Troubleshooting

Fixes for the most common issues. If yours isn't here, the in-app guide (Cmd+9) has a troubleshooting section too, and the support page explains how to reach us.

"Yardarm is damaged and can't be opened" (macOS)

The build is unsigned and the downloaded copy is quarantined. On macOS 15+ the dialog has no bypass (right-click → Open no longer works). Run this once:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Yardarm.app

Or install via the install script — curl downloads are never quarantined, so the script sidesteps this entirely. If the dmg itself refuses to open, clear it there too: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/Yardarm-*.dmg. Apps you build yourself on the same machine are not quarantined and open normally.

The agent won't start / chat shows a runtime error

Open Settings → About: it shows the bundled runtime's boot status, versions, and the full error if mastracode failed to load. "Run setup again" re-runs onboarding if config is the culprit.

No models appear in the dropdown

The dropdown lists only usable models — add an API key (Settings → API Keys), log in with a provider subscription (Settings → Providers), or add a local model (Settings → Providers). For Ollama, make sure the server is running (ollama serve) and at least one model is pulled.

"The model stopped because it reached its maximum output length before finishing."

The conversation filled the local server's context window. Raise it to 64k minimum, 128k+ if you can — see What context window do I need for a local model? — and start a new chat to reset the conversation. Even a large window fills up eventually in long sessions.

A run ended with a network-ish error mid-task

Check the local model server's own logs (e.g. ollama serve output) — the app does not impose idle timeouts, so a dropped stream usually means the server restarted or unloaded the model.

Worktree creation fails

The project must be a git repository Yardarm can write to. Repos with no commits are handled (a bootstrap commit is created); bare repos and repos with exotic core.worktree settings are not supported.

Something else?

Please open an issue with the error text from Settings → About or the chat, or contact us via the support page.