> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://meridiona-mintlify-2ae70a19.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Meridian Troubleshooting: Diagnose and Fix Common Issues

> Step-by-step fixes for installation failures, daemon crashes, Jira and GitHub auth errors, MCP server issues, and macOS permission problems.

When something goes wrong with Meridian, start with `meridian doctor`. It runs the full suite of environment health checks — binary presence, plist validity, running processes, database existence, Python venv, and MCP build — and tells you exactly which check failed and what to do about it.

```bash theme={null}
meridian doctor
```

The sections below cover the most common failure patterns in more detail.

***

## Installation & Setup

<Accordion title="macOS Gatekeeper blocks the binary on first launch (unsigned v1)">
  The current Meridian release ships an unsigned binary, so macOS may quarantine it on first launch with a "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified" error.

  Clear the quarantine attribute and restart:

  ```bash theme={null}
  xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/.meridian/app
  meridian restart
  ```
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="`npm install -g` fails with EACCES">
  This happens when your npm global prefix is root-owned — typical with the stock macOS Node install at `/usr/local`. Running `npm install -g` (with or without `sudo`) is not the right fix; use the bootstrap one-liner instead. It redirects the prefix to `~/.npm-global` (user-owned), patches your shell profile so the change persists across terminals, and then installs Meridian and runs setup:

  ```bash theme={null}
  curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Meridiona/meridian/main/scripts/bootstrap.sh | bash
  ```

  The script is idempotent and never uses `sudo`. Re-running it after a failed install is safe.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="`meridian: command not found` after install">
  `npm install -g @meridiona/meridian` puts the CLI on the npm global bin path. If your shell can't find it, that directory is not on your `PATH`.

  1. Find the npm global bin: `npm bin -g` (typical values: `/usr/local/bin`, `~/.npm-global/bin`, or `~/.local/bin`).

  2. Add it to your `PATH` in `~/.zshrc` (or `~/.bashrc`):

     ```bash theme={null}
     export PATH="$(npm bin -g):$PATH"
     ```

  3. Open a new shell or `source ~/.zshrc`.

  The bootstrap one-liner (`curl -fsSL .../bootstrap.sh | bash`) does this automatically — re-run it if you'd rather not edit your profile by hand.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="`meridian setup` fails at the Homebrew step">
  `meridian setup` uses Homebrew to install system dependencies (Python 3.11, ffmpeg, screenpipe). If it fails at this step:

  1. Make sure you have an active internet connection.
  2. Ensure Xcode Command Line Tools are installed:

  ```bash theme={null}
  xcode-select --install
  ```

  If the tools are already installed, the command exits immediately with a message to that effect. Otherwise, follow the on-screen prompt and re-run `meridian setup` after the installation completes.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Source build: Rust or Python setup fails">
  These errors only apply to contributors who cloned the repo and ran `./install.sh` instead of installing from npm. The npm distribution ships a prebuilt binary and never needs Rust or a Python toolchain on your machine.

  **Rust toolchain:** `rustup show` should report a stable toolchain for `aarch64-apple-darwin`. If `rustup` itself is missing, install it from [rustup.rs](https://rustup.rs/). `rust-toolchain.toml` in the repo pins the required version.

  **Python:** the source build requires Python 3.11 (`brew install python@3.11` or `pyenv install 3.11`). After installing, re-run `./install.sh`.
</Accordion>

***

## Daemon & Runtime

<Accordion title="Daemon exits immediately on startup">
  The Rust daemon TCP-connects to the MLX inference server before entering its poll loop. If the MLX server is not running, the daemon exits immediately with an error message in the log.

  **Fix — restart the stack so launchd brings the MLX server back up:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian restart
  meridian logs mlx-server -f
  ```

  Wait until you see `server: MLX model ready` (this can take a few minutes on the very first run while the \~6 GB model downloads, then \~5 seconds from cache thereafter).

  If the MLX plist is missing entirely (e.g. `meridian status` reports `not installed`), re-run `meridian setup` to re-register the launchd agents.

  Alternatively, if you do not need session classification, set `CLASSIFICATION_ENABLED=false` in `~/.meridian/app/.env` and restart:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian config edit   # set CLASSIFICATION_ENABLED=false
  meridian restart
  ```

  Run `meridian doctor` afterwards to confirm everything is healthy.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="How to check daemon health">
  Two commands give you a complete picture:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian status    # Is the process running?
  meridian doctor    # Are all dependencies satisfied?
  ```

  For live log output:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian logs daemon -f          # stdout (info/debug)
  meridian logs daemon-error -f    # stderr (errors and panics)
  ```
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Sessions are not appearing in the database">
  If `meridian status` shows the daemon is running but no sessions appear in `~/.meridian/meridian.db`, check the following:

  1. **Is screenpipe running?**

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian status    # look for com.meridiona.screenpipe
  ```

  2. **Does the screenpipe database exist?**

  ```bash theme={null}
  ls -lh ~/.screenpipe/db.sqlite
  ```

  If the file is missing, screenpipe has not recorded any frames yet. Ensure screenpipe has Screen Recording permission (see the macOS Permissions section below) and that it has been running long enough to produce data.

  3. **Is `SCREENPIPE_DB` pointing to the right path?**

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian config edit    # verify SCREENPIPE_DB if you customised it
  ```
</Accordion>

***

## Integrations

<Accordion title="Jira: 401 Unauthorized">
  A 401 from the Jira API means either `JIRA_EMAIL` or `JIRA_API_TOKEN` is wrong, or the token has been revoked.

  1. Open `~/.meridian/app/.env` with `meridian config edit`.
  2. Verify that `JIRA_EMAIL` matches the email address of the Atlassian account that owns the token.
  3. Regenerate the token at [id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens](https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens) and paste the new value into `JIRA_API_TOKEN`.
  4. Restart: `meridian restart`.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Jira: no Jira tasks are loading">
  If the Jira connector is authenticated but no Jira tasks are appearing in session classifications:

  1. Check `JIRA_PROJECT_KEYS` — if set, ensure the keys match exactly (e.g. `KAN`, not `kan`).
  2. Confirm that the projects have open issues in the configured statuses.
  3. Force a full refresh without restarting the daemon:

  ```bash theme={null}
  python3 scripts/refresh_pm_tasks.py
  ```

  You can also run a targeted refresh with custom JQL:

  ```bash theme={null}
  python3 scripts/refresh_pm_tasks.py --jql "project=KAN ORDER BY updated DESC"
  ```
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="GitHub: 401 Unauthorized">
  A GitHub 401 means the personal access token is expired, revoked, or was created without the `repo` scope.

  1. Go to [github.com/settings/tokens](https://github.com/settings/tokens) and create a new classic PAT with at minimum the `repo` scope.
  2. Update `GITHUB_TOKEN` in `~/.meridian/app/.env` via `meridian config edit`.
  3. Restart: `meridian restart`.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Linear: no tasks are loading">
  1. Verify `LINEAR_API_KEY` is set correctly in `~/.meridian/app/.env`.
  2. Check `LINEAR_TEAM_IDS` — if set, confirm the team IDs are correct (visible in Linear's workspace settings URL).
  3. Ensure the teams have open issues in a status that the connector picks up.
  4. Check the daemon log (which handles all tracker sync) for error messages:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian logs daemon -n 100
  meridian logs daemon-error -n 100
  ```
</Accordion>

***

## MCP Server

<Accordion title="AI tool says Meridian is not found or DB is missing">
  This error means the MCP server process could not find `~/.meridian/meridian.db`.

  1. Confirm the daemon is running and has processed at least one poll tick:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian status
  meridian logs daemon -n 50
  ```

  2. Check that the database exists:

  ```bash theme={null}
  ls -lh ~/.meridian/meridian.db
  ```

  3. If you edited the MCP config file (`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`), verify that the path in `args` points to the actual repo location:

  ```json theme={null}
  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "meridian": {
        "command": "node",
        "args": ["/your/actual/path/to/meridian/packages/meridian-mcp/dist/index.js"]
      }
    }
  }
  ```

  Use an absolute path — `~` is not expanded by all MCP hosts.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="MCP server build fails">
  If `packages/meridian-mcp/dist/index.js` is missing or stale, rebuild it:

  ```bash theme={null}
  cd packages/meridian-mcp
  npm install
  npm run build
  ```

  Then restart your MCP-compatible AI tool so it picks up the rebuilt server.
</Accordion>

***

## macOS Permissions

<Accordion title="screenpipe is not recording — no frames in the database">
  screenpipe requires Screen Recording permission to capture frames. Without it, the database stays empty and Meridian has nothing to process.

  Run the guided permissions walkthrough:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian permissions
  ```

  The command opens the Screen Recording and Accessibility System Settings panes in sequence and waits for you to confirm each one. (Audio capture is disabled, so no Microphone permission is required.) After granting access, restart the stack:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian restart
  ```

  <Warning>
    You must restart screenpipe after granting Screen Recording permission. The permission change does not take effect for a running process.
  </Warning>
</Accordion>

***

## Dashboard

<Accordion title="http://localhost:3939 is not loading">
  1. Check whether the UI service is running:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian status    # look for com.meridiona.ui
  ```

  2. If it is not running, check the logs:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian logs ui
  meridian logs ui-error
  ```

  3. If the UI plist is missing entirely (`not installed`), re-run `meridian setup` to re-register the launchd agents.

  4. If the port is in use, set `MERIDIAN_UI_PORT` in `~/.meridian/app/.env` to something else and restart:

  ```bash theme={null}
  meridian config edit
  meridian restart
  ```
</Accordion>

***

<Note>
  `meridian doctor` is always the best first step for any issue. It checks every dependency and running service in one command and tells you exactly what needs fixing.
</Note>