This article collects the problems people run into with files and with the AI, what each message means, and what to do. Error notifications end with a code in brackets, for example (code: 5003). Quote it if you contact support.
CSV import
The CSV wizard is described in Importing from CSV. Things that go wrong:
The first column is not offered for mapping, or its name starts with odd characters. Files saved by Excel often begin with an invisible byte-order mark. Trace.Space strips it, so the first column maps normally. If you still see a stray character, save the file again as CSV UTF-8.
Rows are missing after import. Blank rows are dropped on purpose, including rows that contain only spaces, only delimiters, or only empty quotes. Rows you unticked on the Preview import step are also left out; the footer shows n/total items will be imported before you confirm.
"File is empty". The file has no rows after blank rows are removed. Check that you exported the right sheet.
Columns land in the wrong attribute. On the Map columns step, first choose the item type under Attributes of; the attribute list depends on it. Then pick an attribute for each CSV column, or Don't import field for columns you do not want. Picklist and user list columns need each value mapped to an option or a person, otherwise the cell stays empty.
The wizard closed and my mapping is gone. Leaving the page discards the mapping; the Leave CSV import? dialog warns you first. Start again from the file.
Wrong delimiter. The parser detects commas, semicolons, tabs and pipes from the file itself. If columns are not split as expected, open the file in a text editor and check that every row uses the same delimiter.
ReqIF import
"Bad request - items' ids must be unique!" Two spec objects in the file share an identifier, so Trace.Space refuses the whole file rather than create duplicates. Fix the identifiers in the tool that produced the file and import again. Files exported from Trace.Space itself keep unique identifiers on a round trip.
Items imported with an unexpected type. Spec object types become item types and are created if they do not exist. Check Organization settings > Item types for a newly created type and change the items' type afterwards if needed. See Item types.
Only want to look at a file. Use the public ReqIF Viewer at
https://tracespace.app/reqif-viewer; it needs no account.
"Unsupported file type" and "File extension/content type mismatch"
Import accepts .docx, .reqif and .csv. The editor accepts images and videos through Upload image and Upload video, drag and drop, or paste. Anything else is rejected with Unsupported file type. File extension/content type mismatch means the file's extension does not match what is inside it, for example a PDF renamed to .docx. Open the file in its own application and save it in the right format.
Exports
Exports run in the background: a toast says Export in progress, the file downloads by itself when it is ready, and an Export ready toast names it. See Exporting items.
"Export failed. Please try again later." The export could not be generated. Try again; if it keeps failing for the same items, tell support which item, baseline or filter you exported and which format.
No file appeared. If the export took longer than about a minute you get Exporting in background instead of a download. Open the dashboard, expand Agentic processes under My feed, and click Download on the finished export. If a browser blocks the automatic download, the same Download link works. See Background processes.
Word document missing content. Every content type in attribute fields is carried into .docx, including tables, images and diagrams (Mermaid diagrams are written as their source under a caption). An export taken some time ago may lack some of these; export again.
AI errors
These appear as notifications when you use the chat, Generate with AI, quality fixes or the AI reviewer:
"AI request rate limit exceeded. Wait a moment before trying again." Your organization has sent too many requests to the model in a short time. Wait a little and retry; long-running work such as an AI review continues on its own.
"No AI model enabled. Contact your admin." The organization has no default model, or the default model's provider is switched off. An org admin fixes it under Organization settings > AI Providers by enabling a provider and a model and clicking Set as default. See AI providers.
"Authentication with AI provider failed. Check your API key and try again." The API key of a custom provider is wrong, revoked or out of credit. An org admin edits the provider and pastes a new key.
"Failed to communicate with the AI provider. Check your API URL and try again." The Hosting URL of a custom provider cannot be reached, or the provider is down. An org admin checks the URL; leave it blank to use the provider's public endpoint.
The AI button is missing. Your user group has no AI chat permission, or no default model is set (see above). See Working with AI.
"Image too large (max N MB). Please pick a smaller image" when attaching a picture to the chat. The limit depends on the model you have selected; resize the image or pick another model.
Background tasks that stop or fail
AI chats, AI reviews, imports and exports are listed under Agentic processes on the dashboard's My feed tab with a status of Processing, Stopped, Finished or Failed.
Stopped means you or a colleague clicked Stop. Click Resume to continue from where it stopped.
Failed means the task hit an error. For a chat, open it and click Retry. For an AI review, start the reviewer again from the review page. For an export, run it again.
A chat reply that seems frozen is usually still running in the background; the chat shows Finishing your reply in the background... and the answer appears when it is done.
See Background processes.
The error page
If Trace.Space cannot recover from a problem it shows a dark full-page error with a number, a message such as Something went wrong, and a Take me home button that returns to your organization. The footer asks Do you think something went wrong? with a Report error link that opens an email to support. Click it, keep the number in the subject, and add what you were doing when it happened.
For the full list of messages see Error messages explained.