Troubleshooting
Most of what looks like a problem here is actually RunCode saving you money or keeping your code safe. Below are the situations people run into most, and what to do about each one.
Starting & stopping
My workspace stopped on its own
That is the idle auto-stop. After a flat 30 minutes with no activity, RunCode powers the box down so you are not paying for compute you are not using. Your disk is kept exactly as it was, so just start it again. Editing, using the terminal, or an active SSH session all count as activity and keep it awake.
It won’t start, or is stuck creating
A fresh VM takes a few seconds to provision, so give it a moment. If a start is refused outright, check your credit balance first, since an empty balance blocks new launches. Otherwise stop it and start it once more. If it still sticks, get in touch.
Setup & services
Dependencies are missing after create
onCreate is only marked done once it exits cleanly, and it retries on the next boot if it failed. A broken setup command can leave things half-installed in the meantime. Check that each command actually runs, and keep in mind every line gets its own shell, so a cd on one line does not carry to the next. See Configure with .runcode.yaml.
My database or dev server isn’t running after a restart
A stopped box shuts every process down. Only the disk survives. Anything that needs to be running after a boot belongs in onStart, not onCreate. Move the start command there and it comes back on every wake, including after an idle auto-stop.
Connecting & ports
I can’t reach my dev server
First make sure the server is really listening, and bound to 0.0.0.0 rather than 127.0.0.1. Then open it from the browser IDE’s Ports panel, or forward it to your laptop with runcode forward. There is more on this in Ports & preview.
The IDE won’t load or the connection dropped
Usually the box auto-stopped while you were away. Reload the page, and start it again if it shows as stopped. If you connect with your own editor over SSH, runcode doctor checks your client, token, and reachability in one pass.
SSH or the CLI says it can’t authenticate
Sessions are short-lived, about 30 minutes, and re-minted automatically when you connect. If a token has expired, runcode login refreshes it, and runcode doctor tells you exactly what is missing. See Connect over SSH.
Git & data
git push is rejected or asks for a password
This one is by design. The clone token is never stored on the box, so origin has no saved credentials. Sign in with a Personal Access Token over HTTPS, or switch origin to an SSH key. Working with Git walks through both.
I need to recover files before deleting
Deleting a workspace wipes its disk for good, and there is no undo. Pull anything you need off it first. You can download from the browser IDE, runcode get a file, or scp and rsync over the gateway. Then delete it to stop storage charges.
I’m running low on credits
Compute is drawn from your balance as it accrues, and we email you when it runs low. Top up to avoid interruption. The quickest way to slow the burn is to stop the workspaces you are not using. See Billing & usage.
Guides referenced here
Still stuck? Talk to us. Tell us the workspace name and what you were doing, and we’ll dig in.