PulseText — Help & Troubleshooting Guide

A reference for everyone (Owners, Admins, and Agents) when something doesn't work the way you expect.

If you're looking for how to use the app rather than fixing a problem, read User Guide first. For setup tasks (connecting a provider, inviting teammates, deactivating a number) see Admin Guide.

Contents

1. Sign-in problems
2. I don't see any phone numbers in my sidebar
3. Outbound message problems
4. Inbound message problems
5. Real-time / live update problems
6. Notifications — sound and tab title
7. Conversation list — search, filters, missing rows
8. Tags
9. Assignments
10. Notes
11. Attachments
12. Cloud accounts (Drive)
13. Zoho Sign — existing documents
14. Zoho Sign — template builder
15. Templates
16. Scheduled messages
17. Reports
18. Audit log
19. Theme / dark mode
20. Mobile / touch issues
21. When all else fails

1. Sign-in problems

The login form rejects my password

• Caps Lock? Most password fields are case-sensitive.
• If your administrator just created your account, they may have given you a temporary password that was generated automatically. It's a long random string and case-sensitive — copy/paste it carefully (no leading/trailing spaces).
• After several failed attempts in quick succession the system briefly slows new attempts. Wait a minute and try again.

"Service unavailable" on first load

You'll see a screen that reads "Service unavailable" with an expandable detail. The app checks that everything it needs is in place before letting you in.

If you see this, copy the detail and send it to your administrator. End users normally don't see this screen.

"Your session has expired"

Sessions are valid for 30 days but can expire earlier if cookies are cleared. Sign in again. If the same session keeps expiring within minutes, your browser may be clearing cookies aggressively (for example, private browsing in Safari) — try a regular window.

"Sign in to PulseText in this browser, then try connecting

again."

You saw this in a Google / Zoho Drive / Zoho Sign popup. The popup checks that the same browser session is signed into the dialer when you finish OAuth. Sign in again in the main dialer tab, then retry connect.

The popup now stays on screen when it fails (it used to flash closed after a second). A small red reason line tells you which check tripped:

• no_cookie — PulseText session didn't reach the popup. Sign back into PulseText in the same browser, then retry.
• cookie_invalid_or_expired — your session aged out between starting and finishing the connect. Sign in fresh and click connect immediately.
• userid_mismatch — you signed in as a different user between clicking connect and finishing it. Stick with one account for the whole flow.

Click the Close button in the popup when you've read it.

Signup says "An account with that email already exists"

The email you entered already has a user account. Use Sign in with that email instead. If you've forgotten the password, ask your administrator to issue a new one (password reset is on the roadmap).

Signup says "An organization is already registered with

that email"

An older workspace was created with that email address but no user is currently linked to it. This usually happens after a failed signup or a workspace that was emptied. Contact support or your administrator to reclaim it.

Signup says "An organization with that external id

already exists"

Only appears when signing up via an embedder (e.g. a Zoho widget launch). The embedder is using an identifier that's already in use by another workspace. Contact the embedder's admin.

2. I don't see any phone numbers in my sidebar

Three possibilities depending on your role:

You're an Agent

Agents see only the numbers they have been assigned to. If your sidebar is empty:

• Ask an admin to assign you to one or more numbers, or
• Use Settings → Access requests to file a request yourself.

You're an Admin / Owner with zero numbers

The workspace has no numbers yet. Click the circular sync icon at the top of the sidebar — it pulls every active number from each connected provider. The first sync runs automatically when you save provider credentials.

If sync returns "0 numbers":

• Confirm your provider account actually has phone numbers (check the provider's console).
• Confirm the credentials in Settings → Credentials are for the right account.
• Some providers (MessageMedia) don't auto-discover. Use the inline Add number form on that provider's card.

A number was claimed by another organization

If a phone number is already claimed by a different organization in the system, sync skips it and increments a "skipped" count. The other org must release the number first, then sync again.

3. Outbound message problems

My message sticks at "Sending" forever

• Check the network tab in your browser dev tools — if the POST to send returns an error, the bubble flips to Failed with the reason. If it never gets a response, the issue is network or server.
• Refresh the page. If your message had been accepted by the provider, the bubble updates to "Sent" / "Delivered" on reload.

My message went to "Failed (red)"

The bubble shows the failure reason underneath. Common ones:

For provider-specific errors not listed, copy the reason and ask your admin or check the provider's docs.

"Provider credentials are missing"

The workspace doesn't have a provider connected for the kind of number you're sending from. Open Settings → Credentials and fill in the matching provider's credentials.

"Maximum 10 attachments per message"

You hit the per-message attachment cap. Send the rest in a follow-up message.

4. Inbound message problems

A customer says they sent me a message but I don't see it

Most common cause: webhook routing. Inbound messages flow from the provider through a webhook URL into PulseText. If the webhook isn't configured (or is configured for the wrong URL), inbound messages are silently dropped.

If you're an admin:

1. Go to Settings → Numbers.
2. The status badge on each number row shows whether the webhook is configured.
3. Click Sync — sync auto-configures the webhook for providers that support it.
4. If the badge stays "not configured", check the provider's console — the inbound webhook URL must point at your dialer API.

Inbound message has no attachments even though they sent a

photo

Some providers strip attachments on certain plans. The text body is preserved; the photo is lost in transit. Contact the provider if this is consistent.

Wrong contact name on an inbound message

The first inbound message from a new number creates a contact row with no display name (just the number). Set the display name from the contact's page once you know who it is.

5. Real-time / live update problems

New messages don't appear without refresh

PulseText uses a real-time websocket connection. If it drops:

• The status indicator (small dot near the workspace name) goes from green to yellow.
• Messages queued during the drop arrive on reconnect.

If real-time has been broken for more than a few minutes:

• Check your internet connection.
• Try a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R).
• Disable any browser extension that blocks websockets (some privacy / VPN extensions do this).

My open thread doesn't update when others reply

Each member of the workspace gets the same updates in real time. If you see updates in one tab but not another, the other tab likely has a stale connection — refresh it.

I see duplicate messages

If you see the same message twice, briefly, with different "sending" states, that's the optimistic-UI race resolving — the duplicates collapse within a second. If they persist past one refresh, take a screenshot and contact your admin.

6. Notifications — sound and tab title

Tab title doesn't show unread count

• The count appears as (N) PulseText in the tab.
• It updates on inbound message arrival.
• If you don't see it, the workspace has 0 unread.

Sound doesn't play on inbound

• Open the account menu (top-right) and confirm Sound on inbound is on.
• Browser autoplay policy may block the sound until you've clicked something in the page first. Click anywhere in the app once after page load and the sound will fire on subsequent inbounds.
• In the Zoho widget mode the iframe must receive a user interaction before sound plays — same browser policy.

Sound plays for every message, including my own outbound

Currently the sound triggers on inbound only — not on outbound or status updates. If you're hearing it on your own messages, that's a bug; please report it.

7. Conversation list — search, filters, missing rows

A contact I expected to see isn't in the list

• Check the assignment filter at the top — if it's set to Mine and the conversation isn't assigned to you, it's hidden. Switch to All.
• Check the tag filter — if a tag pill is selected, only conversations with that tag show. Click All under the tag row to clear.
• Confirm you're looking at the right phone number's conversation list (the sidebar shows you which one is selected).

Search isn't returning a contact I know is there

• Check spelling.
• Search matches contact name, phone, message body, tag name, and assignee name. If you're searching by something else (like notes content), it won't match.
• Try just a phone number or just a name fragment.

Filter pills missing tags I created

The tag filter row shows only tags currently applied to a conversation in this view. If no contact has the tag, the pill won't appear here. Apply the tag to at least one contact to make it filter-able.

8. Tags

My tag has the same name as another and I can't save

Tag names are unique per workspace (case-insensitive). Pick a different name or delete the conflicting tag first.

Deleting a tag — what happens to contacts that had it?

Delete prompt warns you of the contact count. Confirming removes the tag from every contact at once. There's no undo — restore by recreating the tag and re-applying.

Can I export tags?

Not via the UI. Tags are workspace-wide labels rather than contact data; exporting them as a list isn't currently exposed. The audit log records create / delete events for the tags themselves.

9. Assignments

"Agents can only assign conversations to themselves"

You're an Agent and tried to reassign a conversation to a different teammate. Only Owners and Admins can move conversations between teammates. Ask an admin to reassign, OR claim the conversation for yourself first if it's currently unassigned.

Conversation reassigned itself / stuck on previous assignee

Real-time fan-out should update the assignee chip without refresh. If it doesn't, hard-refresh the conversation list. If the issue persists, your admin should check the audit log for the actual current assignment.

"Mine" filter shows 0 even though I'm assigned

• The Mine filter matches the conversation's currently-assigned-to user against your user id.
• If you've been re-assigned away from a conversation, it leaves Mine immediately.
• Confirm you're still assigned: the conversation row should show your avatar chip.

10. Notes

I don't see the Notes button in the thread header

The Notes button appears in the header of every conversation thread for every workspace member. If you don't see it:

• Confirm the thread is fully loaded (you might still be in the loading skeleton).
• Reload the page.

Edit / delete buttons don't show on a teammate's note

You can only edit / delete your own notes. Owners and Admins can edit / delete any note. If you're an Agent and need a note removed that someone else wrote, ask an admin.

Note edits aren't appearing for teammates

Real-time fan-out updates the modal in every member's open tab. If a teammate's modal hasn't updated, ask them to close and reopen the modal.

11. Attachments

"Unsupported media type"

The file's MIME type isn't on the allowed list. Allowed types include common images (JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP), audio, video, PDF, vCards, plain text. Convert the file to a supported format.

"File too large"

The file exceeds the per-attachment cap (typically 25 MB — your admin sets this). Compress / resize and try again.

URL attachment "couldn't fetch URL"

The URL must be publicly accessible (no login wall). The server fetches the file once when you add the attachment. If the URL points to a logged-in resource, it'll fail.

The system also blocks URLs that resolve to private IP ranges (internal services) for security; use a public URL instead.

Attachment chip stuck at "uploading"

If the upload spinner runs longer than 30 seconds, the file is probably too large or the network dropped. Remove the chip with the × button and try again.

12. Cloud accounts (Drive)

Connect popup closed before I could read the error

It doesn't anymore. On any error the popup stays open with a red reason: line and a Close button so you can read what went wrong before dismissing it. Success popups still auto-close after a second.

"Connect Google Drive" / "Connect Zoho Drive" popup blocked

Browser blocked the popup. Allow popups for PulseText's URL in your browser settings, then click connect again.

The popup shows "Access denied 403 forbidden" with no

dialer message

This is a server-side block — not from PulseText itself. The host's security layer (web application firewall) is rejecting the connect callback before it reaches PulseText. Ask your workspace administrator to check the host's security settings for PulseText's API domain. End users can't resolve this from the browser.

"Zoho did not return a refresh token"

• Open Zoho Account → Apps & Permissions → revoke the dialer's app.
• In PulseText, retry the connect flow.

This usually happens when the user previously authorised without the offline-access scope.

Files I can see in Drive don't show in the picker

• Some Google Drive types (Forms, Sites) aren't browseable.
• Files in subfolders need the picker to navigate down — click a folder to enter it.
• Use the search box for fast lookup.

"This Zoho account's access has been revoked"

The connection's refresh token is no longer valid (the user revoked the app, the password changed, or the org admin revoked). Disconnect this Zoho connection in Settings → Cloud accounts and reconnect.

13. Zoho Sign — existing documents

Documents in the picker are old / don't include a recent one

The list pulls from Zoho Sign at click time. If a recently- created document doesn't show, refresh the picker (close and reopen the modal). Filter pills (Draft / In progress / etc.) might be hiding it under a status you didn't expect.

"This document wasn't authored with embedded signing

enabled"

You picked Insert signing link for a document that doesn't support it. The Zoho Sign API only mints signing URLs for documents authored with the embedded-signing flag set. Two options:

• Use Attach as PDF instead — works for any document.
• Use the Builder tab — create a new sign request from a template (which PulseText authors with embedded signing enabled). Insert that link.

Multi-document download came back as a ZIP

Rare — PulseText asks Zoho to merge into a single PDF. If your plan or document state doesn't allow merge, the picker shows "This Zoho Sign request has multiple documents that couldn't be merged". Open the document in Zoho Sign and merge there before attaching.

The signing URL expired before the recipient tapped it

Embedded signing URLs from Zoho expire 2 minutes after creation. Send the SMS immediately after closing the picker. If you delayed, recreate the request from the Builder tab and send a fresh link.

14. Zoho Sign — template builder

"Multi-recipient templates aren't supported here yet"

The Builder v1 only handles single-recipient templates. For multi-recipient flows, author the request in Zoho Sign's UI (filling all recipients), then come back to PulseText and use the Existing documents tab to attach the PDF or insert the sign link.

"Email is required" on the recipient form

Zoho Sign requires every recipient action to have an email address, even when PulseText is delivering the link via SMS. Type the recipient's email manually if the contact's email isn't in PulseText.

"Zoho rejected the request — missing CREATE scope"

The connected Zoho Sign account doesn't have the ZohoSign.documents.CREATE scope (required by the embed-token endpoint). Disconnect the connection in Settings → Cloud accounts and reconnect — the new connect flow asks for all the right scopes.

Builder created the request but didn't insert a link

If the request was created but the embed call failed, you'll see an error toast. The new sign request DOES exist in your Zoho Sign account — open it there to send via Zoho's email or re-mint a link from the Existing-documents tab.

15. Templates

My template doesn't appear in another agent's picker

Check the template's visibility — Private templates only show for the author. Edit the template in Settings → Templates and switch visibility to Workspace.

{{link}} substitution didn't work

The substitution happens at send time. Make sure you've added a URL to the composer before clicking send. The preview before send shows the body as-typed (with {{link}} literal); the substitution applies in the actual outbound message.

"Workspace template — only the author can edit"

You're trying to edit someone else's workspace template. Workspace templates are locked to the author by default (so agents can't accidentally edit each other's). Owners and Admins can edit any workspace template.

16. Scheduled messages

Scheduled message didn't send at the chosen time

• Confirm the time was set correctly (timezone matters).
• Check Settings → Scheduled for the message's status:
  • Pending — scheduled but not yet due.
  • Sending — dispatcher is processing it now.
  • Sent — already in the thread; check the conversation.
  • Failed — see the error reason on the row.
• If it stayed pending past its scheduled time, the background dispatcher may be stuck. Cancel and re-schedule, or contact your admin.

My scheduled message has a {{link}} that wasn't filled

If you scheduled a template-driven message and the URL wasn't inserted before scheduling, the dispatcher sends the literal {{link}}. Cancel + re-author + re-schedule with the URL filled in.

17. Reports

"Forbidden — admin role required"

Reports are admin-only. If you're an Agent, the link won't appear in your Settings nav.

Numbers in the report don't match what I see in the inbox

Reports aggregate by createdAt in UTC. Time-zone differences between the report (UTC) and your local view can shift counts by a day for messages near midnight. The presets (Last 7 / 30 / 90 days) are inclusive of today.

"No data" / empty chart

The selected range has no messages. Either pick a longer range or wait for activity.

Top agents shows fewer agents than expected

The list only includes agents who sent at least one outbound message in the range. Agents who only handled inbound replies (without sending) won't appear.

18. Audit log

I can't find a specific event

• Try clearing the filter (set type to "All").
• Confirm the date range covers when the event happened.
• The search box matches actor email, target user email, target number, and target message id. If your search term doesn't match any of these, try a broader filter.

The log is huge / loads slowly

• Pick a smaller date range.
• Filter by event type to narrow down.

19. Theme / dark mode

Dark mode is hard to read on certain pages

Report the specific page — every theme token should flip correctly. If a chip / button / icon stays a hardcoded colour in dark mode, that's a bug.

Theme changes don't persist

Theme is stored in your browser's local storage. If your browser clears local storage on close (private browsing, aggressive privacy settings), the theme resets each session. Switch out of private mode to make it stick.

System mode doesn't follow my OS

System mode reads the browser's preferred-color-scheme media query, which usually mirrors the OS. If your browser is set manually to a different theme, system mode follows the browser, not the OS. Adjust the browser's theme setting.

20. Mobile / touch issues

I can't right-click — how do I get to the context menu?

On touch devices, long-press for ~½ second on any conversation row, message bubble, or sidebar number to open the same context menu. Release to dismiss.

Form inputs zoom in when I tap them on iPhone

PulseText sets every form input to 16px on touch devices to disable Safari's auto-zoom. If you still see zoom, hard-refresh to pick up the latest stylesheet, or try a different browser.

Modals are too tall to scroll on a small phone

Modals cap their height at 92% of the viewport with internal scroll. Try rotating to landscape if a particularly content- heavy modal is awkward in portrait.

21. When all else fails

If you've worked through this guide and the issue persists:

1. Take a screenshot of the error or unexpected state.
2. Note the time (so admins can match against the audit log).
3. Note your browser + version (e.g. Chrome 130, Safari 17).
4. Send to your admin with the steps that triggered it.

For admins:

1. Check Settings → Audit log for the timestamp in question.
2. Check Settings → Reports for any anomaly in volume or failures around that time.
3. If real-time stopped, check whether one or many users were affected (browser-specific vs server-side).

For platform-level issues (the entire app down, "Service unavailable" for everyone), escalate to your platform support team — your admin has the contact details.