Reporting a problem

A good report lets the developer reproduce your problem — that is what gets it fixed. Include the points below.

What to include

1. ArchiveMind version — shown in the interface; if the app fails to open a catalogue, the error screen includes version details in its diagnostics export.
2. Operating system and version — e.g. "Windows 11", "macOS 13.6".
3. Architecture — Windows, Intel Mac, or Apple-silicon Mac (see how to tell).
4. What you were doing — the steps, in order, that led to the problem.
5. What you expected to happen.
6. What actually happened — exact wording of any error message beats a paraphrase.
7. Whether the source drive was connected — for anything involving opening files, previews, or a specific repository.
8. Screenshots — of the whole window where possible.
9. Relevant logs — see Finding logs; attach the newest archivemind.log.
10. Whether the problem repeats — every time, or only once? After a restart?

The built-in diagnostics export

If ArchiveMind fails to open a catalogue, the error screen offers an Export diagnostics button — click it and attach the resulting file to your report. It contains operational diagnostics only (version, health-check results, recent logs, OS details, high-level counts) and never your files, file contents, extracted text, thumbnails, or per-file hashes. Details: Support report specification.

Protect your own privacy when reporting

Do not post private filenames, full folder paths, extracted text, or personal documents in public places (forums, public issue trackers) unless they are genuinely necessary to explain the problem — and blur or redact screenshots that show file names you would not share. Logs may contain file paths; the diagnostics bundle redacts paths by default, but a raw archivemind.log does not. When in doubt, send reports through the private beta channel rather than publicly.

Where to send it

[Placeholder — official support contact to be published.] Beta testers: use the channel through which you received your build.