Troubleshooting

Most problems have a specific cause, and PineLead usually tells you which one. Find the symptom below.

A domain isn't verifying#

A domain verifies once both its TXT verification record and its DKIM records are found. The status is checked when you press Verify on the Domains page — it doesn't update on its own.

DNS hasn't propagated yet. While the domain says pending, the records haven't been seen. That can take up to 72 hours, though it is usually much quicker. Wait, then press Verify again.
The record name is doubled. The Domains page shows full names such as abc123._domainkey.acme.com. Many DNS providers add your domain to whatever you type, so entering the full name produces abc123._domainkey.acme.com.acme.com. If yours does, enter only the part before your domain.
The record type is wrong. The verification and DMARC records are TXT; the DKIM records are CNAME. Paste each value exactly as shown, with no extra quotes or spaces.
The CNAME is proxied. If your DNS provider can proxy records (Cloudflare can), set the DKIM records to DNS only.
The records changed. The records can be reissued between checks. If the Domains page shows different values from the ones you published, publish the current ones.

You can check what is actually published from a terminal:

bash

dig +short CNAME abc123._domainkey.acme.com
dig +short TXT _dmarc.acme.com

A domain marked failed means the records were checked and were missing or wrong. Fix them and press Verify again.

A send was rejected#

A refused send returns 422 from the API, with a code, and the same reason shows on the lead's thread in the dashboard. Nothing was sent.

unverified_domain — the from address is on a domain that isn't verified on your account. Verify it on the Domains page, or send from an address on a domain that already is. Check with GET /v1/domains.
no_mailbox_connected — you sent from the dashboard without a connected mailbox. Open Configure → Mailbox and connect one.
invalid_from — from isn't an address. Use jane@acme.com or Jane <jane@acme.com>.
missing_content — add an html or text body, or both.
no_recipients — there was no usable to address.
too_many_recipients — one message can go to at most 50 addresses across to, cc and bcc. Split it into several sends.
all_recipients_suppressed — every to address is suppressed. See below.

A 400 instead of a 422 means the request body itself was invalid — a malformed address, a missing field. The response lists what to fix. A 429 means you sent more than 100 requests in a minute; wait for the window to reset.

Recipients are suppressed#

When an address hard-bounces or its owner marks your email as spam, PineLead adds it to your account's suppression list and stops emailing it. A temporary bounce, such as a full mailbox, doesn't suppress. This protects your sending reputation, and it applies to every send — API and dashboard alike.

Suppressed addresses are dropped from a message and the rest of the recipients still get it. The message's to, cc and bcc show who it actually went to.
If every to address is suppressed, the send is refused with all_recipients_suppressed.

To see the list, open Emails and switch to Suppressions. Each entry shows why it was added. Remove lets you email the address again — only do that when you know it now works, because repeat bounces damage your reputation.

A mailbox needs reconnecting#

If PineLead loses access to a connected mailbox — a token stops refreshing, you changed your Google password, or you removed the app's access in your Google account — the mailbox is marked Reconnect needed and a red notice appears on the Mailbox page. Nothing is sent from it until it is fixed.

Open Configure → Mailbox, disconnect the mailbox and press Connect Google again with the same account. Emails you already sent stay in your leads' history.

The agent isn't doing anything#

Open Configure → Limits → Activity. When the agent stops, it records why, under "Nothing to do right now" or "Stopped before spending anything". The common reasons:

"Prospect analysis is switched off." Turn on Analyse prospects automatically on the Analysis tab, or use Run now on the Usage tab.
"No qualification criteria are set". Fill in What makes a good prospect for this project? on the Analysis tab. Without criteria nothing is judged.
"Nothing says what you are offering". Fill in What are you offering them? on the Drafting tab. Without it no email is written.
Drafting is switched off. If leads are qualifying but no drafts appear, turn on Draft emails automatically, or press Prepare an outreach under Agent Drafts.
"Today's research budget is spent." (or qualification, or drafting). The project reached its Prospects per day limit for that stage. It resets at midnight UTC, or you can raise the limit.
"This account has reached today's … limit." The account-wide daily ceiling, separate from the project's, is reached. It resets at midnight UTC; write to us if you need more.
"Out of credits". Top up under Settings → Billing. A step that didn't run wasn't charged.

Sometimes there is simply no work waiting:

Only companies with a website that were added in the last 30 days are researched.
A company that fits but publishes no contact address can't become a lead — the Activity entry says "A fit, but no way to reach…".
Drafts are written only for leads that are New, have never been contacted, are linked to a researched company, and don't already have a draft waiting.

Still stuck?#

Email support@pinelead.com with what you see — the Activity entry, or the API response body — and we'll take a look.