Troubleshooting

Open a terminal and run ollama list to see installed models. If the list is empty, pull the recommended model:

ollama pull qwen3:14b

If you have limited VRAM (8 GB or less):

ollama pull qwen3:8b

See the LLM Setup guide for full instructions.

Ollama isn't running. Start it from your system tray icon, or run the following in a terminal:

ollama serve

On Windows, Ollama normally starts automatically with Windows. Check the system tray (bottom-right) for the Ollama icon. If it's not there, launch Ollama from your Start Menu.

The model may have run out of VRAM and is swapping to system RAM, which is extremely slow. Try a smaller model:

ollama pull qwen3:8b

Then go to AppStudio Settings and set your model to qwen3:8b, or let it auto-detect the newly pulled model.

This is a license validation issue. Go to Settings → License and verify your key is still activated. If it shows as inactive, re-enter your key and click Activate.

Activation requires an internet connection. Check that you're online. If you are:

• Try disabling your VPN temporarily — it can interfere with the license server
• Wait 30 seconds and try again — the server may be momentarily busy
• If it still fails, email support@keysecnexus.com with your order number

Your license is in use on another machine. To move it:

1. On the old machine: go to Settings → License → Deactivate on this machine
2. On the new machine: enter your key and click Activate

If you can't access the old machine (it's dead, wiped, or lost), email support@keysecnexus.com with your order number and we'll reset it manually.

Check your email for a message from support@keysecnexus.com (Lemon Squeezy). Check your spam folder too.

If you still can't find it, email support@keysecnexus.com with your order number and we'll resend the key.

A reinstall on the same machine should work fine — the machine ID doesn't change. If it's failing with "already activated on another machine", it means AppStudio is treating it as a new device (e.g. after a OS reinstall).

Email support@keysecnexus.com with your order number for a manual activation reset.

This appears because AppStudio is not yet code-signed with a Windows certificate. It is safe to bypass:

1. Click More info
2. Click Run anyway

This only needs to be done once per installation.

Gatekeeper is blocking the app. To allow it:

1. Open System Settings
2. Go to Privacy & Security
3. Scroll down and click Open Anyway next to the AppStudio warning

Alternatively, right-click the app icon in Finder and choose Open — this also gives you an "Open Anyway" option.

The binary isn't marked as executable. Run:

chmod +x AppStudio
./AppStudio

AppStudio's backend API runs on port 8000. If another application is using that port, AppStudio won't start correctly.

On Windows — find and close the conflicting process:

netstat -ano | findstr :8000

Then kill the process by its PID in Task Manager, or restart your machine to clear it.

On macOS / Linux:

lsof -ti :8000 | xargs kill -9

You're likely running on CPU only, without GPU acceleration. Expected times:

• With GPU (RTX 30xx/40xx or Apple Silicon): 2–5 minutes
• CPU only: 15–40 minutes

To check if Ollama is using your GPU:

• Windows: Open Task Manager → Performance → GPU. If GPU utilisation spikes during analysis, you're on GPU. If it stays near 0% and CPU is maxed, you're on CPU.
• All platforms: Run ollama ps — it shows the model and which processor it's using.

If Ollama isn't using your GPU, reinstall it from ollama.com — the latest version includes GPU support by default.

AppStudio stores all data locally in your user application data directory:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\AppStudio\
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/AppStudio/
• Linux: ~/.local/share/AppStudio/

The main database file is app_studio.db (SQLite).

Copy the app_studio.db file from your data directory (see above) to a safe location. That file contains all your ideas, analyses, roadmaps, and code suggestions.

Yes. Copy these two files from the old machine's data directory to the same directory on the new machine:

• app_studio.db — all your ideas and analysis data
• license.json — your license activation state

Note: if your license is seat-limited (Indie/Builder), you'll need to deactivate on the old machine first. See the License guide.