The Fix-It List · 8 things that go wrong when you're new, and the fix

01USAGE

It says I hit my limit.

// what it looks likeYou were in the middle of something and it just stopped.

// what's happeningEvery plan has a cap on how much you can use in a stretch. It resets on its own, usually within a few hours (paid plans also have a weekly cap). The free plan hits it fastest. Long chats and big files burn through it quicker than short ones.

// type this before you hit the limit (once it's hit, you can't send anything)

Write me a handoff note: what we're working on, what we decided, what's left to do, and anything I told you about myself. Short. Then put the full text of the latest draft at the bottom. I'm going to paste all of it into a new chat.

Copy the note. When the limit lifts (or in another AI app right now), start a new chat and paste it in. You lose nothing. The permanent fix: new chat for every new job, and the $20 plan if you're hitting it every day.

// you'll know it worked whenThe new chat picks up where the old one stopped, and you didn't retype anything.

Fixed it next: it forgot ↓

02MEMORY

It forgot everything we did.

// what it looks likeYesterday it knew your whole project. Today it's a stranger.

// what's happeningA new chat starts mostly blank. That's by design. It remembers you (if Memory is on, under Settings) but not every detail of every chat.

// the fix, in order

1. Settings, then Memory. Make sure it's on.
2. Anything you want it to always know goes in your profile box (Day One, setup 1).
3. Anything about one job goes in that job's room (Day One, setup 2). Rooms remember what happened inside them (paid plans).
4. Ending a chat you'll come back to? Use the handoff note from fix 1.

// you'll know it worked whenYou open the room, ask "where were we?", and it tells you.

Fixed it next: made it up ↓

03TRUST

It made something up.

// what it looks likeIt gave you a name, a number, a rule, or a quote, and it was wrong. Confidently.

// what's happeningIt's built to give you an answer, so when it doesn't know, it fills the gap. Facts, numbers, dates and quotes are where it slips. Ideas and drafts are where it's great.

// type this after any answer with facts in it

Which part of that are you least sure about? Mark what you couldn't actually check, and tell me what to double-check myself.

// the better fix: give it the real thing

Here's the actual document. Only use what's in it. If the answer isn't in here, say so instead of guessing.
My question: [what you want to know]

[paste the document]

The rule I use: if it matters and I didn't hand it the source, I check it. Paste the policy, the contract, the email. It's far more accurate reading than remembering.

// you'll know it worked whenIt flags its own weak spots, or it says "that's not in the document" instead of inventing a page number.

Fixed it next: my file ↓

04FILES

It won't read my file.

// what it looks likeYou dropped in the PDF and it said it couldn't open it, or it read the wrong part.

// what's happeningThree usual reasons. The PDF is a scan (you can't select the text with your finger or mouse), and long scans, or scans dropped into a room instead of a chat, don't read well. The file is huge. Or the file type isn't one it handles.

// the fix, in order

1. Scan? Screenshot the pages and drop the pictures in. It reads pictures.
2. Huge? Split it, or paste only the part that matters.
3. Odd file type? Open it, select all, copy, paste the text in.
4. Then type: Read this and tell me the one thing that matters most for me, then anything I'd regret missing. Quote the exact line for each.

// you'll know it worked whenIt quotes something you know is in there, and nothing you know isn't.

Fixed it next: lost chat ↓

05FINDING THINGS

I lost the chat with the good stuff in it.

// what it looks likeIt wrote the perfect thing three days ago and now it's buried under forty other chats.

// what's happeningEvery chat gets a name automatically, and the names are terrible. On a paid plan it can search inside your old chats for you. On the free plan you're searching titles, which is why step 2 matters.

// the fix, in order

1. In a new chat, type: Find the chat where we wrote about [one word you remember]. (Paid plans. Free plan: scroll the sidebar for the date.)
2. Found it? Rename it something you'll remember (the arrow next to the title, or the menu on the chat in the sidebar).
3. Going to need it again? Move it into the right room, or type: Give me the final version of what we made, clean, so I can save it.

// you'll know it worked whenYou find it in under a minute, and you never lose the next one because it has a real name.

Fixed it next: it's down ↓

06OUTAGE

It's down, or it's crawling.

// what it looks likeSpinning wheel, error message, and you needed this by noon.

// what's happeningIt happens. Go to status.claude.com (or search "ChatGPT status") and the official page tells you if it's them, not you. If it's them, wait ten minutes and try again.

// the backup plan (set it up once)

Keep your Day One profile paragraph in your phone's Notes app. When one app is down, open another one (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok all have free plans), paste the paragraph, paste the handoff note from fix 1, and keep working.

I keep two of these apps on my phone for exactly this reason: one of them is always up.

// you'll know it worked whenYou lose five minutes instead of the morning.

Fixed it next: phone vs laptop ↓

07ACCOUNTS

My phone and my laptop don't match.

// what it looks likeThe chat you started on your phone isn't on your laptop. Or the settings are different.

// what's happeningNine times out of ten it's two accounts. Signing in with your work email on one and your personal Gmail on the other makes two separate accounts, each with its own chats, memory and plan.

// the fix, in order

1. On both devices: Settings, then look at the email address on the account. Same one? Then just pull down to refresh.
2. Different? Pick one account (the one with the paid plan, or the one with more chats) and sign in with that on both.
3. Some things need the desktop app on purpose: reading your actual files and working in your browser. Record a skill is Mac desktop only. Chats, rooms and Cowork go everywhere.

// you'll know it worked whenStart a chat on your phone, open the laptop, it's there.

Fixed it next: too much ↓

08PRIVACY

I told it something I shouldn't have.

// what it looks likeYou pasted a client's stuff, or your own, and now you're thinking about it at 2am.

// what's happeningYou can take most of it back, but deleting the chat does not erase what Memory learned from it. Do both steps. Memory can be edited entry by entry, paused, or wiped completely. And there's a mode for next time where nothing goes into history or memory.

// the fix, in order

1. Delete the chat: find it in the sidebar, open its menu, Delete.
2. Settings, then Memory. Read what it remembers. Delete the entries you don't want, or Reset memory to wipe it all.
3. Next time it's private: the ghost icon, top right of a new chat. Incognito. Not in history, not in memory, off their servers in 30 days. Web and desktop, not inside a room.

If the thing you pasted was somebody else's (a patient, a student, a client), the rule going forward is simple: it doesn't go in. Not even in the ghost.

// you'll know it worked whenYou check Memory, the thing is gone, and you sleep.

Fixed it the three that stop most people ↓ ↓

When it breaks, do this.

Three things before you start.

It says I hit my limit.

It forgot everything we did.

It made something up.

It won't read my file.

I lost the chat with the good stuff in it.

It's down, or it's crawling.

My phone and my laptop don't match.

I told it something I shouldn't have.

Bookmark 1, 2 and 3.

Every tool you've ever learned broke on you in the first month.

A whole day of the challenge is "it lied to me."

Not ready? Start free.

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