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Troubleshooting

Common situations and how to get unstuck.

"Not logged in to <host>"

You don't have a stored token for the host the CLI resolved. Sign in, or check you're pointed at the right control node:

autolab whoami            # which host am I using?
autolab login             # sign in to it
# wrong host? override it:
autolab --url https://app.autolab.ai whoami

The host comes from --urlAUTOLAB_URL → profile → https://app.autolab.ai. See Configuration.

"git is not installed or not on PATH"

The CLI shells out to git. Install git (≥ 2.38 recommended) and ensure it's on your PATH.

checkout won't switch — I have local changes

checkout refuses to throw away uncommitted work. Either keep it as an experiment, or discard it:

autolab submit -m "wip"     # keep your changes as a new experiment
autolab checkout <id> -f    # or discard local changes and switch

"Ambiguous experiment id"

Short prefixes are convenient but must be unique. If a prefix matches more than one experiment, the CLI tells you — use a longer prefix (or the full id from autolab log).

I can't checkout a queued experiment

Queued and --soft/--nocode experiments may not have final code yet — the agent might still be authoring it. In autolab log, the commit column is empty until the code is final. Wait for it to be authored (or pick a different experiment).

submit didn't move me into the new experiment

That's expected with --soft or --nocode: the code isn't yours-and-final, so you stay in your current experiment. You advance only when you push code without --soft. See Run experiments.

My experiments are queued but never run

A live project with no execution node queues work forever. Attach one:

autolab nodes                              # any nodes attached?
autolab serve --project alice/nanochat     # turn this machine into one

See Execution nodes.

"researcher+ token required" when running serve

Registering a node clones private code, so it needs a researcher, admin, or owner token — not a viewer. Use a token from an account with that role:

autolab token create --name gpu-box   # mint one as a researcher+

get artifacts says nothing was captured

Artifact upload isn't implemented yet — the runner streams logs but doesn't store checkpoints or files. Use autolab get logs <id> instead.

My workspace lost its .autolab/config.json

The CLI rebuilds that metadata from the git remote automatically on the next command. If the whole .autolab/ directory is gone, just re-clone:

autolab clone alice/nanochat

Still stuck? Open the project in the browser (autolab open) to compare against the dashboard, or see Resources.