Sundial
Keep control and keep moving / Chapter 26

Troubleshooting

Resolve model diagnostics, save problems, shared-editing issues, and planning surprises.

Get back to a trustworthy forecast. Understand missing dates, stale results, and validation warnings before using the output.
Symptom or diagnostic What to check and do
Nothing to render yet Open a valid native project or load Example, inspect Issues, and wait for a successful run.
Unknown field The schema is strict. Remove the unsupported key or use its documented spelling.
Duplicate name / unknown reference Give identities unique names and make dependencies, assignees, and locations reference existing entries exactly.
Effort on a container Move estimates to leaves; let parents roll up totals.
Invalid spent effort Review the estimate, recorded balance, and dated entries. Add positive hours with at most two decimal places and a valid developer/date. Mark completed work Done; do not erase its recorded effort history.
Missing or invalid done dates Supply valid historical start and finish dates strictly before reporting start; correct the source/export date evidence.
Dependency cycle Follow the listed cycle and remove or correct the circular prerequisites.
ImpossibleTask / Unreachable Check explicit skill exclusions and the dependency chain. Correct team or work assumptions before claiming deliverability.
Canceled prerequisite leaves dependents unscheduled Reopen the prerequisite or deliberately revise the dependency. Cancellation is not successful delivery.
Workflow changes cannot be applied Keep an ordinary state in each category, a Backlog default, and valid references. Check terminal Done states, replacement mappings, and allowed routes. Close/reopen stale settings and preview again.
Status or Kanban drop is unavailable Check Next states in Workflow settings. Use the allowed route, such as In progress → Review → Done. Done is terminal; Undo can reverse a mistaken completion.
Apply asks to add or clear a comment Choose Add comment for pending New comment text, or clear it before applying.
Sunburst history period is blank Check snapshot readability, selected-root presence, and missing estimates. A zero-effort period has no angular span.
Urgent task still starts later Deadline urgency, dependencies, dates, eligibility, capacity, and already started work can precede the preference.
Completed sprint shows old column names Its historical board preserves the workflow captured at completion. Open the live project for current states.
SimulationExceeded or unfinished work Check blocked tasks, availability gaps, future starts, project access, pinned assignments, and the simulation limit. Extending the limit alone does not resolve a constraint.
Forecast seems too early Check missing dependencies, underestimation, omitted work, overstated allocation/speed, and missing holiday data.
No saved history Capture a checkpoint, verify the active store, and refresh History. A lone unsaved Current model does not provide saved history.
Empty Delta report Verify the endpoints and filters. Identical or non-qualifying changes legitimately give an empty comparison.
Desired comparison end missing Saved end must be strictly later than baseline. Select an older baseline; verify the checkpoint is in the active store.
Path identity warning or split series Review renamed/moved items and source identity continuity; do not read a split as automatic scope creation.
Stale Current result Correct the failing current edit and wait for a successful run. Saved checkpoints are separate from that failed edit.
MissingColumn Include Issue key and Summary or configure valid column aliases.
TooManyFiles Select one CSV alone, or a set of JSON dump files.
Unmapped imported status In Workflow settings, add an exact Tracker status mapping and retry import. Default-workflow fallback warnings may instead require an import mapping.
OrphanParent / ExternalDependency Check export completeness, parent levels, permissions, and missing linked work.
AmbiguousDateOrder Specify dateOrder: dmy or mdy to match numeric slash dates.
UnestimatedItem / MissingEstimate / missing delivery date Add an estimate to unknown work. It cannot receive an invented finish or satisfy a dependent task. Import policies can reject, skip, or supply a disclosed fallback; current native forecasts show missing work separately.
CsvStartApproximated / UndatedVersion Review CSV's historical-date and milestone limitations; use richer data where necessary.
EncodingUnsupported or garbled text Re-export as UTF-8 CSV. Some BOM-marked UTF-16 dumps can be decoded, but unsupported forms need conversion.
SeedNoAssignees Include assignees for a fresh seed, or import into a valid model with an existing team.
Added member has no effect Replace both placeholder name and joining date, check skills and valid inputs, and verify the person is included.
What-if has no alternative forecast Restore at least one valid member or addition; fix additions errors and inspect unscheduled constraints.
Team form shows Draft but forecast is unchanged Click Apply changes to commit valid form inputs; entering a draft does not alter the forecast.
Changes were not applied Correct highlighted names, skill duplicates, access chips, numbers, dates, overlap, or calendar codes, then apply again.
Reload draft notice The Team document changed underneath the draft. Reload from the current document before editing again.
Developer rename blocked Correct the loaded Project so task assignee references can be checked and updated safely.
Developer deletion blocked Keep at least one developer and remove or change the member's Project assignments first.
Location deletion blocked Apply new location assignments for all developers still referencing it.
Unexpected capacity between override periods Outside override periods, the default applies, normally eight hours if omitted. Use an explicit zero default for interval-only participation.
Snapshot capture failed Inspect folder permissions, browser storage quota, and the capture notice; verify the new entry exists.
Snapshot storage cannot be switched Reconnect the old folder and resolve copy or quota errors. Sundial copies the existing history before activating a new target.
Folder permission expired Use Reconnect snapshots folder and grant access again.
Export failed Wait for valid chart data, check the selected output location, and retry. Inspect large-image readability after saving.
Text too small in diagrams Maximize the window, choose Diagrams, hide Delivery outlook details, zoom for inspection, or export SVG.

Shared editing and planning problems

Symptom What to check and do
Colleague does not see an edit Confirm both opened the same native folder, the draft was applied, saving succeeded, and the share is propagating complete files. Allow for polling and filesystem delay.
Native save failed Restore folder access or browser permission and use Retry. Keep the working session open until persisted.
Recovery restored but not saved to disk Choose Reconnect project folder and select the original .sundial folder. Recovery and disk connection are separate.
Synchronization unavailable Restore access to the share, use Retry synchronization, and inspect remaining notices. Local recovery does not prove remote users received the edit.
Browser recovery write failed Keep the session open, restore browser storage access or space, and use the recovery notice's Retry.
ConcurrentFieldWrite Review the listed alternatives with collaborators, then apply the agreed field value after receiving their edits.
ModifiedAfterDelete / ConcurrentDeleteRestore Decide explicitly whether to keep the deletion or restore the original task; then review dependencies.
UnsupportedSchema Use a compatible newer Sundial version. Editing is disabled when an unsupported remote upgrade arrives.
Draft cannot overwrite the current document Reload draft and re-enter intended changes against the new committed Project/Team.
Sprint refresh import blocked Back up and retain the project, or deliberately choose a fresh import understanding that it replaces sprint metadata.
Cannot start sprint Check for an existing Active sprint and whether the selected sprint has unfinished work.
Capacity seems too generous Check calendars, unestimated/unassigned work, speed assumptions, and other commitments. The panel compares effort with calendar hours without speed adjustment; outside-sprint work is not deducted.
Sprint snapshot retry needed Reconnect or repair the reporting snapshot store, then Retry snapshot; native-save Retry is separate.

Put this into practice with the included example project.

Open Sundial