Troubleshooting & Support

Common issues, what they mean, and how to resolve them. If your issue isn't covered here, see Contact support at the bottom.

Files and uploads

"My file failed to process"

The file couldn't be read properly. Try uploading it again. If it's a scanned PDF (images of text, not selectable text), it may not work — try converting it to a text-based PDF first. A PowerPoint deck fails here if it's an older .ppt (save it as .pptx and upload it again) or if it has more than 200 slides — split a very long deck into parts. An encrypted Excel, Word or PowerPoint file that reached Linc without going through an upload dialog (a SharePoint import, or an attachment inside an email) fails here too — see the next entry. Files stuck in "processing" for more than 10 minutes should be re-uploaded.

"Unlock this file" or "is encrypted by a sensitivity label" when adding a file

When you add an Excel, Word or PowerPoint file, Linc checks whether it is encrypted before uploading it, because an encrypted file can't be read.

• Password-protected: Linc asks for the file's password. Enter it and click Unlock: the file is unlocked in your browser (the password isn't sent anywhere) and Linc keeps an unlocked copy. Skip file leaves it out. Files encrypted with older Office versions (an .xls workbook, or a file saved by Office 2007) can't be unlocked here — you're told to open the file in Office, remove the password (File → Info → Protect Workbook / Document / Presentation → Encrypt with Password), save, and add it again.
• Encrypted by a sensitivity label (for example "Confidential" in Microsoft 365): there is no password to enter, so the file is refused. If your organization allows it, open it in Office, change it to a label that doesn't encrypt (Home → Sensitivity), save, and add it again; otherwise ask your IT team.

"That looks like a recording link" on the Meeting tab

The Meeting tab sends a bot to join a live meeting, so it only accepts a link to a meeting that's scheduled or in progress (Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet). A link to an existing recording — a saved Teams/SharePoint/OneDrive video, a Zoom cloud recording, a Google Drive/Dropbox file, or a direct video file — won't work there. Download that recording and add it on the Upload tab instead (MP4, WebM, or MOV, up to 2GB).

"My video is too large to upload"

Recordings are capped at 2GB. A video over that is refused at the file picker with a message that gives the file's size and what to do: trim it, re-export it at a lower resolution or bitrate, or split the process into shorter recordings and add the later parts with the "Part of an existing process" picker so they join the same process. The rest of your upload (other documents) still goes through.

"My video failed to process"

Whether you can retry depends on which step failed — the message on the workflow page tells you which one:

• "We couldn't process this video safely" (removing sensitive information, step 1 of 2) → there is no retry button for this step. Our team is notified automatically; if you'd rather not wait, start over (see below).
• "Analyzing your recording stopped before it finished" or "Video analysis failed" (step 2 of 2) → click Analyze again / Try again. Your recording is kept and reviewed again from the start; you don't re-record or re-upload anything.
• "Video analysis failed" with no Analyze again button and the note "the file itself can't be read. Please record this session again" → the recording file is empty, truncated, or unreadable, so re-running the analysis would fail the same way. Start a new session and record again.
• "The process documents could not be generated" (after the interview) → click Try again. See "My SOP/BPMN generation failed" under Generated documents.
• "The process diagrams could not be generated" (after the interview) → the SOP was written and only the diagrams failed. Click View SOP to open it, or Try again to re-run everything. See "My SOP/BPMN generation failed" under Generated documents.

Starting over, when you need to:

• Invited workflow (someone asked you to record) → click the Reset button on the workflow page to clear everything and re-record.
• Self-created workflow → delete the workflow from the Scout list and create a new one.

You cannot replace or re-upload the video itself once the workflow has started — a retry always reuses the recording you already uploaded.

"This file couldn't be imported as a process"

Importing on the Processes page reports each file separately, and the rest of the batch still goes through. What the messages mean:

• "This isn't a valid BPMN 2.0 file." The .bpmn or .xml you dropped isn't BPMN — export it again from your modelling tool as BPMN 2.0 XML, or import the diagram as a PDF or image instead.
• "No process steps could be read from this file." If it's a diagram, the activity labels need to be legible — try a higher-resolution export or a PDF rather than a screenshot. If it's a PowerPoint deck, its slides are probably pictures only (a pasted screenshot of a diagram) — Linc reads the shapes drawn on a slide, not a picture pasted onto it, so export that slide as PNG or PDF and import that instead. If it's a spreadsheet, it needs a Step or Activity column. If it's notes or a transcript saved as Word or PDF, Linc read it as a procedure and found none — click Retry as notes on that row, or add the file again and set Treat as → Notes (or Transcript) before importing.
• "This PDF has no selectable text — it's a scan." A PDF to be read as notes or a transcript needs a text layer; a scanned page is a picture. Click Paste text instead in the import dialog and paste the contents, or export them as Word or text and import again.
• "The file's contents don't match its extension." The file was renamed to a different format (a PNG saved as .jpg, an old .doc renamed .docx, a CSV renamed .xlsx). Open it in the program it came from and save it again in the format the extension says.
• "The upload didn't finish or couldn't be read back." The file never fully reached storage (a dropped connection, usually). Add it again; the other files in the same batch were still imported.
• "The steps were read, but the process's next version couldn't be written." Only when adding a file to an existing process: the steps were understood but the new version failed to generate. Nothing was added to the process — add the file again.
• "This file type can't be imported." Accepted formats are BPMN XML, PDF, PNG/JPG/WebP, Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), Excel (.xlsx/.xls), CSV, a Teams/Zoom transcript (.vtt, .srt, .txt) or pasted notes. Older .doc / .ppt files aren't readable — save as .docx / .pptx first.
• "This transcript or notes file is too long to import in one go." The file passed the size check but would take more model calls than the import can finish. Split it into a shorter excerpt and import again.
• A file disappears when you add it. It's over the size limit (30 MB, or 5 MB for images, or 1 MB for transcripts and notes); a message names the skipped file.

A successful import that reads "low read confidence — check the steps" still created the process — open it and check the Coverage ladder against the original, and the process map too when the file was a drawn diagram: an arrow Linc couldn't read is filled in from the order of the steps, and that is one of the things that lowers the confidence.

Recording

"I got signed out while recording my screen"

If you get signed out of Linc AI during a screen recording, a black banner appears at the top of the recording tab telling you so. Your recording is not lost — but do not close or reload the tab where you started the recording. Open a new browser tab, sign back in to Linc AI there, and the recording will upload automatically (the banner disappears once it does). If the tab does get closed before you sign back in, open Linc again and look for the bar at the top saying it found an unfinished recording — click Upload it to finish saving (see the next entry).

"I closed or reloaded the Linc tab while recording"

Closing or reloading the Linc tab ends the capture, because that tab is what's doing the recording — Linc warns you with a "leave site?" confirmation if you try. What you already recorded is still safe: Linc writes the video to your browser's storage as it goes. When the page comes back:

• The session page tells you plainly that your recording didn't finish and offers either Recover my recording or Start this session over, depending on whether the video is still there.
• A bar appears at the top saying Linc found an unfinished recording, with how long it is and an Upload it button — click that and the session carries on exactly as if you'd pressed Stop and Save.
• Later keeps the recording for next time; choose Discard only if you're sure you don't want the footage.

This recovers what was recorded up to the moment the tab closed; it can't keep recording through the reload — record the remainder as a new session using the "Part of an existing process" picker.

The same recovery applies if the recording stops on its own with an error (for example the browser runs out of disk space mid-capture): the capture ends, but everything recorded up to that point is kept and the session page offers Recover my recording, rather than sending you back to the start screen.

"Your network blocked the upload"

Linc saves recordings straight from your browser to its storage on Amazon S3. Some company networks run a security proxy (for example Netskope or Zscaler) that refuses uploads to cloud storage it doesn't recognise. When that happens, Linc tells you your network blocked the upload rather than just "upload failed". Your recording is safe in your browser's storage.

Ask your IT team to allow uploads to *.s3.amazonaws.com for Linc users (or to exempt the Linc extension). Once that's in place, open the session page and use Recover my recording, or click Upload it on the unfinished-recording bar. The same message can appear when uploading a video file on the session start screen — allow the same address, then try the upload again.

"Linc says it is recording one screen instead of two"

With Record two screens ticked, a regular recording puts both screens side by side in one video, and a recording day (shadow mode) records each screen as its own video. Either way, if a screen is lost Linc keeps recording rather than stopping, and a message at the bottom of the page tells you what happened:

• "Linc could not open your second screen, so it is recording one screen." Your browser's second screen picker failed. The first screen is recorded as normal.
• "One of your screens stopped sharing. Recording continues with the other screen." You (or your browser) stopped sharing one of the two screens, or a monitor was unplugged. On a recording day the message adds how to record both again (below), and the toolbar shows 1 of 2 screens while one is stopped.
• "Recording one of your screens hit an error." Recording days only. Recording one screen failed; recording continues with the other screen, and everything recorded so far is saved. The message ends with how to record both again (below).
• "Linc could not combine your two screens, so it is recording one screen." Regular recordings only. Linc couldn't put the two screens side by side when recording started, so it records your first screen alone.

To record both screens again on a recording day, click Stop sharing on your browser's sharing bar (with one screen left there is only one bar), then click Resume today in the toolbar — it asks for both screens again. A screen can't be added while the day is recording. For a regular session, record the rest as a new session.

"I clicked Stop sharing and both screens stopped"

This happens on a Mac when a recording day (shadow mode) shares two screens. The browser shows a "…is sharing your screen" bar with a Stop sharing button for each screen, but it puts both bars at the bottom of your main display, one on top of the other. Your second display shows no bar, and you can't tell which bar belongs to which screen. Clicking Stop sharing stops one screen, and the other screen's bar then appears in the same place, so a second click stops that screen too. This is how the browser works; Linc has no button to stop one screen on its own.

Your day is not over. Click Resume today on the Linc toolbar and pick both screens again — your browser asks for the second right after the first. Everything captured so far is saved and finishes uploading on its own, and the time in between is recorded as a gap.

To keep your screens out of the recording for a while, use Privacy pause instead — it pauses both screens. To record only one screen, end the day and leave Record two screens unticked on your next recording day.

"My session is stuck on 'Watching your recording'"

That message means Linc has your recording and is reviewing it. Reviewing runs on Linc's servers, so you can close your laptop or shut your computer down while it works — you'll get an email when it's ready. Long recordings take longer: a multi-hour recording is reviewed in pieces and can take well over an hour.

• If the recording never made it (for example the recording tab was closed mid-way), the page says "Your recording didn't finish" instead, so you're not left waiting on a video that isn't coming.
• If reviewing started but stopped, you'll see "Analyzing your recording stopped before it finished" with an Analyze again button — your recording is still saved, so nothing has to be re-recorded.
• If reviewing fails outright you'll see "Video analysis failed", which also offers Try again — unless the recording file itself can't be read, in which case the page says so and asks you to record the session again instead of offering a retry.

If it has been "Watching your recording" for well over an hour with no email, open Linc and check for a bar at the top offering to upload an unfinished recording — if it's there, click Upload it and the session resumes on its own. The "Your recording didn't finish" screen also carries a button for whichever case you're in: Recover my recording brings the upload bar back if Linc still has the video (useful if you dismissed it with Later), and Start this session over appears instead when the video is gone for good, putting the session back at its start screen, ready to record.

Generated documents

"My SOP/BPMN generation failed"

The workflow page shows a red The process documents could not be generated banner saying which step failed and why — for example "Writing the SOP took longer than allowed for this recording" — with a Try again button. Your interview and recording are kept, so click Try again to run it again; you do not need to start over. (Technical details under the message expands the raw error, in case support asks for it.)

If the SOP was written but the run failed at the diagram step, the banner reads The process diagrams could not be generated and adds a View SOP button — the SOP is complete and usable as is; only the BPMN and Mermaid diagrams are missing. Try again re-runs the whole thing, SOP included, and clears the earlier SOP as soon as you click it — so download what you need first. Once clicked, View SOP is no longer offered, even if the new run fails to start.

Once a session's documents have generated there is no button to regenerate them: they are the record of that recording, and the process built from them is edited on its own page (see Downloading & Exporting).

If it ran out of time, that is usually a long recording: try again, and if it happens twice, record the process in shorter parts. If it keeps failing for another reason, go back to the conversation and add more detail about your workflow — the AI may not have had enough information — then regenerate.

"It says my SOP has no branded template to export as PDF"

The PDF download reproduces the branded, styled preview, so it's only available when the SOP has a branded template applied. Download the SOP as Word (.docx) instead — it keeps the screenshots, just without your branding — or apply a template first (click Regenerate and choose a template), then download the PDF.

"The screenshots or process flows are missing from my downloaded SOP"

Check which format you downloaded. Markdown (.md) is a plain-text format and never includes pictures: each screenshot shows up as a line naming its caption, and each process flow as a note like "[Process flow: Tick the claim → Validate receipts — shown in the template view]". Download the SOP as PDF or Word (.docx) to get the pictures themselves.

If the process map is missing from the PDF or Word of a library process, that version has no BPMN diagram behind it — the map slot shows its written introduction alone. Generate or import a diagram for the process, then download again.

Intended vs Actual

"Grade against the prior is greyed out and says Reading the prior…"

One of the uploaded priors is still having its text extracted. Grading waits because it reads all the priors in one pass, so a document that isn't ready yet would silently be left out of the score. It clears on its own in a minute or two. If one stays stuck, remove it with the bin icon and grade against the rest.

"My prior says Unreadable"

No text could be extracted from that file. Scanned PDFs (images of text), picture-only slide decks, and older .doc, .ppt, .txt, and .rtf files can't be read — save the document as .docx / .pptx or a text-based PDF and upload it again.

The same label appears when the upload finished but reading it could never be started (you'll have seen an error saying so at upload time). Nothing is wrong with the file in that case: delete the prior and upload it again.

"It says the department has no documented processes to grade"

Grading only covers processes filed under that department that have something to read — a published SOP, or at least one interview behind them. Set the department on the process (or record it first), then run the grade again.

"The card on a process says the grade is out of date"

The grade no longer matches what's published: either a newer version has been published since, or the version it read was deleted, or it read the interviews before this process had an SOP. Re-run the grade from the department's page. If it instead says the process has no readable SOP document, re-running won't help — the published version is missing its SOP, so regenerate or re-publish the deliverable first.

Chat and analysis

"I sent a chat message and was taken to the sign-in page"

Your session expired while the page was open. Sign back in (this may happen automatically if you use single sign-on) and you'll be returned to the chat you were in — or to the home screen if you were sending the very first message of a new chat. The message you were sending didn't go through, so send it again after signing in. Messages from earlier in the conversation are safe.

"The AI says my context is too long"

A single message, together with the documents selected for it, is more than the AI can read at once. Uncheck some files in the left sidebar, or click New chat on the error to start fresh. Long conversations alone don't cause this in Chat — older messages are summarized automatically.

"The AI service is temporarily busy"

The AI provider is overloaded or rate-limited right now. This is temporary and nothing is lost — wait a moment and send your message again.

"The conversation has become too long"

The chat has grown past what the AI can read at once. Start a new chat, or ask a shorter question. Your existing conversation is still saved. In the main Chat, older messages are summarized automatically, so you'd only see this if a single message is very large.

"Something went wrong and this answer didn't finish"

The Analysis chat couldn't finish a reply — for example, the connection dropped or the analysis service had a problem partway through. Click Try again under the message to ask the same question again (files you attached to that message aren't re-sent; attach them again if you need them). If it keeps happening, start a new chat from the chat header. When the message instead explains why the chat won't answer — for example, that it is only available to people who can see financial figures — trying again won't change it; follow what the message says.

"'Explain this gap' says a completed analysis is needed"

The Analysis chat answers questions about a completed analysis run. If your Architect Overview shows results with a Preliminary badge (no completed run yet), the gap sheet only offers Explain this gap, and clicking it opens the chat with your question and a note that a completed analysis is needed. Run an analysis from the Architect page (or ask an admin to), wait for it to complete, then open the gap again. If an analysis is already running, the chat says so — ask again once it finishes.

"Variant detection failed. Please try again."

You clicked Detect in the Variants view and the analysis ran but couldn't produce a usable result. Click Detect to try again; if it keeps failing, contact support. This is different from "No variant groups detected", which means the analysis ran fine and simply didn't find any versions of the same process worth grouping.

"My dollar-figure edit was refused"

Work-exposed dollars are calculated from weekly hours and the Initiative's Assumptions. A direct edit to the annual dollar amount is refused because it would not change the figure shown on the page. Ask the chat to propose the hours, frequency, or weekly hours change that supports your target amount, then review and accept that proposal. An older proposal that edits the dollar amount directly must be replaced; it is not partially applied.

"The breakdown warns the inputs don't match the shown figure"

In the Architect opportunities table, clicking a work-exposed figure opens a "How this is computed" breakdown, which may warn that the inputs (hours × occurrences) multiply to a different number than the shown figure. The shown figure uses the opportunity's weekly hours total, and the warning means that total disagrees with the hours and occurrences on the opportunity. Ask the Analysis chat to set that opportunity's weekly hours directly — for example, "set this opportunity's weekly hours to match its hours and occurrences" — or to correct its hours and occurrences, then accept the proposed change. Changing rate, weeks, or efficacy in Settings will not clear this warning, and a full re-run is not needed.

Planning interviews

"A gap is assigned to someone set to inline questions — gaps need an interview"

You clicked Send on a plan where a documentation gap from the analysis sits on a row set to Inline questions, and nothing was sent. Inline questions can only carry open questions — documenting a process needs someone to walk through it, so a gap has to go out as an Interview. Switch that person's toggle to Interview, or move the gap onto someone who is being interviewed, then click Send again. Because the plan refused before sending anything, nobody received a duplicate email.

Access and missing pages

"We're reviewing your request" after signing in

Your organization is new to Linc AI, or you signed in with a personal account. Every new organization and personal account is reviewed by the Linc AI team before a workspace is created — usually within one business day. You'll get an email at the address you signed in with if the request is approved; sign in again after that and you'll land in your workspace. If you're joining an organization that already uses Linc AI and still see this page, you're probably signing in with a different account than your colleagues — check with them which account to use.

"I can't see a document someone shared"

Check the visibility setting. If it's set to "Organization" but you're an external member (from a different organization invited to an Initiative), you won't see it — only "Initiative"-scoped items are visible to external members.

"A forwarded question says I'm signed in under a different organization"

You clicked a link for a question someone forwarded to you, and the page says you're signed in with the right email address but under a different organization's account. Forwarded questions can only be answered from an account that belongs to the sender's organization — the same email address on a different organization's account won't work. Sign in with your account in the sender's organization, or ask the sender to forward the question to that account.

"A forwarded question says it was sent to a different account"

The page shows this when the email address you're signed in with isn't the one the question was sent to. Sign out and sign back in with the address the request arrived at. If you're already using that address and still see this message, it's the organization mismatch above.

"I can't invite team members"

Only org admins and Initiative admins can send invitations. If you're a member without admin rights, ask your Initiative admin or your organization's admin to send the invitation or grant you access.

"Invitation saved, but the email could not be sent"

The person was added to the Initiative's pending invitations, but the email announcing it didn't go out, so they have no link to click. The invitation itself is fine — open Settings → Members & Access, find their Pending row, and choose Resend invite. If it keeps failing, contact support; until the email is delivered, the invitee has no way to accept.

"Invalid file key" or "Not file owner" when attaching files to a Scout invitation

Files attached to a Scout interview invitation must be uploaded through the invitation form itself — Linc only accepts files it stored for that invitation, and only the person who uploaded a file can remove it. If you see either message, remove the attachment and upload the file again from the invitation form. Anything already attached to a sent invitation is unaffected.

"The verification email could not be sent" when adding a domain

The domain was saved and is sitting in Pending, but the verification request never reached the person you nominated to approve it. A domain only becomes usable once they act on that email, so use Resend on the domain's row in Settings → Members & Access to try again. Check the verifier's address for typos before resending — a resend also replaces any earlier link, so only the most recent email will work.

"I can't create a new Initiative"

Only org admins can create Initiatives. If you need a new one (for a department or area), ask your organization's admin.

"I don't see Discovery, Plan a round, or the People directory"

Discovery is available to org admins and Initiative admins. Plan a round (on the Interviews tab) is org admins only. The People directory is Settings → People, also org admins only; older Discovery → People links open it. If you need access, ask your organization's admin.

"I don't see Opportunities, Roadmap, Designer, or Analysis chat"

Those are To-Be surfaces. Org admins and Initiative admins always see them; other members see them only if an admin turned on To-Be access for them in Settings → Members & Access. Regular members without that grant still see Architect's Overview, Fit/Gap, Conformance, Benchmark, and Backlog tabs.

"The Benchmark tab says nothing matched a reference model"

Linc only compares a process when its name, department and description resemble one of the built-in references — Internal Audit, Source-to-Pay, Order-to-Cash, Record-to-Report, Hire-to-Retire, or FP&A — or a methodology you imported as a reference. It skips a process rather than force it onto a framework it doesn't fit. Two things help: give processes names that say what they do ("Supplier invoice processing" rather than "AP flow"), or import your own methodology with Use as industry reference model and press Refresh comparison.

"Could not compare processes to the reference"

The comparison failed to build. Press Refresh comparison to try again. It needs a completed analysis run — if the run is still going or didn't finish, wait for it and re-open the tab. Nothing else in Architect is affected: the comparison is built separately from the analysis, so a failure here never invalidates your Overview, gaps or Opportunities.

"Settings tabs are missing"

Org-level settings are admin-only, and Initiative admins see a reduced set of tabs (Members & Access, General, Departments in Scope, Brief, Assumptions, Deliverables). If an Initiative-specific tab is missing, use the Workspace dropdown in the sidebar to select an Initiative first. Invitations moved to Discovery → Interviews. People is a Settings tab for org admins, including while an Initiative is selected; older Discovery → People links open it.

"I can't type in the chat on my workflow page"

The chat is temporarily disabled while your video or documents are being processed. Wait for the processing to finish (you'll see the status update), then you'll be able to type.

"Nowhere to put files yet" when I try to upload on Home

Home's Documents card uploads into a Library folder that already takes documents. Open the Library from the sidebar and use Add → Upload or paste once (in a folder, or at the top); after that Home's Upload offers that place.

"My workflow shows as Read Only"

You're viewing someone else's workflow. Only the person who recorded it can send messages in it. The workflow's own documents (As recorded in this interview) are read-only for everyone, the owner included — the process built from them is edited on its process page in the Library (next entry).

"Why can't I edit this process?" — Read-only, no Edit button

Being able to open a process in the Library is a read grant; editing its deliverable (the SOP, the BPMN diagram and the flowchart) is not. The Document toolbar shows a Read-only marker instead of Edit, and Publish and Regenerate are not offered, unless you:

• recorded one of its source interviews (the one that seeded it, or one merged into it later);
• uploaded a document the process was read from (an import, or a file added with Update it — a file merely added with Add files is supporting material and doesn't count);
• created the process; or
• are an owner or admin of its Initiative, or an admin of the organization.

A viewer or guest on the Initiative is always read-only, whatever they contributed. You can still read, download and compare. To become an editor, contribute: record an interview for the process (Scout → New Session, with the Part of an existing process picker set to it), or add a document it is updated from. Or ask one of its editors — or an Initiative admin — to make the change.

Two other reasons Edit is missing even though you may edit: you are on an older version (the toolbar reads Superseded by vN — click Open latest), or you are looking at a Scout session's As recorded in this interview documents, which are read-only for everyone (previous entry).

Supported file formats

Contact support

For any issues not covered above, reach out through your dedicated Slack or Teams channel (if one has been set up for your engagement) or email founders@linc-ai.com. You can also ask the in-app help assistant (the chat bubble in the corner) for real-time guidance.

"This recording-day invitation has no schedule attached yet"

A recording-day (shadow mode) invitation is sent together with its schedule. If you accept in the moment between the invitation being created and its schedule being saved — or the schedule failed to save and the organizer was told — accepting is refused rather than starting an unscheduled day. Ask the organizer to re-send the invitation (that attaches the schedule), then accept again.