Model & response errors

Use this page when Contral's AI responses fail, stall or show an error instead of an answer.

First steps for any Contral response error#

1. Click Retry on the failed card or send the message again. Many failures are temporary.
2. Run /status to check you're signed in and connected.
3. Switch the model or mode: try Fast mode, or a BYOK model if you have one.
4. Reload the window (Developer: Reload Window).

"Could not reach the Contral usage server"#

Messages: "Could not reach the Contral usage server ({reason} {status}). Check your network and try again — usage must be tracked server-side.", "Could not reach Contral to check usage. Check your network and try again." or "Could not reach the usage server to authorise recursive run. Try again."

Cause: Before running a counted action, Contral checks your quota with its servers. If it can't reach them, it stops rather than guessing.

Fix: Check your internet connection, VPN and proxy. Make sure contral.ai isn't blocked by a firewall. Then try again.

"Hosted NIM returned no usable content…"#

Messages: "Hosted NIM returned no usable content after stream and non-stream retries…" or "Hosted NIM did not return a usable Contral agent response after a compact protocol retry. The request was not completed."

Cause: The hosted model returned an empty or malformed reply, even after Contral retried.

Fix: Send the message again. If it keeps happening, shorten the request, start a new session with /new, or run /compact to shrink a long session. You can also switch to a BYOK model.

"Contral build turn failed"#

Message: "Contral build turn failed: {details}"

Cause: The Build turn stopped because of an error; the details tell you which.

Fix: Read the details, then retry. If the details mention sign-in, sign in again. If they mention your API key, check your BYOK setup. Otherwise, try again or contact support with the full message.

"The model asked a follow-up but did not return structured option buttons"#

The model asked you a question in a format Contral couldn't turn into buttons. Answer in the chat in plain words, or try again. Switching to a stronger model (Deep mode, or a BYOK model) also helps.

"The selected model does not support image input"#

You attached an image, but the current model can't read images. Remove the image, or switch to a vision-capable model such as GPT-5/GPT-4o, Gemini, Claude or Grok through BYOK.

Teaching card errors: "Teaching failed", "Model unavailable", "Network unavailable"#

• Teaching failed: click Retry on the card.
• Model unavailable: click Switch model on the card, or try again later.
• Network unavailable: check your connection, then click Retry.
• Session expired: click Sign in again, then Retry.

Cards that stay on "Connecting…" for a long time stop automatically after two minutes and show Retry.

Responses are slow#

• Deep and Recursive modes are slower by design. Use Fast for quick tasks.
• Very long sessions send more context. Run /compact or start a new session with /new.
• Pro+, Teams and AppSumo Tier 3 include priority inference speed.

BYOK provider errors#

Errors from your own provider (invalid key, no credit, model not found, rate limited) come from that provider. Re-enter your key with Contral: Configure BYOK provider, check your provider's console for billing and rate limits, and confirm the model ID. See Bring your own key.

When to contact support about model errors#

If an error keeps happening after the steps above, contact support with the exact message, the mode and model you used, the time it happened, and the output of /status.