Diagnostics: logs, errors and crash dumps
Where SphereHarness writes its logs, crash records and crash dumps on your PC, how to find recent errors, and how to send the logs to support without sending anything private.
The quickest way
Ask in the chat. SphereHarness reads its own diagnostics on the PC (read-only — it changes nothing):
Or open Settings (the gear on the chat card) → Diagnostics. The page works when you are not signed in too — which is when you most need it.
| Button / section | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open log folder | Opens %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\logs in Explorer. |
| Open in Event Viewer | Opens Windows Event Viewer on a saved view named SphereHarness: errors and warnings from the Windows programs SphereHarness reports through (.NET Runtime, Application Error, Windows Error Reporting). |
| Crash dumps folder | Opens the folder Windows writes SphereHarness crash dumps to. |
| Collect logs… | Makes one zip for support and shows it in Explorer (see below). |
| Recent errors | Errors and warnings from the Windows event log that name SphereHarness, for the last 1, 3, 7 or 30 days, newest first. Copy puts the list with the full messages on the clipboard. |
| Crash dumps | The dumps that exist, or why there are none, and the CAD systems' own crash records (listed so you can find them). |
| Inventor add-in manifests | Every Inventor add-in file that names SphereHarness. See a second Inventor manifest. |
Event Viewer's view shows everything those Windows programs logged; the list inside SphereHarness is narrowed to the entries that actually name SphereHarness.
Where everything is
| What | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Crash records of every SphereHarness program (desktop agent, Windows UI service, each CAD add-in) | %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\logs\crash.log | One record per failure: time, version, what was running, the cause. 2 MB, then crash.log.1. |
SphereHarness logs: supervisor.log, control-pipe.log, dialog_timing.log, hotkey.log, the CAD add-in traces (nx_*_trace.log, se_addin_trace.log, acad_addin_trace.log) | %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\logs | The add-in traces are capped at 1 MB each with one .1 older copy. |
| Windows UI service | %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\WindowsUi\logs\server-<date>.log | One file per day. |
| Unattended mode and local services | %APPDATA%\CADCoPilot\logs | |
| CAD add-in traces on the Desktop | signalr_debug.txt, CADCoPilot_AssemblyResolve.txt, CADCoPilot_Preload.txt, CADCoPilot_Inventor_Debug.txt, CADCoPilot_Inventor_Error.txt | The files support may ask you for by name. signalr_debug.txt is capped at 2 MB, the others at 1 MB, each with one .1 older copy. |
| AI traces on the Desktop | CADCoPilot_<Name>_Trace.txt | Capped at 2 MB with one .1 older copy. |
| Crash dumps of SphereHarness programs | %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\dumps\<program>.<pid>.dmp | Minidumps (about 4–5 MB), the last 5 kept. See crash dumps. |
| Windows' default crash dumps | %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps | Used for every crashing program once Windows' crash-dump registration exists. |
| Windows' crash reports | %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive and ReportQueue | Folders named AppCrash_<program>_…. |
| Errors and crashes Windows recorded | Windows event log — Application and System | .NET Runtime 1000 (a SphereHarness warning or error), .NET Runtime 1026 + Application Error 1000 + Windows Error Reporting 1001 (a crash). |
| Collected zips | %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\diagnostics | |
| The CAD systems' own crash records | Inventor's crash reporter, NX %TEMP%\<user><id>.syslog (kept after a crash) | The vendors' own; SphereHarness lists them and never changes them. |
Sending logs to support
Click Collect logs…, or ask “collect the logs for support”. You get SphereHarness-logs-<date>.zip in %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\diagnostics with the logs, the recent errors from the event log, the list of crash dumps and a short system summary. Tick include the newest crash dump to add the last dump (up to 50 MB).
[redacted]. The zip stays on your PC until you attach it to a support request yourself, or ask in the chat to open one with it.
Crash dumps
Windows writes a crash dump of a SphereHarness program only when a crash-dump registration exists for it. The SphereHarness Agent setup (and every CAD setup, which carries the agent) installs one for CADCoPilot.Agent.exe, CADCoPilot.WindowsUi.Service.exe and CADCoPilot.Rag.Server.exe: minidumps, five kept, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\dumps. Uninstalling the last SphereHarness product removes it. SphereHarness never registers the CAD programs themselves.
Why is there no crash dump?
- Nothing crashed. The Diagnostics page says whether the registration exists and whether any dump was written.
- The registration is missing — an older version was installed, or an administrator removed it. Reinstall the agent.
- The program was started by a tool that switches off Windows' crash handling. A program inherits that setting from whatever started it; then Windows writes no dump and no
Application Errorentry.crash.logis written either way.
An administrator can change or remove the registration:
If the key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps was missing before, installing SphereHarness creates it, and Windows then keeps minidumps of other crashing programs in %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps too. The uninstall leaves that key, because it cannot know who else relies on it.
“SphereHarness stopped unexpectedly”
When the desktop agent ends without closing normally and left a record of why (a crash record in crash.log, a crash dump, or a crash in the event log), the next start shows “SphereHarness stopped unexpectedly at …” once. The details are on Settings → Diagnostics. When there is no such record — the PC was switched off, or an installer closed the agent — nothing is shown.
A second Inventor manifest
The Inventor setup installs one add-in file, %ProgramData%\Autodesk\Inventor Addins\CADCoPilot.Inventor.addin. A second one in your own profile (%APPDATA%\Autodesk\Inventor <year>\Addins) can make Inventor load an old copy. The add-in writes a WARNING: 2 manifests name this add-in line to signalr_debug.txt, and Settings → Diagnostics lists the manifests; a per-user one whose add-in file no longer exists can be moved aside there (it is moved to %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot\diagnostics\removed-manifests, never deleted). The setup program never edits files in a user's profile.
“Local chat API (:5050) – not listening”
The desktop agent answers local programs on http://localhost:5050/. When it cannot, the status window and Settings → Diagnostics say why:
- Another SphereHarness agent already serves :5050 — it is named with its version and folder. Close it (tray icon → Exit); this one takes the port over by itself within a minute.
- Another program registered the address — it is named; close it or move it to another port.
- Windows denied this account the address — only then run, from an administrator prompt,
netsh http add urlacl url=http://localhost:5050/ user=Everyoneand restart SphereHarness. A normal installation never needs this.
Can I send the whole CADCoPilot folder instead?
Please do not. %APPDATA%\CADCoPilot and parts of %LOCALAPPDATA%\CADCoPilot hold your settings, stored sign-in and keys. Use Collect logs…: it takes only the files support needs.
The Desktop files are gone after a while
They are capped. When a trace file reaches its size limit it is renamed to <name>.1 (replacing an older .1) and a new file starts, so the newest lines are always in the file without .1.
See also: Troubleshooting & FAQ · Support Requests · The Desktop Agent