Troubleshooting

Email issues

My email to the agent bounced

Cause: Email address doesn’t exist or is misspelled.

Fix: Verify the agent name matches exactly. Check your welcome email for the correct address.

Agent never responded

Possible causes:

1. Your email isn’t in allowed senders
2. API key issue or account issue
3. Container failed to start

Fixes:

1. Check that you’re sending from the email you signed up with
2. Check the dashboard for error messages
3. Try sending again — cold starts can occasionally fail

Response went to spam

Fix: Add your agent’s email (yourname@tinyfat.com) to your contacts or mark as “not spam”.

Emails not threading properly

Cause: Email client or corporate server modifying headers.

Fix: Try a different email client. Gmail and Outlook usually work well.

Response took too long

Cause: Complex requests take more time. Cold starts add 30-60 seconds.

Expected times:

• Simple questions (warm): 10-20 seconds
• Tool use (web search, file ops): 20-60 seconds
• Cold start + complex reasoning: 60-120 seconds

If consistently slow, try /model haiku for faster responses.

Session issues

Context too large / hitting token limits

Symptoms: Agent mentions context limit, responses get cut off, high costs.

Fixes:

1. Send /compact to compress context
2. Send /clear to start fresh
3. All current Claude models support 200k tokens

Lost conversation history

Cause: Started a new session or used /clear.

Fix: Send /resume to see available sessions, then /resume {hash} to continue one.

Can’t find old session

Cause: Sessions are stored for a limited time.

Fix: Important context should be saved to MEMORY.md for permanent storage.

Model issues

Wrong model being used

Fix: Send /model to check current model, then /model haiku or /model sonnet to change. Default is claude-sonnet-4-6.

Want to change the default model

Just ask your agent: “Switch to haiku as my default model” — or send /model haiku.

Telegram issues

Bot not responding

Fixes:

1. Verify the bot token is correct in your dashboard
2. Try sending /start to the bot
3. Check if you’re rate limited (ephemeral bots have daily limits)

Slow first response

Cause: Cold start. First message after idle triggers container boot (30-60s).

Fix: This is expected. Subsequent messages are faster.

Slack issues

Bot not responding to @mentions

Fixes:

1. Verify bot is invited to the channel: /invite @yourbot
2. Check Event Subscriptions are configured in Slack app
3. Verify both bot token and signing secret are saved in dashboard

No 👀 reaction on messages

Cause: Bot needs reactions:write OAuth scope.

Fix: Add the scope in your Slack app settings and reinstall to workspace.

Duplicate messages

Cause: Slack retrying webhook delivery.

Fix: Usually resolves itself. The platform deduplicates by event ID.

Cost issues

Unexpected high costs

Check:

1. Which model is being used (Sonnet is more expensive than Haiku)
2. How many turns you’re using
3. Context size (use /compact to reduce)

Reduce costs:

• Use /model haiku for simple tasks
• Use /compact regularly to reduce context size
• Don’t send unnecessary follow-up messages

Container issues

Agent seems to have forgotten everything

Cause: Container restarted and got a fresh copy of troublemaker.

Fix: Your /data directory (MEMORY.md, sessions, etc.) is persistent — it’s mounted from R2. But installed packages may need reinstalling. Add critical setup steps to MEMORY.md.

Tools not working

Cause: Some tools require API keys (Brave Search) or setup (GitHub CLI).

Fix: Check Skills & Tools for what’s available and what needs configuration.

Getting help

If you’re still stuck:

1. Ask your agent — It can often diagnose its own issues
2. Email support — support@tinyfat.com
3. Include details:
   • Your agent’s email address
   • Timestamp of the issue
   • Any error messages you see