---
title: "Troubleshooting"
description: "The problems that come up most often, and what actually fixes them — starting with the one that looks like a broken account and is not."
canonical: "https://help.sitesmojo.com/kb/troubleshooting/"
---

Start here when something is not working. The articles below cover the failures
we see most, in rough order of how often they arrive.

## Before anything else: do not re-run `verify()`

If `whoami()` is failing, the instinct is to register again. **Do not.**
`verify()` **rotates** your API key, which invalidates the copy already sitting
in your client config — turning a bad-key problem into a broken setup.

A failing key and a missing key report the identical error, so the first
question is always *which one do you have?* Details and the fix are in
[whoami() fails](whoami-fails/).

## Common problems

- [whoami() fails or Maestro is not connected](whoami-fails/) — the key, the
  header, and the two mistakes that look the same
- [Maestro vanished in another repository](maestro-not-in-this-repo/) — almost
  always an install-scope problem
- [My site returns 404 at the root](site-404-at-root/) — a missing
  `index.html`, or a suspended site
- [A custom domain is stuck at pending](domain-stuck-pending/) — which of the
  two DNS checks has not passed

## Reading the reply is usually the fix

Maestro's replies carry bookkeeping that is easy to scroll past and frequently
contains the answer outright:

- A **deploy** reply carries `warnings` — a suspended site, a missing root
  index, a file dropped at the caps. A queued deploy on a suspended site is not
  a live site, and the warning says so.
- A **refusal** names the file or field that broke which rule, rather than
  failing generically.
- A **domain status** reply says which probe has not passed and what it saw,
  including a stray `AAAA` record that needs removing.

If a reply mentioned something and the problem persists, re-read the reply
before changing anything.

## Still stuck

Tell us what you asked for, what came back verbatim, and what you expected. The
literal reply text is worth more than a description of it.