cloak.business

Troubleshooting Guide

Last Updated: 2026-02-16

This guide helps you resolve common issues with cloak.business. Find your issue below or use the quick links to jump to specific topics.

Quick Links#

Account & Authentication#

"Invalid credentials" when signing in#

Possible causes:

  1. Incorrect email or password
  2. Account not verified
  3. Account suspended

Solutions:

  1. Use "Forgot Password" to reset your password
  2. Check your email for the verification link
  3. Contact support@cloak.business if account is suspended

"Session expired" errors#

Cause: Your login session has timed out (24 hours by default).

Solution: Sign in again. Enable "Remember me" for longer sessions.

Two-factor authentication not working#

If TOTP codes are rejected:

  1. Check your device's time is synchronized
  2. TOTP codes are valid for 30 seconds only
  3. Use the code currently showing, not an old one

If you lost your 2FA device:

  1. Use one of your backup codes
  2. Contact support with account verification

API key not working#

Checklist:

  1. Key starts with cb_
  2. Using Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY header
  3. Key hasn't been revoked
  4. No extra spaces or characters

Test your key:

curl https://cloak.business/api/user/tokens \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

Analysis Issues#

No entities detected#

Possible causes:

  1. Wrong language selected
  2. Preset doesn't include expected entity types
  3. Confidence threshold too high
  4. Text too short or ambiguous

Solutions:

  1. Set language to match your text (e.g., "de" for German)
  2. Try a different preset or add specific entities
  3. Lower the confidence threshold to 0.3
  4. Add more context around PII values

Wrong entities detected (false positives)#

Possible causes:

  1. Ambiguous text patterns
  2. Confidence threshold too low
  3. Wrong preset selected

Solutions:

  1. Raise confidence threshold to 0.7 or higher
  2. Use a more specific preset
  3. Toggle off incorrect entity types in the preview

Missing language support#

Supported languages: 48 languages with NLP support

If your language isn't working:

  1. Check the language code is correct (ISO 639-1)
  2. Some languages use Stanza (slower initial load)
  3. Large language models (ja, zh, ko, ru) take 30-90s to load first time

"Model loading" error#

Cause: Large NLP models take time to load on first use.

Solution: Wait 30-90 seconds and retry. This only happens once per language.

Analysis is slow#

Possible causes:

  1. Very long text
  2. First use of a language model
  3. Many entities to detect

Solutions:

  1. Split text into smaller chunks (under 100KB)
  2. Wait for model to load (one-time delay)
  3. Reduce the number of entity types being detected

Anonymization Issues#

Encrypted values can't be decrypted#

Possible causes:

  1. Wrong encryption key selected
  2. Key was deleted
  3. Session expired

Solutions:

  1. Select the correct key from your key list
  2. Check Dashboard > Encryption Keys
  3. For tokenization, session IDs expire after 24 hours

Hash values are different each time#

Cause: This is expected behavior for SHA-256/SHA-512.

Note: Hash output is deterministic for the same input. If you're getting different hashes, the input text may have subtle differences (whitespace, encoding).

Masked values show wrong characters#

Possible causes:

  1. Unicode characters in input
  2. Masking configuration issues

Solution: Try a different masking character or use Replace instead.

Anonymized output has formatting issues#

Cause: Entity positions shift during anonymization.

Solution: This is expected. The output text will have different lengths. Process plain text, not formatted documents.

Image Processing#

"Feature not available" error#

Cause: Image processing requires Basic plan or higher.

Solution: Upgrade your plan at Dashboard > Billing.

No text detected in image#

Possible causes:

  1. Image quality too low
  2. Wrong OCR language
  3. Text is handwritten
  4. Image is rotated incorrectly

Solutions:

  1. Use images with at least 150 DPI
  2. Set the correct language for OCR
  3. OCR works best with printed/typed text
  4. Ensure image is right-side up

Redaction boxes in wrong positions#

Possible causes:

  1. Image was resized after upload
  2. EXIF rotation not applied

Solutions:

  1. Use original image size
  2. The system auto-corrects EXIF rotation, but some images may have incorrect metadata

Image processing timeout#

Cause: Large images take longer to process.

Solutions:

  1. Reduce image size (under 5MB recommended)
  2. Reduce resolution (max 25 megapixels)
  3. Process fewer images at once

Desktop App#

App won't start#

Windows:

  1. Right-click > Run as Administrator
  2. Check Windows Defender hasn't blocked it
  3. Reinstall from Dashboard > Downloads

macOS:

  1. Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy
  2. Click "Open Anyway" for cloak.business

"No internet connection" error#

Cause: The app needs internet for PII analysis.

Solutions:

  1. Check your internet connection
  2. Check firewall isn't blocking the app
  3. Proxy users: Configure proxy in app settings

Documents not processing#

Supported formats: PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV

If processing fails:

  1. Check file isn't corrupted
  2. Check file isn't password-protected
  3. For PDFs: ensure text is selectable (not scanned)
  4. For scanned PDFs: use Image mode instead

Encryption keys not syncing#

Solution:

  1. Sign out and sign back in
  2. Check internet connection
  3. Keys sync from your online account

Chrome Extension#

Extension not appearing#

Solutions:

  1. Check extension is installed: chrome://extensions
  2. Ensure it's enabled (toggle ON)
  3. Pin it to toolbar for easy access

Protection not working on ChatGPT/Claude#

Checklist:

  1. Click extension icon
  2. Enable "Protection" for this site
  3. Refresh the page after enabling
  4. Type text with PII and click Send

"Unauthorized" in extension#

Solutions:

  1. Go to extension Options
  2. Re-enter your API key
  3. Check key is valid in Dashboard > API Keys

Preview modal not appearing#

Possible causes:

  1. Protection not enabled for site
  2. No PII detected in message
  3. Extension context invalidated

Solutions:

  1. Check extension shows green badge
  2. Try text with obvious PII (name, email)
  3. Refresh the page

Decryption not showing green highlights#

Possible causes:

  1. Using non-encrypt method (replace, hash, redact)
  2. Wrong encryption key
  3. Extension reloaded mid-conversation

Solutions:

  1. Use "Encrypt" method for reversible anonymization
  2. Check correct key is selected
  3. Refresh the page after extension updates

Office Add-in#

Add-in not loading#

Solutions:

  1. Check you have Microsoft 365 or Office 2019+
  2. Clear Office cache: File > Options > Trust Center > Clear
  3. Reinstall from AppSource

"Sign in failed"#

Solutions:

  1. Use your cloak.business credentials (not Microsoft account)
  2. Check internet connection
  3. Try signing out and back in

Formatting lost after anonymization#

Cause: Complex formatting may not preserve perfectly.

Solutions:

  1. For critical formatting, copy to plain text first
  2. Process smaller sections at a time
  3. Use "Replace" mode which maintains text length better

API & Integrations#

Rate limit errors (429)#

Cause: Too many requests in a short time.

Solutions:

  1. Wait for Retry-After header duration
  2. Implement exponential backoff
  3. Use batch endpoints for multiple texts
  4. Upgrade plan for higher limits

"Insufficient tokens" (402)#

Cause: Not enough tokens for the operation.

Solutions:

  1. Check balance: Dashboard > Tokens
  2. Purchase more tokens
  3. Reduce request size to use fewer tokens

MCP server not connecting#

For Cursor:

  1. Check server URL: https://cloak.business/mcp
  2. Verify API key in headers
  3. Restart Cursor after config changes

For Claude Desktop:

  1. Check config file path is correct
  2. Verify API key in environment variable
  3. Restart Claude Desktop

Webhook not receiving events#

Checklist:

  1. Webhook URL is publicly accessible
  2. URL returns 200 OK within 30 seconds
  3. Check webhook logs in Dashboard

Performance Issues#

Slow response times#

Possible causes:

  1. Large text input
  2. Many entities being detected
  3. First use of language model
  4. Server under high load

Solutions:

  1. Split text into smaller chunks
  2. Use specific presets (not "all entities")
  3. Wait for model warm-up (one-time)
  4. Retry in a few minutes

High token usage#

Tips to reduce costs:

  1. Use specific entity types (not all)
  2. Use appropriate presets
  3. Batch similar requests
  4. Cache results for repeated text

Browser memory issues#

Cause: Processing very large texts in the browser.

Solutions:

  1. Use the API for large documents
  2. Use the Desktop App for batch processing
  3. Split documents into smaller files

Getting Help#

Before Contacting Support#

Gather this information:

  1. Account email
  2. Error message (exact text)
  3. Steps to reproduce
  4. Browser/app version
  5. Screenshot if applicable

Contact Methods#

MethodBest ForResponse Time
EmailDetailed issues24 hours
Dashboard ChatQuick questions4 hours
Status PageService outagesReal-time

Email: support@cloak.business

Status Page: status.cloak.business

Useful Links#

Self-Service Diagnostics#

Check Service Status#

curl https://cloak.business/api/health

Test API Connectivity#

curl -X POST https://cloak.business/api/presidio/analyze \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text": "Test"}'

Check Token Balance#

curl https://cloak.business/api/user/tokens \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

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