Troubleshooting

Ollama not running

SideCar auto-starts Ollama when it’s not running. If that fails:

1. Verify Ollama is installed: ollama --version
2. Ensure ollama is in your PATH
3. Start it manually: ollama serve
4. Check if another process is using port 11434

Model not found

If you get a “model not found” error:

• Use the model dropdown in SideCar to browse and install models
• Or pull the model manually: ollama pull qwen3-coder:30b
• Check available models: ollama list

Connection errors

• Ollama: Verify sidecar.baseUrl is http://localhost:11434 (the default)
• Remote Ollama: If running on another machine, use http://<ip>:11434 and ensure the port is open
• Firewall/proxy: Check that your firewall allows connections to the configured URL
• VPN: Some VPNs block localhost connections — try disconnecting

Anthropic API errors

Error	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Check your API key in sidecar.apiKey
403 Forbidden	Verify your API key has the correct permissions
404 Not Found	Check the model name (e.g., claude-sonnet-4-6, not claude-3-sonnet)
429 Rate Limited	SideCar retries automatically with backoff. Wait a moment and try again
Base URL wrong	Set sidecar.baseUrl to exactly https://api.anthropic.com

Chat-only models

Some models don’t support function calling:

• gemma, gemma2
• llama2
• mistral
• neural-chat
• starling-lm

SideCar auto-detects these and runs in chat-only mode. You’ll see a “Chat-Only” badge in the header. Chat still works, but the agent can’t use tools (read files, run commands, etc.).

Switch to a tool-capable model like qwen3-coder, llama3.1, or command-r for full agentic features.

Agent loop not stopping

• Click the Stop button (red button that replaces Send during processing)
• Check sidecar.agentMaxIterations (default: 25) and sidecar.agentMaxTokens (default: 100,000)
• Lower these values if the agent runs too long on your hardware

Inline completions not working

1. Enable them: "sidecar.enableInlineCompletions": true
2. Make sure a model is running (check the model dropdown)
3. Check that no other completion extension is conflicting (e.g., GitHub Copilot)
4. Try a different model — not all models support FIM (Fill-in-the-Middle)

MCP server connection failed

• Verify the command and args in sidecar.mcpServers are correct
• Run the command manually to check for errors: npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp
• Check the “SideCar Agent” output channel for connection logs
• Ensure npx / node are in your PATH

Error cards

SideCar classifies errors and shows actionable cards:

Error type	Card action
Connection	“Check Connection” — opens settings
Auth	“Check API Key” — opens settings
Model	“Install Model” — opens model dropdown
Timeout	“Retry” — resends the last message

Click the action button on the error card to resolve common issues quickly.

Getting help

• GitHub Issues — report bugs or request features
• VS Code Marketplace — reviews and ratings