# Troubleshooting

Start with the checks that do not change live data:

``` bash
confquiz validate quiz.yml
confquiz doctor quiz.yml --credentials /safe/path/firebase-admin.json
```


# The attendee page says no room is open

Check that:

- `confquiz present` is still running;
- the presenter created a live room rather than opening only `preview`;
- the exported site and presenter use the same Firebase `projectId`;
- `presentation.id` matches the version used for export; and
- the system clock on the presenter computer is correct.

The public room notice uses a short-lived heartbeat. It is expected to disappear after the presenter process stops.


# A room code is rejected

- Enter the full code without spaces. Codes exclude `0`, `1`, `I`, and `O`.
- Confirm the QR code points at the currently deployed attendee URL.
- End stale rooms before reusing a manual code.
- Check that Anonymous Authentication is enabled.
- Look for App Check enforcement errors in the browser console and Firebase metrics.


# Answers cannot be submitted

The question must be the active timeline item and voting must still be open. If every attendee is affected, verify the deployed Firestore rules and the authorized attendee hostname. If one browser is affected, try reloading before clearing site data; clearing it creates a new anonymous identity.


# Results do not appear

For presenter results, close voting or use the chart control while voting is open. Closed and reveal screens always show results.

For attendee results, check all three gates:

1.  `session.show_results_on_attendee_devices` is true;
2.  the question's `attendee_visibility` allows the current phase; and
3.  `minimum_public_responses` has been reached.

Text and word-cloud entries must also be approved by the presenter.


# Slides do not load

Run `confquiz validate` and check the PDF outside Conf Quiz. Password-protected, damaged, or unusually encoded PDFs may fail. For remote slides, confirm the URL is reachable during export and update `sha256` only after verifying the new file.

If the PDF works in preview but not on the attendee site, inspect the browser network panel for the PDF and PDF.js worker paths. Re-export instead of copying individual files into an old site directory.


# The QR code points to localhost

Set `presentation.public_url` to the deployed attendee URL, then restart the presenter. A temporary override is also available in the presenter options menu. `127.0.0.1` always means the device opening the URL, so it cannot be an attendee address.


# The presenter port is busy

Choose another port:

``` bash
confquiz present quiz.yml --port 8877 --credentials /safe/path/firebase-admin.json
```

The control token and presenter URL are regenerated for that process.


# Credential project mismatch

Conf Quiz compares the Admin credential's `project_id` with the Firebase web configuration. Use a key from the same project; do not bypass the check by copying identifiers between files.


# Get command help

``` bash
confquiz COMMAND --help
confquiz firebase --help
confquiz sessions --help
```

The [CLI reference](../reference/cli/index.md) documents every option.