Troubleshooting

Ordered by how often each one actually comes up.

1. Tools don't appear in Claude Desktop

Almost always invalid JSON (a trailing comma is the classic), the wrong config file path, or the app was not fully quit. Validate your JSON, confirm the path for your OS, and quit Claude Desktop from the menu bar or tray (not just the window) before reopening.

2. "Invalid API key"

Usually stray whitespace in the env value, or the key was regenerated in the dashboard (old keys die immediately). Re-copy the key with no leading or trailing spaces. If you regenerated it, paste the new one and restart the client.

3. "Out of credits"

The tool returns a polite message instead of running, and nothing else breaks: your installation, saved flows, and login states are intact. Top up at /pricing and retry the same call; new credits are picked up automatically within about a minute.

4. Chrome not found

Reflex drives your installed Google Chrome. Install Chrome and retry.

5. Stale daemon after an update

Restart your client. The bundled server restarts its daemon on the next launch.

6. Windows notes

Config path: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. If you test npx manually in PowerShell, watch the quoting around the args array. Windows is in beta; expect a few more rough edges than macOS.

7. Corporate proxy or firewall

The metering endpoint must be reachable when the server starts. After that, offline buffering covers gaps; Reflex keeps working for up to 7 days without a connection and reconciles when it reconnects.

8. Page looks wrong / canvas apps

Reflex is a DOM-first tool. For canvas or WebGL apps where there is no DOM to read, use reflex_shot to capture a screenshot and reason from the image.