Limits and troubleshooting
What the assistant's on-screen messages mean and how to fix the common problems.
Use this page when an assistant does not appear, refuses to help, or shows an error.
The assistant is missing
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No Workspace AI in the left rail, and no robot buttons in mail, calendar or drive | AI is not set up on your Metis Suite server | Ask the person who runs your server. You cannot turn it on yourself. |
| No MCP clients in your settings | AI is not set up on your Metis Suite server | Same as above. MCP clients need AI on the server. |
The @ list does not offer an item you expect |
AI is off for that mailbox, calendar or drive | Ask its owner to turn AI on for it in this workspace. |
The assistant is turned off
| Message | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant turned off, with “This workspace has AI turned off, so the assistant is unavailable here.” | The workspace has AI set to Off | An owner or admin can allow AI under Workspace settings, General, AI & privacy. Click Workspace settings to go there. |
| Assistant turned off, with “AI is turned off for this mailbox, so the assistant has nothing it can read.” (or calendar, or drive) | The owner of this mailbox, calendar or drive has not turned AI on in this workspace | If it is yours, click the button under the message (Your mailboxes, Your calendars or Your drives) and turn AI on. Otherwise, ask its owner. |
| “AI is off for every mailbox, calendar and drive here” under the Workspace Assistant title | No mailbox, calendar or drive in this workspace has AI turned on | Turn AI on for at least one of them. |
| “AI is turned off for this workspace” (or “for this mailbox”, “for this calendar”, “for this drive”) in the error box | AI was turned off while you were chatting | Ask an owner, admin or the item’s owner to turn it back on. |
For how the switches work, see How AI works in Metis Suite.
A reply fails
When a reply fails, the chat shows a box titled “Workspace Assistant hit a problem”, “Mail AI hit a problem”, “Calendar AI hit a problem” or “Drive AI hit a problem”. The box shows the reason and a Retry button.
| Message | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The reason includes “Too many requests. Please slow down.” | You sent many messages in a short time. Each person has a limit on how many messages they can send per minute. The Mail, Calendar and Drive AI panels share one limit, and Workspace AI has its own. | Wait a minute, then click Retry. |
| “The assistant is busy right now. Wait a moment and try again.” | The AI service your server uses has too many requests right now | Wait a moment, then click Retry. |
| “The assistant is unavailable right now. Try again later.” | The AI service your server uses refused the request. This usually needs a fix on the server. | Tell the person who runs your server. |
If one step in a reply fails but the rest work, that step shows the reason, or “That step didn’t work”.
Other things to know
- Panel conversations disappear. The Mail, Calendar and Drive AI panels do not save conversations. Use Workspace AI when you want to come back to a conversation.
- Mail AI will not send. Mail AI cannot send email or save drafts. Ask Workspace AI instead.
- Drive AI cannot move a file to another drive. It can only move files within the same drive.
- Conversations cannot be renamed. The assistant gives each conversation a short title for you.
- Deleted conversations cannot be brought back. Deleting your account or the workspace also deletes its conversations.
For problems with outside AI apps, see Manage MCP clients.