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Learn everything you'll ever need to get the most out of Chronode

Troubleshooting

Not Tracking Time

Issue:

  • App shows in monitored list but no time is tracked
  • Sessions don't start when apps launch

Possible Causes: 1. 2. Accessibility permissions not granted 2. Accessibility permissions granted but not working

Solutions:

Step 1: Check Accessibility Permissions

  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
  2. Look for Chronode in the list
  3. Ensure checkbox is enabled

Step 2: Reset Permissions

  1. Uncheck Chronode in Accessibility settings
  2. Quit Chronode completely
  3. Relaunch Chronode
  4. Re-grant permissions when prompted
  5. Test by launching a monitored app

Step 3: Restart Security Services (Advanced)

# In Terminal:
sudo killall -HUP mds
sudo killall tccd

Then restart your Mac.

Dialog Keeps Appearing

Symptom:
Chronode Would Like to Access Files Dialog Keeps Appearing.

Cause:
File system permissions not properly granted or saved

Solution:

  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Files and Folders
  2. Find Chronode in the list
  3. Grant access to all requested folders
  4. Quit and relaunch Chronode

Sessions Not Starting

Symptom:
Launch app but no session appears in Chronode

Diagnosis:

  1. Check that app has a green indicator in sidebar
    • If paused, click to resume monitoring
  2. Verify Accessibility permissions are granted
  3. Ensure app is actually in monitored apps list

Solution:

  • Remove and re-add the app to monitored list
  • Restart both the app and Chronode
  • Check Console.app for Chronode error messages

Sessions Ending Early

Symptom:
Sessions end before you actually quit the app

Possible Causes:

  1. App going into background and timing out
  2. Focus Mode enabled (only tracks active window)
  3. System sleep or screen lock

Solutions:

If Focus Mode is the issue:

  • Disable Focus Mode in Settings
  • This will track time whenever app is running, not just when active

If app goes to sleep/background:

  • Some apps enter low-power mode when backgrounded
  • This may trigger Chronode to think app quit
  • Keep app active/visible while working

Missing Time Gaps

Symptom:
Gaps in time tracking where you know you were working

Common Causes:

1. Minimum Session Duration Filter

  • Check Settings → Minimum Session Duration
  • Sessions shorter than this are discarded
  • Set to 0 to track everything

2. Force Quit or Crash Not Detected

  • If app terminates abnormally, session should still be saved
  • Check if sessions marked as "Force Quit" or "Crash" in exports

3. System Sleep

  • Mac going to sleep ends sessions
  • Sessions resume on wake, but sleep time is not tracked (this is correct behavior)

Solutions:

  • Lower or disable Minimum Session Duration
  • Verify Chronode is running when working
  • Check that Mac isn't sleeping during work hours

Using Too Much CPU

Symptom:
Chronode is using much more than the expected 1-3% CPU

Step 1: Check for runaway processes

  1. Open Activity Monitor
  2. Find Chronode process
  3. Check CPU percentage

Step 2: Restart Chronode

  • Quit completely (not just close window)
  • Relaunch from Applications folder

Step 3: Check for conflicts

  • Other time tracking apps running?
  • Multiple monitoring tools may conflict
  • Disable others temporarily to test

Step 4: Reset preferences

  1. Quit Chronode
  2. Delete ~/Library/Preferences/com.chronode.*
  3. Relaunch and reconfigure

Slowing Down Mac

Unexpected behavior:
Chronode shouldn't impact Mac performance

Diagnostic steps:

1. Check memory usage

  • Open Activity Monitor
  • Find Chronode process
  • Expected: Under 50MB

2. Check disk usage

  • Large database files may slow queries
  • Check ~/Library/Application Support/CodelDev.Chronode/
  • If database is very large (>1GB), consider exporting and resetting

3. Check for corruption

  • Quit Chronode
  • Make backup of database: ~/Library/Application Support/CodelDev.Chronode/
  • Delete database and let Chronode recreate on next launch
  • This loses all data, so export first if needed

App Freezing

Symptom:
Chronode becomes unresponsive or shows spinning cursor

Immediate fix:

  1. Force quit Chronode (⌘ + Option + Esc)
  2. Relaunch from Applications folder

If the problem persists:

  1. Check macOS Console for crash reports
  2. Look for Chronode errors or warnings
  3. Contact support with error logs

No Menu Bar Icon

Symptom:
Chronode is running but no menu bar icon visible

Causes:

  1. Menu bar is full (too many other icons)
  2. Icon hidden by macOS
  3. Display resolution issue

Solutions:

Step 1: Check if icon is hidden

  • Hold ⌘ and drag other menu bar items to rearrange
  • Chronode icon may be pushed off-screen to the left
  • Drag less important items away to reveal Chronode

Step 2: Quit and relaunch

  • Completely quit Chronode
  • Relaunch from Applications
  • Icon should reappear

Step 3: Check Bartender or similar apps

  • If using menu bar management apps, check their settings
  • Chronode may be hidden automatically
  • Configure to always show Chronode

Can't Click Menu Bar Icon

Symptom:
Menu bar icon visible but clicking does nothing

Possible Causes:

  1. App is frozen but icon remains
  2. Click target area issue
  3. System permissions problem

Solutions:

  • Force quit and relaunch Chronode
  • Try clicking different parts of the icon
  • Check Activity Monitor to see if Chronode is responding

Export Button Disabled

Symptom:
Cannot click Export button

Causes:

  1. No data in selected date range
  2. App/project selected has no sessions
  3. No monitored apps yet configured

Solutions:

  • Change date range to include more days
  • Select "Export All Time" option
  • Verify data exists by checking Stats panel first
  • Add and use monitored apps before exporting

Exported File is Empty

Symptom:
Export completes but file contains no data or only headers

Diagnosis:

  1. Check selected date range
  2. Verify app/project has actual sessions
  3. Check if filters are excluding all data

Solutions:

  • Expand date range (try "Export All Time")
  • Check Minimum Session Duration setting (may be filtering out all sessions)
  • Verify sessions exist in Stats panel first

PDF Won't Open

Symptom:
Exported PDF is corrupted or won't display

Solutions:

  1. Try re-exporting the data
  2. Try different PDF page size (US Letter vs. A4)
  3. Open in different PDF viewer
  4. Check available disk space before exporting

Can't Find Export File

Symptom:
Export succeeds but can't locate the file

Solutions:

  1. Check Downloads folder (default save location)
  2. Use Spotlight (⌘ + Space) to search for: Chronode_Export_
  3. Check Finder "Recents" for recently created files
  4. Re-export and pay attention to save dialog location

Settings Not Saving

Symptom:
Change settings but they revert on restart

Possible Causes:

  1. Permissions issue with preferences file
  2. Corrupt preferences
  3. Multiple instances of Chronode running

Solutions:

Step 1: Ensure single instance

  • Quit all Chronode instances
  • Check Activity Monitor for multiple processes
  • Launch single instance

Step 2: Reset preferences via Terminal

defaults delete com.chronode.preferences

Then relaunch Chronode and reconfigure

Step 3: Check file permissions in terminal

ls -la ~/Library/Preferences/ | grep chronode

Ensure you have write permissions

Auto-Start Not Working

Symptom:
Toggle enabled but Chronode doesn't launch at login

Solutions:

Step 1: Verify system setting

  1. System Settings → General → Login Items
  2. Check if Chronode is listed
  3. If present, ensure it's enabled
  4. If absent, toggle OFF then ON in Chronode settings

Step 2: Remove and re-add

  1. Remove Chronode from Login Items (in System Settings)
  2. Disable auto-start in Chronode Settings
  3. Quit Chronode completely
  4. Relaunch and re-enable auto-start

Step 3: Check for conflicts

  • Other apps may be preventing launch
  • Try disabling other login items temporarily
  • Test if Chronode launches alone

Charts Showing No Data

Symptom:
Empty chart states despite having tracked time

Causes:

  1. Time range doesn't include any sessions
  2. Selected app/project has no data
  3. Chart type not compatible with time range

Solutions:

  • Change time range to include more days
  • Select different app/project with data
  • Try "All Time" view to verify data exists
  • Check that sessions exist in sidebar

Charts Not Updating

Symptom:
Active session time not appearing in charts

Expected Behavior:
Charts update every ~30 seconds to include active sessions

Solutions:

  1. Check that session is actually active (green indicator)
  2. Wait 30 seconds for refresh cycle
  3. Switch time range to force refresh
  4. Restart Chronode if charts remain stale

Can't Install App

Symptom:
Installation fails or app won't download

Solutions:

  1. Check macOS version (requires macOS 14.6+ (Sonoma) )
  2. Verify sufficient disk space (need 50MB+)
  3. Download the file and try again
  4. Restart Mac and try again

App is Damaged

Symptom:
macOS says Chronode is damaged and can't be opened

Cause:
Gatekeeper security check failing

Solution:

  1. Ensure you have downloaded from our official website
  2. Right-click app → Open (instead of double-click)
  3. Confirm opening in the dialog
  4. Or in Terminal:
xattr -cr /Applications/Chronode.app

Project Not Detected

Symptom:
Chronode shows only the app name, no project

Solutions:

  1. Ensure you've opened a project/folder, not just individual files
  2. Check that the app is in the supported apps list
  3. Verify window title shows the project name
  4. Try closing and reopening the project

Wrong Project Name

Issue:
Chronode detects incorrect project name

Possible causes:

  • Multiple projects open in same IDE
  • Window title format changed in IDE update
  • Project opened from different location

Solutions:

  1. Close extra projects in the IDE
  2. Ensure only one project window is active
  3. Check IDE settings for window title format

Multi-Projects Simultaneously

Issue: Working on Project A but Chronode shows Project B

Why this happens:

  • If multiple windows are open, Chronode tracks the active/frontmost window
  • Background windows aren't tracked unless they're the active window

With Focus Mode enabled (see App Settings ):

  • Only the frontmost window's project is tracked
  • Switching windows changes the tracked project automatically
Data Recovery