Help and troubleshooting

SkillPiece support

Set up your model, solve common capture problems, and collect the right details when something is not working.

Last updated August 21, 2026

Start in SkillPiece Settings. The Intelligence panel reports the active model's real state and can run a complete connection test.

Get started

Open SkillPiece and choose Chrome's built-in model or add a custom provider.
Run Test local model or Test connection. Read every result row before saving a provider.
On an ordinary web page, select a useful passage and press Add to SkillPiece.
Open the captured idea, read its explanation, then press Start explaining when you are ready to practice.

Chrome's built-in model

The built-in model runs on your device and needs no API key. Chrome controls whether the model is available and when it downloads.

The model is downloadable or downloading

Keep SkillPiece open while Chrome downloads the model. Use an unmetered connection and make sure the volume holding your Chrome profile has enough free space.

If progress stops, return to Settings and use Try the download again. You can inspect Chrome's model state at chrome://on-device-internals.

The model is unavailable or the API is not exposed

First update Chrome. Then open chrome://flags and enable both Prompt API for Gemini Nano and Optimization Guide On Device Model with Enabled BypassPerfRequirement.

Fully quit every Chrome window and relaunch. If needed, open chrome://components, find Optimization Guide On Device Model, and press Check for update.

Chrome currently requires a supported desktop system, substantial free storage, and suitable RAM, CPU, or GPU capacity. Flags can help with detection, but they cannot make unsupported hardware run the model reliably.

The model is ready, but the capability test fails

Expand the test result and read the first failed row. The test performs real generation, structured-output, schema, and grading checks. A downloaded model can still be too weak for reliable grading on a particular machine.

You can switch to a custom provider without changing or deleting your local SkillPiece library.

Custom providers

Choose the provider type first, then enter a recognizable name, the model identifier, and any required key. Use the provider's exact base URL.

OpenAI and Anthropic: use the official provider type so SkillPiece sends the correct request format.
Ollama: the usual base URL is http://localhost:11434. Restart Ollama with OLLAMA_ORIGINS="chrome-extension://*" ollama serve if the test reports that Chrome extensions are blocked.
RunPod, vLLM, and LM Studio: choose OpenAI-compatible and enter the endpoint's Chat Completions base URL.
Remote endpoints: HTTPS is required. Plain HTTP is accepted only for loopback addresses such as localhost.

A provider is not saved or activated until you press Save and use provider. API keys stay in local extension storage and are excluded from exports and diagnostic reports.

Capture problems

The Add to SkillPiece action does not appear

Select a meaningful passage on an ordinary website. Chrome prevents extensions from drawing on protected pages such as chrome:// pages and parts of the Chrome Web Store.

If the page was already open when SkillPiece was installed or updated, reload that page once. The popup's selected-text capture and the right-click menu remain available as fallback capture paths.

The action says Set up to capture

First-run setup has not been completed. Press the action, confirm a working model in the welcome screen, and finish with Get started.

The action says Fix model setup

Your active model cannot currently accept work. Press the action to open Settings, then repair or replace the active provider and run its capability test.

Failed generation or grading

Open the affected idea and read the visible failure message. Retry the failed work after confirming that the active model passes its test.

If the same failure returns, open Settings → Advanced. The diagnostics section shows failed jobs and can export a scrubbed report containing counters and errors, never captured text or provider keys.

Before asking for help

Please include:

Your SkillPiece version from chrome://extensions.
Your Chrome version and operating system.
The exact status or error text shown by SkillPiece.
The steps that produced the problem and what you expected instead.
The diagnostic report from Settings, if you are comfortable sharing it.

Keep private information out of reports. Never send an API key, full captured passage, or private explanation. For the current test release, send the details to the person who shared your installation link.

Protect your library before resetting

If troubleshooting requires a reset, export your full library first from Settings. Removing the extension or erasing SkillPiece data permanently removes the local library from that Chrome profile.

Read the privacy policy for complete details about local storage, remote providers, exports, and deletion controls.