---
slug: faq
title: "Common problems (FAQ)"
description: "When a memory you expected isn't there, when saving doesn't happen, when search comes back wrong. What to check, in order."
lang: en
---


# Common problems (FAQ)

## I saved something but the memory isn't there

Before assuming data loss, check in order.

1. **Is the save target right?** Use the check-target tool to see the current
   account, team, and project. You may be on **a different account** in another
   browser session, or switched to **a different project.** The target has to
   match between when you saved and when you search.
2. **Is it inside the search scope?** The server sets the scope ("what I can read
   within my team" is the ceiling). Look at `searched_scope` in the response →
   [Searching](searching).
3. **Did it actually save?** If you spoke without the `ak` command, it **did
   not** save → [Saving](saving).

Most of the time it isn't loss, it's a **target mismatch** → [Teams and
projects](teams-and-projects).

## I get a "temporarily unavailable / connection reset" error

This can be a **cold start** on the serverless database (the first attach after
it's been idle). Call again a few seconds later and it reconnects automatically.
If it repeats, retry after a while.

## I removed and re-added the connector in ChatGPT and the tools are gone

**The old connection state can be cached**, so the newly added connector doesn't
attach. Check in order.

1. **Fully restart ChatGPT.** Don't just close the window. Quit the app and
   reopen it. There have been real cases of a failed-authentication state being
   cached so new values are never retried; a restart, or removing and re-adding
   the connector, clears it.
2. **Check that you enabled the connector in the new conversation.** ChatGPT
   enables connectors **per conversation.** Press **+** in the composer and pick
   AiAkiv, or start from the plugin page's **'Try in chat'** button. Even when
   it's saved in settings, a new conversation starts with it off.
3. **If that doesn't work, check `.codex/config.toml`.** The **ChatGPT app**
   **inherits account connectors** as they are (`codex_apps`), and removing and
   re-adding can **leave a disabled state in the local config.**

   - First **ask ChatGPT for the app id**: "tell me this app's app id".
   - Open **`.codex/config.toml` in your user folder** (e.g.
     `~/.codex/config.toml`, or `C:\Users\<name>\.codex\config.toml` on Windows).
   - Check whether the entry for that **app id is turned off with `enabled =
     false`.** If it is, **change it to `true` or delete the line** and restart.

> **A related caution.** Keeping a local MCP config (`[mcp_servers]`) in a folder
> alongside it is fine in itself. But you must register it under **a different
> name from the account connector**: global `AiAkiv`, folder `AiAkiv-proj`, for
> instance. With identical names there's no way to tell which one was used →
> [Connecting ChatGPT](chatgpt).

## It won't save

AiAkiv saves **only on an explicit `ak` command.** Just saying "save this" or
"remember this" does not save (that's the guard against accidental saves). Try
again with "ak save this: ..." → [Saving](saving).

## I want to change the save target

**A person changes it, in the console.** No tool can change the target (Main).
That's the anti-hijacking guard. Click the `switch_url` given by the check-target
tool or the list-projects tool → [Teams and
projects](teams-and-projects).

## Search results look wrong or out of date

- **Don't take the summary at face value.** It's LLM-generated and occasionally
  inaccurate. Confirm exact content with **fetch full text.**
- **Follow the connections.** Reading a hit's reason and the link map (hint) can
  turn up a renamed synonym or a continuing fragment →
  [Searching](searching).
- Judge conflicting information by **recency.**

## The same thing comes back as two separate entries

The entity name most likely wobbled ("save format" vs "savefile format"). Save
following the **one-name-per-entity rule** and they weave into one →
[Saving](saving).

## I want to fix something I saved

**Don't re-save: you'll end up with two copies of the same content.** There are
two handles.

- **The entities, tags, or chaining are wrong** → "ak fix the tags on what I just
  saved". **The original text can't be changed**: if you need to change that,
  retire it and save again.
- **You'd rather that memory stopped coming up at all** → "ak retire what I just
  saved".

Details in *Correcting a save afterwards* in [Saving](saving).

## I saved personal data or a secret by mistake

Not putting it in is the best answer (the do-not-store list in [What to
store](what-to-store)).

If it's already saved, **retire** it to take it out of recall ("ak retire what I
just saved"). But **there's something you need to know exactly.**

> **Retiring is not deleting.** It drops out of search and recall, but **the data
> remains.** And there is no way for a user to physically delete a single memory
>, the only things that remove the original are **deleting the team** and
> **closing your account** (console → Danger zone).

So if the value is one you're worried about leaking, don't stop at retiring.
**invalidate the value itself.** Re-issue an API key or token at its source;
change a password. A secret being hidden from memory and that secret still being
valid are two different problems.

## Learn more

- Try it → [tour](https://www.aiakiv.com/tour)
- Per-client connection recipes → [playbook](https://www.aiakiv.com/playbook)
- When a term is unclear → console **Reference → Help.** Type a word and it
  filters immediately ([Console](console))