AI FAQ and troubleshooting
This is the lookup page for anything an AI button shows you that you were not expecting. Find your message in the group it belongs to, then read the questions at the end.
The one rule worth memorising: you are only charged for a generation that delivered a result. Every message below that reports a failure, a decline or a block costs you nothing.
The messages below are quoted verbatim from the product. Use your browser's find-on-page for three or four words of what you saw — no image was used, already passes, nothing changes until — rather than scrolling the groups.
Progress and confirmation​
These mean the button is working.
| Message | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Checking what your plan includes… | The composer popup, on open | Reading your live allowance. It clears on its own |
| Writing… | The popup's Generate and Refine tabs | Running |
| Creating your image… | The popup's Image tab | Running. Images take longer than text |
| Have a look. Nothing changes until you apply it. | The popup, after a result | Success. Your post is still untouched — press Apply to my post |
| No message at all after Apply | The popup, on every engine | That is the finished state. The result is in the post box and the live preview; nothing is stored until you save the post |
| AI image added to your ad post. | The booking wizard, after Generate image with AI | The picture went into a media slot |
| No message at all after Run the compliance check | The booking wizard | The verdict was clean. A pass adds no row to the pre-flight |
| Comparing audiences… / Reading the pool… / Weighing your matches… / Reading the proof trail… / Finding… | The helper buttons | Running |
| Saving… then Saved to your device. | ⬇ Download image | The file was saved |
| Opened it in a new tab — save it from there. | ⬇ Download image | Your browser blocked the save. Right-click the image in the new tab |
| New pitch saved to your listing. | Partner discovery | The redrafted blurb is live on your directory card |
You have run out​
Every message here means an allowance is finished. None of them costs you anything. In the AI popup the message replaces the status line and the meters underneath refresh to show 0 left; there is no upgrade panel inside the dialog, so AI quotas and limits is where to look next.
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You've used today's AI actions. They reset at 00:00 UTC. | Your daily text allowance is finished | Wait for 00:00 UTC, or upgrade |
| You've used this month's AI actions. They reset on the 1st of the month (UTC). | Your monthly text allowance is finished | Wait for the 1st, or upgrade |
| You've used your daily and/or monthly AI actions. | One of the two windows is finished and which could not be read just then | If the daily meter reads 0 left on a fresh day, it is the monthly window that is spent |
| You've used today's AI text actions. | The same, from the shared text endpoints | Daily resets at 00:00 UTC |
| You've used your AI text allowance (daily and/or monthly). Daily resets at 00:00 UTC, monthly on the 1st. | The precise version | Wait for whichever window is full, or upgrade |
| You've used your AI image allowance. | An image window is full | Same reset times |
| You've used your AI image allowance (daily and/or monthly). | The precise version | Wait, or spread the month out |
| You've used today's AI actions (or this month's) — the overlap above still stands. | The cart's overlap clusters rendered; only the AI advice line is missing | The clusters are the useful half, and they are arithmetic |
| You have used your AI allowance for now. | The popup's generic fallback for a refusal without its own wording | Check the meter in the popup |
| Image generation is limited while your reliability recovers. | Your plan includes images but your score is below Fair (5.0) | Complete what you start, on time. See Reliability score |
See AI quotas and limits.
Your plan does not include this​
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| AI images unlock on Master. with a See plans button | The composer popup's lock panel. Images are unavailable to you right now | Check your plan first, then your reliability score |
| AI image generation isn’t included on this account. | The server refused a below-Master image request | Nothing was spent. See Generating ad images |
| AI images are not available on your plan. | The lock panel's fallback wording | The same thing |
| This is a Lite feature. (or another plan name) | The minimum plan for that AI feature has been raised above yours | Rare. Check the named plan in Comparing the tiers |
It could not do that​
Every message in this group is a failure, and every one of them refunds. Most say so in the text.
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| The AI returned nothing - nothing was used. | An empty text result |
| The AI returned no image - nothing was used. | An empty image result |
| The AI could not do that just now - nothing was used. | The popup's generic failure |
| The AI couldn't generate that just now — no action was used. | The same, from the server |
| The AI returned an empty result — no action was used. Try again. | The result sanitised down to nothing |
| The AI couldn't create that image just now — no image was used. | The image engine returned nothing |
| The image came back unusable | The picture failed the same validity check a manual upload must pass. Refunded |
| Telegram wouldn't accept the generated image | Telegram refused the file on the Subscriber Exchange path. Refunded even though the generation worked |
| Telegram didn't return a usable file for the generated image | The same, one step later. Refunded |
| The AI hit an unexpected error. Please try again in a moment. | An unexpected error, handled cleanly rather than as a broken page |
| Couldn't draft that just now — no action was used. | The drafter returned nothing — or, on a Paid Promotions booking, returned a post longer than Telegram's caption limit, which is refused rather than cut |
| Couldn't fix that just now. | Fix to pass returned nothing |
| Couldn't create that image just now — no image was used. | The booking wizard's image failed |
| Couldn't check overlap right now. | The overlap request failed outright |
| Couldn't explain this right now. | The proof explainer returned nothing |
| Couldn't analyse targeting right now. | The targeting pool could not be read |
| Couldn't shortlist matches right now. | Nothing survived validation. Refunded |
| Couldn't suggest a day right now. / No best-day suggestion available yet. | The best-day request failed |
| Couldn't draft a blurb right now — write your own from the "List my channel" tab. | The blurb redraft returned nothing |
| Couldn't run the AI compliance check right now. | Usually means the channel published no prohibited topics, so there was nothing to check against |
| Network error - please try again. | The request never left your browser |
That was declined​
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| That request breaks our content policy. Please try a different, on-topic prompt. | The prompt was screened and refused before anything ran | Rephrase. See Content rules for AI |
| AI is paused on your account while a review is open. It returns as soon as the review is resolved. | A review is open on your account | Nothing to do. Access returns automatically |
Slow down​
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Too many attempts. Please wait a minute and try again. | A per-endpoint burst limit, not your allowance | Wait. Nothing was reserved and nothing was spent |
The burst limits are listed per button in AI quotas and limits. In normal use your daily allowance runs out long before a burst limit does.
It is switched off, or it is not ready​
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| AI is temporarily unavailable. Please try again shortly. | AI is off platform-wide, or the day's spend ceiling was reached | Retry later. Everything that is not AI is unaffected |
| This AI feature is currently turned off. | One AI feature was switched off by the team | Other AI buttons keep working |
| Image generation is temporarily unavailable. Please try again shortly. | The image engine specifically is down | Text still works. See What powers the AI |
| Image generation is temporarily unavailable. in the popup's lock panel | The same outage, shown before you press anything | The tab returns on its own |
| This feature is temporarily unavailable. Please try again shortly. | The site's backing services are unreachable | Check the status page |
| Please sign in to use AI features. | Your session expired | Sign in again |
| Media uploads aren't available yet. | The Subscriber Exchange upload path is not configured | Nothing was spent |
| The composer is still loading — try again in a moment. | The page's scripts had not finished loading | Wait two seconds and press the button again |
| Could not read your AI allowance - you can still try. | The meter could not be read | Press Generate anyway. The real limit is enforced on the server |
You have not given it enough to work with​
| Message | Where | What it wants |
|---|---|---|
| Tell the AI what the post is about first. | The popup's Generate tab, on every engine | Three characters or more |
| There is no copy to improve yet. | The popup's Refine tab | Something in your post to seed from |
| Describe the image you want. | The popup's Image tab | Three characters or more |
| Describe the ad you want, and I'll draft it. | The server, on a Paid Promotions Generate | Six characters or more. The dialog let three through; this is the second floor |
| Describe the channel or offer you're promoting. | The server, on a Subscriber Exchange Generate | Six characters or more |
| Describe the ad image you want the AI to create. | The server, on a Paid Promotions image | Three characters or more |
| Describe the image you want the AI to create. | The server, on a Cross-Promotion or Subscriber Exchange image | Three characters or more |
| Write your ad post first. | Booking wizard, Fix to pass and Run the compliance check | A post to act on |
| Describe your ad first — a brief or the post text. | Booking wizard, Generate image with AI | The post text. There is no brief field on that page |
| Pick a content level first. | Subscriber Exchange, Targeting copilot | A content level chosen |
| Pick your channel first. | Cross-Promotion create, Best day to go live | Step 1 completed |
| Add another channel to compare. | Cart, Check overlap | Two or more placements |
| Wait for a partner to join before drafting your post. | A cross-promotion campaign | A partner on the campaign |
| Not enough recent posts to recommend a best day yet — pick any date. | Best day to go live | A channel with recent posting history. Nothing was spent |
Questions customers ask​
Where do I find the AI buttons?​
Inside whatever you are making. The main one is in the post composer, which is the same panel on all three engines: look for a field headed Write it with AI with a button in it — labelled Draft with AI on a booking, Write with AI on a cross-promotion, Write my ad with AI in the exchange builder. The rest are single-purpose buttons in the Paid Promotions booking wizard and cart, on an order's proof trail, in the exchange's targeting step, and in two Cross-Promotion planning steps. AI across Onflow Ads maps every one of them in one table.
Why is there no AI button in my composer?​
Three possibilities. On a Paid Promotions booking, no listing is loaded — the AI is scoped to one channel, so open the page from a channel in the marketplace. On a Cross-Promotion Blitz, and on the post you write when claiming a Blitz slot, there is no AI button by design. Otherwise the page's scripts had not finished loading, which shows as The composer is still loading — try again in a moment.
Does an AI action cost money?​
No. AI is metered in actions against your plan, not against your wallet. There is no way to buy extra actions on their own.
Do the bot and the website share one allowance?​
You have one allowance, and it follows your account. But there is nothing in the Telegram bot that can spend it — every AI button a member can press is on the website.
Why does my meter say 0 left when I have not used AI today?​
Your monthly window is spent. Both windows apply at once and the meter shows the smaller headroom. See AI quotas and limits.
I am on Master and the Image tab is still locked. Why?​
Images need three things at once: the plan, reliability at Fair (5.0) or better, and no open review. The lock's wording names Master in every case, so check your reliability score before concluding your plan is wrong.
Can I get a better model on a higher plan?​
No. Higher plans give you more actions, not a different writer. Every text generation runs on the same model.
Text works but every image button fails. Is my account broken?​
No. Images run on a different engine from text, so one can be down while the other is fine. It clears on its own and costs you nothing.
Does regenerating cost another action?​
Yes. Regenerate is a fresh generation and spends a fresh action. Save a draft you like before experimenting.
Nothing appeared in my post after I pressed Apply. Where did it go?​
Apply to my post puts the result in the editor and closes the dialog without a word — there is no confirmation message, which is the usual reason people think it failed. Look at the post box and the live preview. It is not stored until you save the post, and if you navigated away first, it is gone.
Is any AI output written into my post without me seeing it first?​
Only two controls do that, both in the Paid Promotions booking wizard: Fix to pass replaces your post text with its rewrite, and Generate image with AI drops a picture into a media slot. Neither has a preview or an undo. Everything that comes out of the AI popup — on all three engines — waits in its preview until you press Apply to my post.
Is any AI button free?​
Run the compliance check always. Check overlap when your basket has no overlap. Fix to pass when your post already passes. The pool counts behind Targeting copilot. Reading your meter and reading an upgrade panel. Everything else spends one action.
Can I turn AI off for my account?​
There is no member-facing switch. Every AI control is opt-in — nothing runs unless you press a button — so leaving them alone has the same effect.
Something the AI wrote was wrong and it ran. Who is responsible?​
You are. Every AI result on Onflow Ads is a draft you edit and submit. See Trust and safety.
Related​
- AI across Onflow Ads — every AI control in one table.
- AI quotas and limits — the allowance behind every message here.
- Content rules for AI — declines, flags and rephrasing.
- Contact us — when the answer is not on this page.