Startup and Workspace Help
Pitchblend starts a local Geist workspace and checks that the required Pitchblend controls loaded before it shows Chat. The startup screen is the Pitchblend wrapper; Chat, Models, Files, Memory, Workflows, and Settings belong to Geist.
What the loading messages mean
During a normal installed launch, Loading... can show one of these details:
- Preparing your workspace… — Pitchblend is starting its packaged local components.
- Waiting for Geist to become ready… — the local Geist process has started but is not ready to serve the workspace yet.
- Verifying identity and memory sync controls… — the wrapper is checking that its required account and sync surfaces are present.
- Reconnecting to your workspace… — the window is recovering its connection to the local workspace.
A first launch or the first model load can be slower, but model weights are not downloaded during startup.
If startup does not finish
- Allow the current startup attempt to reach a clear error instead of opening several copies of Pitchblend.
- If Retry startup appears, select it once.
- If the same message returns and Keep syncing in the background is
selected, clear that option before closing the last window. Wait until the
Pitchblend process has exited. - Reopen the application normally from the installed shortcut or application folder.
- Confirm that endpoint security has not quarantined part of the verified application and that the user-data location is writable by your account.
Do not delete the Geist database, model folder, sync state, identity state, or the application user-data folder as a troubleshooting shortcut. Those items form one related set of local state. Make a whole-folder backup before repair or reinstall work; see Local Data and Backup.
Exact error messages
Required UI couldn’t load
Geist responded, but a required Pitchblend account or Memory Sync control was absent or failed its startup contract. Retrying may recover a one-time load failure. If it repeats, reinstall the same or a newer verified Pitchblend release; do not try to replace individual workspace files or install a third-party plugin.
Geist couldn’t start
The managed local Geist process stopped, reported an invalid startup result, or did not become ready. Fully quit Pitchblend and try one clean launch. If the error persists, record the detail displayed beneath the heading before seeking support.
Workspace is stopped
The workspace had been available but its managed local process ended. Select Retry startup. A model failure inside Chat is different: troubleshoot that model first rather than treating every generation error as a workspace crash.
Pitchblend couldn’t start
The startup shell failed to load. Its detail says The startup shell failed to load. Please reinstall PitchblendAI. There is no in-app retry because the recovery controls did not load. Reinstall Pitchblend from a verified release without deleting the user-data folder.
Pitchblend failed to start
The native wrapper hit a fatal required-control failure and displayed an operating-system dialog. Its detail begins Pitchblend could not start because its required UI plugins failed to load. Reinstall Pitchblend from a verified release. Reinstallation should not require deleting user data, and a normal Windows uninstall is configured to retain application data.
Normal installed mode versus developer modes
In the packaged application, Pitchblend owns the local process, chooses the loopback address, waits for readiness, and shuts the process down. Instructions involving npm, uv, GEIST_PATH, GEIST_URL, a terminal, source mode, attach mode, or debug ports are only for developers working from a source checkout.
Attach mode connects the wrapper to an already-running Geist origin. It is useful for development, but it does not reproduce every lifecycle guarantee of the packaged application. Do not use it to repair a normal installation.
Developers can use Developer Mode for the supported source and attach workflows.
What to include in a support report
- Your operating system, architecture, and package type.
- The Pitchblend version and whether it was a fresh install or an upgrade.
- The exact heading and detail shown on the startup screen.
- Whether Retry startup changed the result.
- Whether the problem began before or after a model, account, or sync change.
Do not include tokens, license material, pairing secrets, protected credentials, or a copy of your user-data folder in a public report.