API Connection Problems
If AI translation isn’t working, this page helps you diagnose provider/API issues.
Common causes
- Missing or invalid API key
- No internet connection
- Provider rate limits or quota limits
- Wrong model selected
Quick checks
- Verify your API key in Setting Up API Keys
- Confirm you selected a provider and model in Settings (LLM/AI settings)
- Try translating a single short segment (
Ctrl+T) - Check whether your account has credits/quota
Common errors and fixes
| Symptom / message | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “Invalid API key” / authentication failed | Key is wrong or has extra whitespace | Re-paste the key; make sure there are no leading/trailing spaces; Save and restart if needed |
| “Rate limit exceeded” | Provider is throttling requests | Wait 1–2 minutes; reduce batch size; try a different model |
| “Quota/credits exceeded” | Account has no credits or billing disabled | Check provider dashboard; add credits/enable billing |
| “Model not found” | Selected model name not available | Pick a supported model in Settings; update if the provider changed model names |
| “No response” / empty translation | Transient provider failure, network issue, or timeout | Try single-segment translation; retry the segment; try a different model/provider |
| Connection errors / timeouts | Network/VPN/firewall/proxy issues | Try another network; disable VPN; allow Python/Supervertaler through firewall |
| “Ollama request timed out” | A local model on a computer without a dedicated GPU can need longer than the automatic limit (3–10 minutes per request) | Allow more time in Settings → 🤖 AI Settings → 🖥️ Local LLM (Ollama) Advanced Settings → Request timeout (from v1.10.372; anything from 1 minute to 24 hours), or use a smaller model |
AI Assistant chat fails with unsupported format string passed to NoneType.__format__ | A bug affecting models with no price entry, such as local models behind a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint (KoboldCPP, for example); translation itself worked | Update to v1.10.372 or later |
Tips for reliable translation
- Start with single-segment translation to verify your setup before running batch.
- If batch translation returns empty segments, enable the retry option in the batch dialog.
- If your segments contain tags/placeholders, add a prompt rule to preserve them exactly.
Error messages
If you see an error dialog, copy the message and include it when asking for help.
Include:
- Provider + model
- Whether single-segment translation works
- The exact error text