Troubleshooting assistants

What to do when connecting fails, when an assistant says it is not permitted or cannot find something, and the limits on each request.

Most problems come from one of three places: the sign-in, a permission the person who connected does not have, or a request larger than one answer can hold.

Connecting

You see	What it means	What to do
This request has expired	The Sterodata page waited more than 15 minutes for an answer.	Go back to your assistant and connect again.
This request was already answered	Someone already chose Allow or Cancel on it.	If your assistant is still waiting, connect again from there.
This connection request was not found	Sterodata has no request at that address: the link was cut short or changed.	Start the connection again from your assistant.
This connection request was refused	Sterodata could not verify where the assistant asked to be sent back, so it sent nothing there.	Try again from the assistant. If it keeps happening, the assistant's configuration needs fixing.
The assistant asks you to sign in again, or says its token is invalid, expired or revoked	The connection was disconnected, or not used for 60 days.	Connect it again from the assistant.

A refused request

Sterodata answers each refused request with the app's own reason, and the assistant passes it on. Read it: it says what to change.

Not permitted for this user: the person who connected the assistant does not have that right, for example to change a table they can only view. Ask a workspace admin, or do it as someone who has the right. Retrying does not help.
Not found: the workspace, table, field or page has another name, or the person cannot see it. Ask the assistant to list what it can see and use those names exactly.
A table of a connected database is not found when the assistant asks a question of it: an assistant cannot query those tables. It can build a dashboard on them and read its figures. See What an assistant cannot do.
A change to a synced table is refused: the rows come from a connector and are changed at their source.
A delete is refused because something uses it: the answer names what uses it (a formula, a view, a page, a form, an automation). Change or remove those first.
Failed on the server: something went wrong on Sterodata's side. Try again, or do it in the app.

Limits on each request

Request	Limit	If you need more
A question	500 rows per answer. The answer says when there are more.	Ask for totals or groups instead of rows, or ask in parts.
Any answer	60,000 characters. A longer one is refused, saying so.	Ask for fewer rows or fields.
Adding, changing or deleting records	100 records per request.	The assistant sends several requests; for a large load, it imports CSV.
A question across tables	One table at a time, plus the records its links point at.	Ask about each table in turn.
Describing a workspace	Fields are listed for the first 40 tables.	Ask for a table by name to see its fields.
Reading a dashboard's list	10 rows, or up to 100 when asked.	Ask a question of the table behind it.
Importing CSV	The assistant waits up to 15 seconds.	A longer import carries on; the assistant can check its progress.
Downloading files from links	Public web addresses only; images up to 15 MB each.	Upload the file in the app.

If an assistant keeps getting something wrong, ask it to describe the table first: it then uses the fields' real names and types.