Design troubleshooting - Cortex Docs

Design spans two places on purpose: the browser creates and lists a canvas, the Design desktop app edits it. Most confusion comes from looking for the editor in the wrong one. For the rest of the app see Troubleshooting.

Access

What you see	Cause	Fix
No canvas tools at all	You are a guest	Canvases are member objects. Sign in — see Accounts
A canvas that is not yours is missing	Canvases are private to the account that owns them	Expected. Another account’s boards are never listed
No `/design` route in the browser	The web app has no Design mode	Create and list canvases from Chat or Code, then edit in the desktop app

The canvas

What you see	Cause	Fix
The board is called Untitled canvas	That is the default until you rename it	Rename it from the desktop app; the host binding stays
Frames are missing after a rename	The rename did not change which conversation hosts the board	Reopen the board — the host binding is unchanged by a rename
The canvas disappeared from the list	Deleting a canvas hides it from the list	There is no restore. Host a new one from Chat or Code
Chat made a document, not a board	A Chat canvas is a document beside one conversation	Ask for a Design canvas, or open the board from the Design desktop app

The Library

What you see	Cause	Fix
No Library drawer in the browser	The drawer lives on a canvas in the desktop app	Open the board in the Design desktop app
A component has no thumbnail	Thumbnails are uploaded, not rendered	Upload one, or leave it — the item still works
A Chat file is not in the Design Library	They are different objects that share a word	See two libraries

The desktop app

What you see	Cause	Fix
The app asks you to sign in	Canvases are member objects	Sign in with the same account as the web app
Your boards are not listed	The app is signed in as a different account	Sign in as the account that hosted them
A download is missing for your platform	Desktop builds are published per platform	Check releases.cortex.foundation — see Downloads

Errors

Design uses the same problem documents as the rest of Cortex:

Code	Meaning
`unauthenticated`	You are not signed in
`forbidden`	The action is not permitted for this account
`not_found`	The canvas or Library item no longer exists
`invalid_state`	The board is not in a state that allows the action

Full list: Problem catalog.

Canvases — what lives on a board and how it is hosted.
Design desktop — the app that edits it.
Design library — components, pages, and tokens.
Troubleshooting — the same guidance across all products.

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