Troubleshooting
Find your symptom, try the fix, and write to us if it does not help.
The Mac app
macOS asks if you are sure you want to open Esment
This is normal for an app downloaded from the web. Click Open. If there is no such button, right-click Esment in Applications and choose Open, or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway. More in Install on Mac.
Nothing happens when you open it
Esment lives in the menu bar, so look for its icon at the top right of the screen. Click it to see whether the engine is running. If the window did not open, choose Open Dashboard.
The setup step “Connect” fails
Click Retry. The usual cause is that no license is active yet, so go back one step and activate it, or choose Skip for now and use Activate license… from the menu bar later.
macOS asks for your Mac password to use the Keychain
Recent versions no longer ask. The key that protects your Slack and Notion connections used to live in the login Keychain, which macOS asked about after some updates. It now lives in a file in the .esmentfolder. Update the app with Check for Updates… in the menu bar. A Slack or Notion connection made before the change has to be connected once more.
Assistants stop seeing your memory
Your assistants can use your memory only while Esment is running. If you chose Quit Esment, open it again.
Search does not put the newest memories first
While you search, results stay in relevance order and the sort control reads Relevance.
Other app problems, such as the engine not starting, are not covered here yet. If you hit one, contact support below.
Sync
Sync is in Settings → Account on the Mac. Under Sync, a line for Push and one for Pull says whether it moved something, is up to date, or failed with a message. Click Sync now to run it right away.
Memories saved on the web or in ChatGPT do not reach the Mac
Turn on Pull. Push sends what is new on your Mac, and Pull brings back what was captured against the cloud workspace: a phone, the web dashboard or a web assistant.
Something I forgot or archived is still on the other side
Sync only adds. Forgetting or archiving on one side is never copied to the other, so do it on both.
My Memory Blocks were overwritten
Blocks are matched by name and overwritten at the destination. If you edit blocks on the web, open Options and turn off Include Memory Blocks, then click Save & restart.
The web Library is empty
Pages are written and reviewed on the Mac. They appear on the web once the Mac has synced its Library to your workspace. See Library.
Several “Auto summary” memories about the same thing
Older versions could keep copies of these summaries after a sync. Newer versions keep one per subject, so update the app.
Assistants
The most common fix is to quit the assistant completely with ⌘Q and open it again. Closing the window is not enough. The full list of fixes is on When a connection fails.
- Esment does not appear. Click Configure again on the assistant’s card in Assistants, then restart the assistant.
- A web assistant cannot reach your Mac. The address must start with https:// and end in /mcp. With the tunnel, the address changes after it restarts, so copy the new one.
- It is connected but never uses memory. Teach it once with Teach your assistants.
- It cannot see your Memory Blocks or voice notes. Those tools only appear on plans that include them. See Plans & billing.
- It asks permission every time. That is the assistant’s own safety prompt. Choose its “always allow” option for Esment.
Voice notes
The Voice tab shows a lock
Voice notes on the web are not included in Free and Starter. On the Mac there is no limit. See Voice notes.
The note says it could not transcribe
The note shows what went wrong. On the Mac you can try again from the note. On the web, the first time you use the Accurate model your browser downloads about 567 MB, which can take a while.
Only the Light model is available
The Accurate model needs WebGPU, a browser feature for using the graphics card. If your browser does not offer it, only Light is available.
Names and brands come out wrong
Add them to Your words, or click a line of the transcript to correct it. Your assistant reads the corrected text.
A note stays Pending
A note becomes Processed when the first memory is saved from it. A note with nothing worth keeping stays Pending on purpose.
Out of audio space on the web
Click Free up space to delete the audio of notes you already processed. Their transcripts and memories stay.
Contact support
If nothing here helps, write to us from the contact page. Tell us what you expected, what happened and whether it is the Mac app or the web. On the Mac, the app version is shown in Settings → About.