Founding Bot Connect troubleshooting

A Founding Bot Connect connection goes through four parts, in this order:

1. This device reaches Founding Bot Connect over the internet.
2. Founding Bot Connect checks your sign-in and the host's link.
3. The host's tunnel (cloudflared on the host) carries the request to the host.
4. Founding Bot X on the host answers.

When a connection fails, open Settings > Connections, find the environment, and select Details. The first part marked as failed is the cause. Find its section below.

To see the host's side, run foundingbot-x connect status on the host, or open Settings > Connections on the host. Both check the host's Founding Bot Connect address from the host, and say why it fails. foundingbot-x connect runs the same check when it finishes setup. This check cannot test another device's network. For a problem on one device, use Details on that device.

The host's tunnel is offline

Founding Bot Connect could not reach the host's tunnel. This means one of these:

• The host is asleep, turned off, or offline.
• Founding Bot X is not running on the host.
• The host's network blocks the tunnel. See Port 7844 is blocked on the host.

Fix:

1. Make sure the host is awake and Founding Bot X runs on it.
2. On the host, run foundingbot-x connect status. It names the problem on the host's side.
3. If the host was offline for a long time, Founding Bot Connect removes its tunnel. Start Founding Bot X on the host and update it to the latest version. It gets a new tunnel.

Port 7844 is blocked on the host

The tunnel on the host connects out to Cloudflare on port 7844, with TCP and UDP. Both tunnel protocols (QUIC and HTTP/2) use this port. When the host's network blocks it, the tunnel cannot start, but normal web traffic still works. The host looks online, so this problem is easy to miss.

Common causes:

• A Tailscale exit node on the host. All of the host's internet traffic goes through the exit node, and that network blocks port 7844. Turn off the exit node on the host with tailscale set --exit-node=, or allow outbound port 7844 on the exit node's network.
• A VPN on the host. Work VPNs often block unknown ports. Ask for port 7844 to be allowed, or use a direct route instead (see below).
• A firewall or strict network. Allow outbound TCP and UDP port 7844.

If you cannot unblock the port, you can connect without Founding Bot Connect. When the host and this device are on the same Tailscale network, add the host's Tailscale address as a direct route. See Reach one machine several ways.

The tunnel works, but Founding Bot X does not answer

The host's tunnel is up, but it cannot reach Founding Bot X on the host. Common causes:

• Founding Bot X on the host stopped, crashed, or is still starting.
• Founding Bot X restarted on a different port, for example after an update, and the tunnel still points at the old port.
• The server binds only one network address with FOUNDINGBOT_X_HOST. The tunnel sends requests to 127.0.0.1, so the server must also listen there.

Fix: restart Founding Bot X on the host. For the background service, run foundingbot-x service restart. Then run foundingbot-x connect status on the host.

The Founding Bot Connect address does not resolve or answer

The host's Founding Bot Connect address did not resolve, refused the connection, failed a secure (TLS) connection, or did not answer in time.

Fix:

1. Make sure the host is awake and online.
2. On the host, run foundingbot-x connect status.
3. If the check fails only on the host, check the host's DNS, VPN, or proxy.

This device can't reach Founding Bot Connect

The problem is on this device's network, not on the host. This device could not reach Founding Bot Connect, or it reached Founding Bot Connect but not the host's tunnel address.

Fix:

1. Check this device's internet connection. On a captive or dead Wi-Fi network, the device can look online but cannot reach anything.
2. A VPN, firewall, ad blocker, or DNS filter on this device can block Founding Bot Connect. Turn it off for a moment to test.
3. On iPhone, Connectivity Assist in the Wi-Fi settings can break Founding Bot Connect. Turn it off to test.
4. Try another network, or add a direct route to the host, such as its Tailscale address. See Reach one machine several ways.

Sign-in, account, or link problems

Founding Bot Connect does not have an active link between your account and the host.

• The host is linked to a different account. Sign in to the same Founding Bot Connect account on this device and on the host. On the host, run foundingbot-x connect logout, then foundingbot-x connect.
• Founding Bot Connect is off on the host, or the host only publishes agent activity. On the host, open Settings > Connections and turn Founding Bot Connect on, or run foundingbot-x connect.
• The host was linked, but the server did not apply the link yet. Run foundingbot-x service restart on the host, or restart foundingbot-x serve.
• This device's sign-in expired, or the host no longer accepts this device. Sign out of Founding Bot Connect and sign in again.
• Your account reached its tunnel limit. Deregister an environment you do not use from your account menu's Founding Bot Connect page, then restart Founding Bot X on the host.

The clock is off

Founding Bot Connect signs requests with short-lived proofs. When the clock on this device or the host is a few minutes wrong, Founding Bot Connect rejects them. Turn on automatic date and time on both devices, then retry.

The host runs an older Founding Bot X

This app needs a newer Founding Bot X on the host. Update Founding Bot X on the host. See Updating Founding Bot X.

Founding Bot Connect returned an error

Error	Fix
environment_link_limit_exceeded or managed tunnel limit	Remove an unused environment, then restart Founding Bot X on the host.
auth_invalid or invalid_bearer	Run foundingbot-x connect login. If credentials were revoked, run foundingbot-x connect logout, then foundingbot-x connect again. Restart the server after signing in.
Expired or invalid link proof	Check the host's date and time, update Founding Bot X, then restart it.
HTTP 403 without a recognized error	Check relay access, proxies, and firewall rules. Keep any Cloudflare Ray ID for a bug report.
HTTP 408, 429, or 5xx	Wait a few minutes. Founding Bot X retries temporary failures on its own.

After you fix a permanent rejection, restart the host's server with foundingbot-x service restart. For a foreground server, stop it and run foundingbot-x serve again.

If Founding Bot X on the host disappears when SSH closes, see background-service troubleshooting.

Report a problem

If none of this helps, email hi@founding.bot. Include:

• The text from Copy diagnostics in the environment's Details.
• The output of foundingbot-x connect status on the host.
• The trace ID, if one is shown.