Troubleshooting

A short list of the things most likely to trip you up, and how to clear them. This page grows as the app ships and real reports come in.

A cell will not spawn a session

Helmsman drives your own Claude Code CLI, so a cell can only start a session if claude is installed and on your path. Open a normal terminal and run claude. If that fails, fix the CLI first, then try spawning again. If claude runs in your terminal but not in Helmsman, restart the app so it picks up your current environment.

A session looks stuck

Focus the cell and read the prompt. A session that appears idle is often just waiting for an answer. Type your response in the focused cell the same way you would in your terminal. If it is genuinely hung, close the cell and spawn a fresh session.

I cannot open more cells

Twelve sessions fit on a page, one per cell. If every cell is full, close one to free a slot, or move to the next page. The page size is by design, not an error.

Wrong project or directory

Each session starts in the project you chose for that cell. If an agent is working in the wrong place, close the cell and spawn a new session pointed at the right project folder.

Still stuck

Email hello@helmsman.sh with what you did and what happened. Once the app ships, the changelog will track fixes for known issues.