I can’t create or generate anything – solutions
When generating doesn’t work, it’s almost always one of four things: no active plan, a role without rights, the missing CI analysis or a used-up monthly quota.
Quick check
- Is there a bar with Choose a plan at the top? Then no plan is running.
- Does the app show “Your access is view-only.”? Then it’s your role.
- Does it only fail in the Visual Designer? Then the CI analysis is missing, or a monthly quota is empty. You can see that under Settings › Usage.
No active plan
Without an active plan, you can look at everything. What’s locked is whatever causes costs or publishes: generating texts and images, starting the brand analysis, creating models, saving or scheduling in the Calendar. A bar then stays at the top: “Pick a plan to keep working. Looking around stays free.” While the trial is still available, it reads “Test for 3 days without paying. After that your plan continues automatically.”
If you click a locked button, you see “That needs a plan — the options are right here.” or “You need a plan for this. 3 days free, after that it continues automatically.” After that, you land at Settings › Billing.
- As the owner, click Choose a plan. Only the owner sees the Billing tab. If that’s not you, ask the owner to do it.
- Choose a plan and a payment method. The steps are in Start your trial.
- Back to work. Once you’re done, the app opens Backstage, and the restrictions lift.
If your plan had expired, Billing shows the No active plan card. More in Cancel and your data.
Your role doesn’t allow it
| Message | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| “Your access is view-only.” | You have the Viewer role. Ask the owner or an admin for the Editor role. Roles are assigned under Settings › Team, which is available from Pro. |
| “You don’t have the rights for that in this organization.” / “Only the owner can do that.” / “Only owners and admins can do that.” | Your role isn’t allowed to do this. The owner can give editors extra permissions under Settings › Permissions, for example Edit brand & CI or Manage social accounts. |
| “View only: brand CI can only be edited by the owner in this organisation.” | The message only mentions the owner. Whoever may edit the brand may start the analysis: the owner, admins and editors with the Edit brand & CI permission. |
| You only see the Calendar in the sidebar | That’s the Client role on the Max plan. Clients view and approve posts, and the agency does everything else. |
Visual Designer: “Brand first, images second”
The Visual Designer works with your colors, fonts and style. If the CI analysis hasn’t run yet, it shows “The Visual Designer works with your colours, fonts and style. Without the brand analysis it could only produce something generic.” with the button Analyse the brand now. The Post Generator isn’t locked like that.
- Open Backstage › Company. Enter the Company website and save. It’s the only required source. Without it, the app says: “Before the brand analysis can run, you still need: website. Company material (PDF/text) and reference images are optional.”
- Open Backstage › CI Overview. Collect your logo, company content and reference images if you have them.
- Click Generate CI now. After that, the Visual Designer is free.
The flow in detail is in Run the CI analysis. If you’re not the owner and aren’t allowed to edit the brand, it says: “The owner starts the brand analysis in Backstage. Once it is done you can work here.”
Monthly quota used up
The message reads “Your monthly allowance is used up ({used}/{limit}). It resets next month.” For the CI analysis, it says “CI analysis limit reached ({limit}/month). Available again next month.”
- Check your usage. Under Settings › Usage, cards such as AI text runs, Image generations, Brand analyses, Trend research and Web searches (core) show how much is used. From 80%, the card turns yellow, and at the limit it turns red. Only the owner sees the tab.
- Wait for the start of the month. The counters reset on the 1st of every calendar month, not on your billing day.
- All brands share one quota. With several brands, “All brands combined” sits below the counter.
- Choose a bigger plan or ask. You can’t buy more quota in the app. Write to jan@companycore.ai or switch the plan under Settings › Billing.
If only Web searches (core) is empty, core simply stops researching the web. The chat stays usable. What each counter means is explained in Usage and quotas.
Quotas are reduced during the trial
The plan’s features apply in full, but the amounts only pro rata, 3 of 30 days based on the Starter allowance. In Usage, it says “Reduced during the trial.” You get exactly one CI analysis. With your first paid month, the full quota of your plan applies.
Temporary messages and errors when generating
| Message | What you do |
|---|---|
| “{pending} jobs are still running. Hang on until they finish.” (The server’s own German wording is “Es laufen schon {n} Aufträge — warte kurz, bis die durch sind.”) | Wait until running images or analyses are done, then start the next job. |
| “Too many requests right now – please wait a moment and try again.” | Wait a moment and send again. This is a short-term rate limit, not a used-up quota. |
| “This request was declined for safety reasons.” / “The content was rejected for safety reasons.” | The content of the request was declined. Phrase it differently. |
| “Generation failed. Please try again.” | Start the generation again. If core asks “Should I try again?”, answer with Yes, try again. |
| “core took too long – please send the message again.” | Send the message again. There’s a similar message for the text. |
| “The text is being written, one moment.” | Wait until the running text is done. |
| “A generation is already running for this image, almost done.” | Only one generation runs per image. Wait until it’s done. |
| “This feature is temporarily unavailable. We are on it.” | We have temporarily switched the feature off. Try again later. |
When a field or button is missing
Some fields only appear when the groundwork for them is there. If one is missing, that’s not a bug:
| What’s missing | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Brand tone chip in the Post Generator | The brand analysis doesn’t know a tone yet. Start the CI analysis. You can also maintain tone and goals under Backstage › Text Settings. |
| Mention product or Mention environment field | Nothing is set up in Backstage yet. Create it under Backstage › Products or Backstage › Environments. See Products and environments. |
| TikTok under Platform | TikTok is being rolled out step by step and only appears once it’s enabled for your organization. |
| Person or Outfit field in the Visual Designer | People only exist in the Photo posting type, and only finished models. Outfit only appears once a person is chosen. See Models. |
| Logo section in the Visual Designer | No logo is stored yet. Upload it in Backstage › CI Overview. |
| Billing and Usage tabs | Only the owner sees both. |
| Team, Brands and Permissions tabs | They only exist with an active Pro or Max plan, and Permissions is also only for the owner. |
Still stuck?
Click Feedback at the bottom of the sidebar, choose Broken and write which message you see. You can also email us at jan@companycore.ai.
Frequently asked questions
When does my quota reset?
On the 1st of the next calendar month, not on the billing date. The date is under Settings › Usage: “Counters reset on {date}.”
Does each brand have its own quota?
No. All quotas apply to the whole organization. With several brands, “All brands combined” sits below the counter.
Can I buy more quota in the app?
No. Switch to a bigger plan or write to jan@companycore.ai.
Why won’t my CI analysis start?
Usually the website is missing under Backstage › Company, no plan is running, the limit is reached, or your role isn’t allowed to edit the brand. The messages are above.
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