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ALC-1001: Could not connect

Alcuin tried to open a connection and one step on the way failed. The message names that step, so you know where to look first.

What you see

Section titled “What you see”

In the connection form, after Test connection, a box opens below the form. Its heading names the step that failed. Under it, a row of steps shows how far Alcuin got: SSH tunnel (when the connection uses one), Reached server, Encryption, Sign in. Steps that passed have a check mark and the one that failed has a cross; when the server refused the connection, no step has a cross. The field that most likely needs a change is outlined. Then come the message and a line of advice, or, for an SSH host key, the server’s key and its button.

The lower part of the connection form after a failed test. The Password field is outlined in red. A box headed Couldn't sign in shows the steps Reached server and Encryption with check marks and Sign in with a cross, the message password authentication failed for user readonly_sam, and the advice to check the password. Under it are Test again and Copy details.

A test that failed at Sign in.

  1. The steps, up to the one that failed.
  2. The field to change is outlined.
  3. Test again, and Copy details.
  • Copy details copies the code, the internal name and the message, such as ALC-1001 (ENGINE_CONNECT_FAILED): and then the message. When Alcuin put the network’s message into plain words, the network’s own words are on the last line.
  • Test again repeats the test.

In the launcher, after Connect, the same heading appears above the message. When Alcuin was reopening a connection you had open, for example after its engine restarted, the heading starts with Couldn't reconnect to, the connection’s name and a colon.

In the assistant pane, or after Test connection in Settings under AI Assistant, the message is The provider could not be reached, followed by the network’s error code in parentheses when there is one, such as (ENOTFOUND).

What to do

Section titled “What to do”

Start with the step the heading names. Steps before it worked, so leave their settings alone. Connection errors by message has each message and its fix.

Heading or message What failed Look up
Couldn't reach the server Nothing answered at Host and Port, or the name didn’t resolve Connection refused, timeout expired, SSL SYSCALL error: EOF detected
Couldn't set up encryption TLS, as Encryption sets it certificate verify failed, Could not read the CA certificate file, server does not support SSL, SSL SYSCALL error: EOF detected
Couldn't sign in The user, the password or the database password authentication failed for user, no pg_hba.conf entry for host, database "…" does not exist, role "…" does not exist, The server asked for the password in clear text, The server asked for a password, and there was none to send, a password command that fails
Couldn't open the SSH tunnel The SSH server: reaching it, signing in, or its host key All configured authentication methods failed, SSH host key not known or changed, timeout expired, Connection refused
The server refused the connection The server answered, then turned the connection away The server has no free connections
Message The provider could not be reached The assistant’s provider, at the address in Settings Check Address in Settings under AI Assistant, check that a model server on your own machine is running, and check your network and VPN. Then click Test connection there. See Set up a provider.

Internal name

Section titled “Internal name”

The engine reports this as ENGINE_CONNECT_FAILED. Quote either name in an issue.