Lucius says he can't do that
Four different situations look alike in chat. Find yours below.
| What Lucius says or shows | What’s going on | Jump to |
|---|---|---|
| A card with Allow once and Deny buttons | He’s waiting for your approval | 1 |
| “…is blocked by tool permissions — nothing ran” | You (or a past decision) blocked that action | 2 |
| “I don’t have a way to…” / “no tool for…” | The connector that would do it isn’t added | 3 |
| He tried, and reports an error about your data | The app refused the change as invalid | 4 |
1. He’s waiting for your approval
Anything that changes your data — adding a transaction, recategorizing, deleting, sending an email — asks first by default. Lucius shows a confirm card with exactly what will happen, and nothing runs until you choose:
- Allow once — run just this one.
- Always allow (from the arrow beside Allow once) — run this one, and never ask again for this action, including in scheduled Automations when you’re not around.
- Deny — don’t run it.
This isn’t a refusal; tap Allow once if it’s what you asked for. See Confirm cards.
2. The action is blocked
When an action is set to Blocked, Lucius doesn’t try it or look for a workaround — he tells you it’s blocked and that nothing ran.
To unblock it:
- An action that belongs to a connector (sending email, syncing a bank, searching the web): open Connectors in the sidebar, choose that connector, and in its tool list change the action from Blocked to Needs approval (asks each time) or Always allow (never asks).
- One of Lucius’s built-in actions (transactions, categories, budget and so on): open Settings → Permissions, find the action in the list, and click Reset (then Confirm reset?). It goes back to the default, which is asking you first.
Then ask Lucius again.
3. The capability isn’t connected
If no connector provides the ability — searching the web with no search provider, reading email with no Email connector — Lucius has no way to do it and says so.
To fix: open Connectors → Browse & add, add the one you need, and set it up (for example Email or Web search). Then ask again. If you’d rather not connect it, there’s nothing broken — it’s simply not available.
A connector you added but then paused also hides its actions. Open it under Connectors and resume it.
4. The app refused the change
Lucius makes changes through the same rules as the screens, so the app can refuse one that would leave your books wrong — for example a category that doesn’t exist, a transfer with only one account, or deleting an account that still has transactions. He reports the reason.
To fix: read the reason he gives and correct the request — create the category first, name both accounts, and so on. If the refusal looks wrong, report a problem.
Other reasons he might stop
- No AI provider connected, or the key stopped working: Lucius can’t answer at all. Check Settings → AI. See Connecting an AI provider.
- The reply hit its time limit: the message says it was stopped. A slow model can take minutes; raise Settings → AI → Turn time limit or pick a faster model.
- The public demo: some actions are turned off on the demo site. They work on your own install.