TROUBLESHOOTING

Troubleshooting.

Common problems and what to do about them. Start in the console: a computer’s System tab shows its health, and a problem ibara couldn’t repair by itself shows with Fix It. On the spare itself, run a health check:

computerctl doctor

By Tyler Mayberry · Content updated 22 October 2026

The spare doesn’t show up#

Both computers must be signed in to the same Tailscale network.
The spare must be on, awake, signed in and unlocked.
Open Add Computer in the console. It lists the computers on your tailnet and says whether ibara is ready on each; one without ibara shows the command that installs it, and one that is off is dimmed.
On the spare itself, computerctl status shows whether ibara is running and available.

If Tailscale says Connected but the spare is missing, run tailscale status on both computers and read any health warnings. From your own computer, run tailscale ping <spare-name-or-Tailscale-IP>, replacing the placeholder with the spare’s name or Tailscale IP from that status output. A reply checks the Tailscale path; it does not show that ibara is ready. If DNS warnings appear, follow Tailscale’s Linux DNS guidance or ask whoever manages your tailnet before changing its DNS or subnet-route settings. Then check ibara again with computerctl status on the spare.

If a laptop disappears when you close its lid, wake it, open the lid and unlock its desktop before trying again. ibara asks Omarchy to keep the desktop awake, but lid-triggered sleep is a separate setting and can still suspend the computer. Check that the spare stays available with the lid open before changing pairing or power settings. A locked desktop must be unlocked before agents can work.

A reinstalled computer can’t be reached#

A computer that was uninstalled with ibara uninstall --delete-data and installed again answers as a new computer, and its old card says its identity changed. Open Add Computer and choose Add Again beside it: that adds it and replaces the old entry. Or take the old entry off first with Remove Computer, in the card’s ⋯ menu or on its System tab. If agents can’t click or type right after installing again in the same session, sign out and back in once; setup says when that’s needed.

Pairing or an invite code is refused#

When you add someone else’s computer, the same six-digit code shows on both screens. A person there checks that the codes match and accepts; a computer with no screen accepts with ibara join. The request waits five minutes. If it expires or is declined, choose Try Again.

An invite code works once, until the end its owner chose. A wrong, used or expired code gets one plain refusal; ask the person who shared the computer for a new one. After five refusals in ten minutes, your computer is refused for up to ten minutes, even with a good code.

The spare says Paused#

Only a person’s pause needs you. A spare that someone paused stays paused until someone chooses Resume on its card or in its header. After setup or a restart, it shows “Paused after a restart · resuming by itself” and resumes once it’s healthy. If its Resume agents after a restart setting is off, it says so and waits instead: choose Resume, turn the setting back on in its Settings tab, or run computerctl resume on the spare. If it stays paused because of a problem, the problem shows on its card with Fix It.

The agent can’t type or click after an update#

The spare’s input plugin is rebuilt automatically after every Hyprland or GCC update, and the new one loads the next time someone signs in on the spare. If agents still can’t type or click after that, run ibara setup on the spare; it rebuilds the plugin when it’s out of date. Then run the task again.

Keys are refused or browser text is incomplete#

With the Hyprland input plugin, ibara refuses keystrokes on the spare while Caps Lock (or another lock key; Num Lock is fine) is on, while a key is held down or latched (sticky keys), or when its keyboard layout isn’t English (US). Turn Caps Lock off, release the key or switch the layout, then retry.

If the tool says No single window is under that point or Nothing has keyboard focus, the input did not run. Focus an application window and ask the agent to observe it again before retrying. A screenshot can include shell bars or popups that this input route cannot target. If that surface remains unavailable, take control for the step, then hand it back. Keep click, typing and keyboard checks marked untested until their results are observed.

If text arrives incomplete in a browser field, stop before submitting. Compare the whole draft with the intended text, including punctuation and line breaks. In one internal Omarchy task, direct browser entry stopped at a curly apostrophe. Entering the full text in a native editor, then using ordinary copy and paste into the browser, recovered the draft. Copy the browser field back to the editor and compare it with the original before continuing. This checks the text; check the account, destination and attachments separately. The worked example shows the failed attempts, recovery and exact-text check.

The agent lost control mid-task#

In 0.2.0, a dropped agent connection does not cancel a running managed build. The same authenticated agent reconnects to its existing task and checks its operation references before retrying anything. Reusing the same request ID reconciles the earlier request instead of launching it again. A second live session cannot take ownership. Human takeover cancels managed jobs; a daemon restart may stop work and leave effects uncertain. Inspect the retained result before starting another task.

If a computer says it needs cleanup, let ibara finish its supported recovery. Known task-owned choosers and editor prompts can close automatically; person-owned or unfamiliar windows may still need you. Do not force-kill a browser or bypass the cleanup fence. An agent starting unrelated work can use another ready computer.

You can’t take control#

Your access on that computer must allow Take Control. Permissions.
If it’s set to Ask First, choosing Take Control asks for approval. Once someone who administers that computer approves it, choose Take Control again.

The agent can’t read part of a page#

Since 0.3.1, ibara’s browser reader includes content inside iframes and shadow DOM. If the page changes and a target is refused, ask the agent to read the page again before choosing a fresh target. It can also look at the screen when the reader doesn’t expose the content it needs.

The spare didn’t come back after a power cut#

If the spare’s disk is encrypted, it waits at start for the disk password at its own keyboard. To let it start by itself, turn on Start without the disk password in the spare’s own console (Settings, under This Computer), or run ibara unattended-boot enable on it. It’s off by default. When it’s on, the spare’s TPM chip unlocks the disk, so anyone who has the whole computer can get at its files. If Omarchy signs you in automatically, first turn on Lock the screen at sign-in, just below it (or run ibara unattended-boot lock-at-sign-in on): ibara won’t start without the disk password until it’s on, and someone then has to unlock the screen before agents can work. Once it’s running, the spare resumes agents by itself when it’s healthy. Starting without the disk password has been tested in a virtual machine, not yet on real hardware.