Fix connection problems

Find the message you see, then follow its fix. Connection problems never affect offline authoring or Mock Preview, and adding credentials does not fix a Template that fails Offline Validation.

"No default profile found"

You have not set a default profile for this platform. Either pass --profile <name> explicitly or run:

atomize auth use

"Authentication failed: 401 Unauthorized"

• The PAT has expired: rotate it: atomize auth rotate <name> or Rotate in VS Code
• The PAT does not have the required scopes (Work Items Read/Write)
• The org URL, project, or team name is wrong: remove the profile and re-add it

Project details or grounded choices do not load

Grounding lists the project's teams, which needs the Project and Team (Read) PAT scope. Create a token with that scope and rotate the profile. Manual authoring, Mock Preview, and Task generation do not need it. See Required Permissions.

"Organization URL must be an Azure DevOps host"

Use your Azure DevOps Services organization URL, such as https://dev.azure.com/myorg or https://myorg.visualstudio.com, without the project name. Azure DevOps Server (on-premises) is not supported.

"Keychain unavailable"

The OS keychain could not be accessed. Options:

• In the CLI, re-run with --insecure-storage to fall back to an encrypted local file.
• In CI, create a short-lived profile from your secrets store: see CI/CD Setup

VS Code says "No stored token for profile"

VS Code has the profile's fields but not its token. Run Atomize: Manage Profiles, remove the profile, and add it again. Tokens are not shared with the CLI, so a CLI profile with the same name does not fix it.

"Profile not found: "

The profile name does not match any saved profile. Run atomize auth list to see exact names. VS Code shows its own profiles in Atomize: Manage Profiles.

Token visible in process list

Always use --pat-stdin or environment variables in CI: never pass the token as a flag argument.

"AI drafting requires Copilot sign-in" / a non-interactive AI draft fails

Non-interactive runs (scripts, CI) need GitHub Copilot already signed in on that machine: Atomize cannot complete an interactive sign-in flow there. Sign in once interactively (e.g. atomize template create --ai), then re-run. See AI Drafting: Copilot Session.

Azure DevOps errors

Authentication Failures

Problem: Authentication failed: 401 Unauthorized

Solutions:

1. Verify PAT hasn't expired: rotate it with atomize auth rotate <name>
2. Check PAT has correct scopes (Work Items Read/Write)
3. Verify organization URL format: https://dev.azure.com/org
4. Don't include project in organization URL
5. Test the profile: atomize auth test <name>

No Work Items Found

Problem: Found 0 stories matching filter criteria

Solutions:

1. Check work item types match your project's process template
2. Verify states exist in your project
3. Check area/iteration paths are correct (case-sensitive)
4. Test with mock platform first:

   atomize generate template:backend-api --platform mock

Permission Errors

Problem: Failed to create task: Access Denied

Solutions:

1. Verify PAT has Write permissions
2. Check project permissions (Project Contributor role)
3. Verify you can create work items manually in the web UI

Connection Timeouts

Problem: Request timeout or ECONNRESET

Solutions:

1. Check network connectivity
2. Verify organization URL is accessible
3. Check whether a corporate proxy or firewall blocks your Azure DevOps organization

Still stuck

Check the required permissions, then follow your tool’s profile setup again. Editor issues are covered in VS Code troubleshooting.