Guides · Last updated 20 October 2026

Hintglass troubleshooting

When Hintglass, a macOS menu-bar app, needs something from you, its menu-bar icon turns into a warning triangle and its menu says what to fix, so open the menu first.

Open Setup… in the same menu shows the same lines, grouped, with a button to System Settings for each missing permission and to Settings for the language.

The panel shows nothing

1. Check that a session is running: the Hintglass menu reads Stop session. The panel is there only during a session. If the menu reads Start session, choose it; if the start fails, the panel says why.
2. Look just below the notch, on the display that has one. On a Mac without a notch, the panel sits just below the menu bar, at the top centre of your main display.
3. Check Opacity in Settings → Notch panel. Move it towards Solid if the panel is hard to see. Messages you must read always show at full strength.
4. Hold right ⌥ (Right Option) alone, for longer than a quick tap, then let go. Another key or a click during the hold cancels it, and a quick tap sends nothing. A press with nothing new from the interviewer sends nothing either.
5. If the panel says “Hold trigger (…) couldn’t register:” with “Permission needed — …” below it, switch Hintglass on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Device Control and Data Access, then quit and reopen Hintglass. Or set Mode to Key combination in Settings → Trigger, which needs no permission: see Hintglass permissions.

A plain answer that fails does so quietly: the panel dims, and its word reads no answer.

A session won’t start

When a start fails, the panel says what is wrong and where to fix it, and the menu lists it with Dismiss to clear it. The ones you are most likely to see:

• “This connection hasn’t passed a Test with these settings. Run Test connection in Settings → Connection.” See Connect your AI provider to Hintglass.
• “No model is set for OpenAI. Enter one in Settings → Connection.” or “No API key for OpenAI. Add it in Settings → Connection.”, with your host’s name
• “Your meeting app isn’t running. Open it, or set another in Settings:”, with the app’s identifier below. Open the app your call is in, or pick it in Settings → Meeting app.
• “Permission needed:” or “Permissions needed:”, with the names. See Hintglass permissions.
• “A required file in your profile is empty. Add content to it:”, with cv.md below. Fill it in: see Build your Hintglass profile.
• A line about the speech model for your language: see the language warning.
• A line about your licence: see Licence messages.

A meter stays flat

The them meter is the meeting app’s audio, the interviewer; me is your microphone. Flat bars mean no sound is arriving on that side.

• them stays flat while the interviewer talks: check that Settings → Meeting app is the app your call is in, or for a call in a browser, the browser, and that Hintglass is switched on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording. Then stop and start the session.
• me stays flat while you talk: check that Hintglass is switched on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone. If you switched it on just now, quit and reopen Hintglass.
• A dimmed label: Hintglass lost that side’s audio, after a headset was plugged in, say, and is getting it back. It keeps trying for about a minute.
• An orange, struck-through label: that side is lost for the rest of the session. For the meeting app, the panel says “Lost the meeting app’s audio and couldn’t get it back. Stop and start the session:”, with the reason; for your microphone, the menu says “Lost your microphone and couldn’t get it back. Answers won’t include what you say:”. Stop and start the session.

Code or search says it is unavailable

• “Code mode unavailable — Settings → Connection.” means ⌥⌘C (Option-Command-C) needs a model that reads images, and the Test your connection passed found that yours doesn’t, or couldn’t tell. Choose a model that does, then test again.
• “Search unavailable — Settings → Search.” means no search service is chosen, or its key isn’t saved: see Set up web search in Hintglass.

The language warning

If the menu says there is no on-device speech model for your language, or that its model isn’t installed, install the model in Settings → Interview language, or choose a language whose model is installed. Set the interview language in Hintglass has the details.

Licence messages

At launch, Hintglass checks your licence when a session starts, and works offline for 7 days after the last check. If the check refuses, the panel says why, then what to do:

• “Your free session has been used. Buy a licence in Settings → Licence.”
• “Your subscription has ended. Buy a licence in Settings → Licence, then activate the new key.”
• “Your payment is still processing. Try again in a minute, or check Settings → Licence.”
• “Your subscription isn’t active (unpaid). Renew it in Settings → Licence → Manage subscription.”, with Stripe’s word for its state
• “Hintglass couldn’t check your licence for 7 days. Connect to the internet and start again.”
• “Hintglass couldn’t verify the licence server. Update it with Check for Updates… in the menu.”
• “This licence key isn’t recognised. Check it in Settings → Licence.”
• “This Mac’s licence was deactivated. Activate it again in Settings → Licence.”
• “This licence was activated for another install. Activate it again in Settings → Licence.”

Activating in Settings → Licence can also say “Couldn’t reach the licence server. Check the connection and try again.”, or that the licence is active on as many Macs as it allows: click Deactivate this Mac… on a Mac you no longer use, then activate again. Your Hintglass account and licence covers the rest.