific app that produced no audio.
Requires permission
- Getting started — Install, activate, grant permissions, and run your first dictation.
- Dictation — Hotkeys, modes, direct insertion, dictionary, Quick Access, Quick Note.
- Meetings — Bot-free capture, speaker labels, meeting analysis, recap automation, Meeting Mirror.
- Automation — Dictation macros, app + shell allowlists, recap email automation, weekly digest.
- Developers — Same contract everywhere. Bundled CLI, loopback REST adapter, stdio MCP server.
- Privacy + security — Local-first defaults, BYOK providers, telemetry policy, permissions, retention.
- Account + license — Activation, device management, secure updates, recovery, refunds.