EchidnaTroubleshooting
Most problems show a message that says what happened and what to do. This page collects the common ones, grouped by where you meet them.
Installing and opening the app
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| macOS says Echidna “can't be opened” or “is damaged” | Echidna isn't notarised by Apple. Right-click the app → Open → Open. If macOS still refuses, use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Echidna.app. |
| Windows SmartScreen says it's an unrecognised app | This private release is unsigned. Verify the checksum and that the installer came from the download page, then select More info → Run anyway. |
| Windows installer stops with “Could not grant Chromium sandbox read access” | The installer couldn't set up the browser's sandbox permissions. Run the installer again. |
| The Linux AppImage won't open | Make it executable with chmod +x Echidna-*-linux-x64.AppImage. If asked, install your distribution's FUSE 2 compatibility package. If your system restricts user-namespace sandboxes, use the .deb package instead. |
“Engine offline” or the engine won't start
The app needs its background engine to create and open profiles. The sidebar shows Engine ready, Starting engine… or Engine offline.
- If the start screen says “Taking longer than usual”, press Restart engine, or Show log file to see why.
- If you see “The Echidna engine isn't running”, press Restart engine or Try to reconnect. You can also restart it from Settings → General → Engine process.
- “Another Echidna engine is already running, possibly started by an AI agent”: Echidna connects to it automatically. If it doesn't, close the other engine (quit the AI app) and restart Echidna.
- “The engine rejected this app's access token”: restart Echidna.
Sign-in and licence messages
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| That email and password, or license key, weren't accepted. | Check them and try again. Paste the key with every group. |
| That license key wasn't recognized. | Copy the key again from where you received it. |
| That doesn't look like a license key. | Copy it again, including every group. |
| This account has no license yet. | Ask the person who gave you access. |
| This account is already signed in on as many computers as it allows. | Sign out on another computer (Settings → License), or ask for a device to be released. See Free a device slot. |
| Can't reach the license server. | Check your internet connection and try again. |
| The license server had a problem. | Try again in a few minutes. |
| This computer's clock is off. | Set the date and time to update automatically, then try again. |
| Too many attempts. | Wait for the time shown, then try again. |
| The saved sign-in on this computer isn't valid anymore. | Sign in again. |
| Please sign in again | Echidna couldn't reach the licence server for too long. Connect to the internet and sign in. |
| This computer was removed from your account. | Sign in again to add it back. |
| This license was turned off / This license has ended / This account is paused. | Contact the person who gave you access. |
The Working offline banner is not an error: Echidna keeps working until the date shown and retries by itself. See Working offline.
A profile won't open
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| The proxy isn't responding, so the profile was not opened. | Your real IP stayed hidden. Check the proxy on the profile's Proxy tab with Check proxy, or turn off Block launch when the proxy is down in Settings. |
| This profile has no proxy and “Block launch when the proxy is down” is on. | Add a proxy or turn that setting off. |
| The engine version this profile uses isn't installed. | Pick an installed version in the profile's General tab. |
| The browser didn't finish starting. | Try again. If it keeps happening, check the engine log. |
| This profile is in use by another Echidna process. | Close it there first. |
| An automation client (for example an AI agent) is currently driving this profile. | Wait for it to finish, or close the profile to take it back. |
| Close the profile first. | Some actions (rename, delete, new fingerprint, clear cache) need the profile closed. |
The profile says “Queued”
More profiles were opened than Settings → Launch allows at once. It opens by itself as soon as another one closes. Raise Profiles open at once, or set it to 0 to let Echidna choose from your computer's memory and processor.
I closed the window but the profile still shows Open
On macOS, closing the last window can leave the browser running: press Close in Echidna, or quit the browser. On Windows and Linux, give the status a moment to update, or press Close.
New profiles can't be created
“New profiles require the mint server” means Echidna couldn't get a fingerprint. Connect to the internet and make sure you're signed in; existing profiles keep working.
Proxy checks fail
See What a check does for each proxy error and its fix. If the profile opens but the site shows the wrong location, make sure the profile's Timezone and Geolocation are on automatic and that Match timezone and location to the proxy is on in Settings → General.
Browser engine problems
- Settings → About → Browser engine → Repair checks the engine and repairs it. “Everything checked out: the browser engine is intact.” means nothing was wrong.
- Settings → Engines → Verify & repair checks every installed engine. Repairing unpacks an engine again; profiles and their data are not touched.
- An engine that came with the app can't be repaired in place. If it shows “Reinstall Echidna to fix”, download and install Echidna again; your profiles and settings are kept.
- “The last engine update did not finish”: nothing to do. Browsers keep using the verified engines already installed, and Echidna retries every few hours.
Logs and diagnostics
Settings → General → Data & logs has everything support needs:
| Row | What it is |
|---|---|
| Profiles | Where your profiles are stored. Show opens the folder. |
| Engine log | The engine's log file, ~/.echidna/logs/engine.log. Show opens its folder. |
| Diagnostics | Export writes one zip with the engine log, versions, settings and recent events. Passwords, tokens, cookie values and proxy credentials are left out. |
When you ask for help, attach the diagnostics zip and describe what you did and what you expected.
The in-app Guide also has a troubleshooting section and an error reference.
Where is my data?
Only on your computer, in Echidna's data folder (~/.echidna; on Windows C:\Users\you\.echidna). Nothing is uploaded. Turn on automatic backups in Settings → Backup, and see Settings → Storage for disk use and clean-up.