Everfern

Everfern: Fixes

This is page 6 of 8 for Everfern. It covers the problems most likely to stop you, each in the same order: what you see, the likely cause, and the fix. Everfern has no troubleshooting page or FAQ of its own, so these come from its release notes, its GitHub issues and discussions, and its source code, read on 14 November 2026.

If Everfern is doing something you did not ask for right now, skip to "Stop it right now" below.

The installer will not run, or the install fails

Symptom: Windows shows Windows protected your PC, your Mac says it cannot check the app, or the install stops with an error.

Likely cause: This guide could not confirm whether the Windows or Mac app is signed or notarized, so the warning screens are expected. A June 2026 GitHub discussion titled "Error on installation" reported an error with the Windows 11 .exe. The developer moved that conversation to Discord, so this guide could not confirm its cause or its fix.

Fix: Delete the download and get it again from the v1.3.0 release page on page 2, and check that the file name matches exactly. For the warning screens, follow Step 2 for Windows or Step 4 for a Mac on page 2, and only if the file came from that GitHub page. If the installer still fails, the project's own places for help are its GitHub Discussions and its Discord, both linked from the README.

What you should see Everfern in your Start menu or your Applications folder.

The Linux VM will not set up

Symptom: The Linux VM section says Not Installed on Windows or Docker Not Ready on a Mac, and Everfern reports that commands cannot run.

Likely cause: On Windows, Everfern's VM needs WSL 2, and on a Mac it needs Docker Desktop. When that piece is missing, the code blocks most commands with the message "Linux VM (WSL/Docker) is not available."

Fix: In the setup code, this step offers Install WSL 2 on Windows or Get Docker Desktop on a Mac, plus Skip for now. If you skipped it, go to the settings section Linux VM and click Install Linux VM on Windows or Set up Linux VM on a Mac. If the Windows install fails, the code's error message tells you to run this in PowerShell as Administrator:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

That one command adds a part of Windows, which is why it needs administrator rights, and Microsoft says to restart afterward. It is not the same as running Everfern as an administrator, which you should still never do. A June 2026 bug report said WSL could not be installed later from inside Everfern, so use the command if the button is missing in your copy.

What you should see the Linux VM section no longer says Not Installed or Docker Not Ready.

The model gives errors: a bad key, a rate limit, or a wrong model name

Symptom: Everfern answers with an error instead of doing the job, or it loads for a long time and then fails.

Likely cause: It is usually one of three things, and this guide could not confirm the exact error text Everfern shows for each.

Fix: For a key, make a new one at the provider and set the spend cap first, as in safety switch 4. Paste it into the settings section the code calls Models & Providers, never into the chat. For a rate limit, wait and try a smaller job later, or switch to a local model. For Ollama, open a terminal and run ollama list to see the exact names of your models, then pick one of those names in Everfern. If Everfern says a vision model is missing, the code's own message names qwen3-vl:2b and tells you to run:

ollama pull qwen3-vl:2b

What you should see a short reply to the chat-only job from page 2.

A local model runs, but no answer appears

Symptom: Ollama or LM Studio shows it is working, but Everfern shows nothing, or it loops.

Likely cause: Two 2026 GitHub issues reported this. In June, a Windows user saw Ollama answer with the recommended vision model while Everfern displayed nothing, and LM Studio "stays in a loop." In July, a Windows 11 user with Ollama and a non-default model saw Everfern load "for a long while" and then show an error. Both issues are closed, and two August 2026 releases list "local 2B model fixes" and "local AI client retry failover." This guide could not confirm which release fixed which report.

Fix: Make sure you are on v1.3.0, because older versions had these bugs. Try the model Everfern's setup recommends before you try your own choice. To find out whether the problem is the local model or Everfern, try the chat-only job once with a free Gemini key. If that works, the local side is the problem.

What you should see a short answer in the Everfern window from your local model.

The agent loops or repeats itself

Symptom: Everfern does the same step again and again, such as pressing the same key, reopening a page, or retrying a failed command.

Likely cause: An August 2026 release fixed a "computer use win-key loop," so loops have happened before. The README also says failed steps trigger "automatic rollback, root-cause analysis, and a retry," which can look like a loop. In Navis, a high Max Steps Per Task setting lets a confused web job run longer before it gives up.

Fix: Stop it with the steps in the next section. Then send a smaller job with one finished file and one folder. In the code's Tool Settings section, move Max Steps Per Task toward its low end of 10 before you try a web job again. If one app keeps causing loops, leave that app out of your jobs.

What you should see the run ends, and the chat accepts a new message.

Stop it right now

Symptom: Everfern is clicking, typing, or opening things you did not ask for.

Likely cause: It misread the job, a web page or file told it to do something else, or it is retrying a failed step by itself.

Fix: This guide found no Everfern documentation that names a stop button. The source code shows one, though: while Everfern is working, the send button in the chat box becomes a stop button with a square icon. A reply you stop that way is marked "Stopped by user" in the chat. A May 2026 release note also says a purple border appears around your screen while Everfern controls it, and stopping a task hides it at once. Try the square button first, but if the agent is using the mouse, go straight to the keyboard:

Before you open Everfern again, check everfern-tryout and any app it touched, and undo what you can.

After it stops, use After it does something wrong if a file, account, or charge already changed.

What you should see no more mouse movement, no purple border, and Everfern closed or waiting for a new message.

It stopped asking before it acts

Symptom: Everfern runs commands on your computer, or uses a tool, without showing an approval card.

Likely cause: Someone clicked Always allow or Allow prefix on an earlier card. The code saves that choice as a rule that skips the card for matching commands from then on.

Fix: In the code, the settings section Tool Permissions lists every saved rule under the title Tool Permissions (Always Allow). Delete the rules you do not want, or click Revoke All to clear them all. It then warns that you will be asked again on future tool runs.

What you should see the list is empty, and the next command on your real computer shows a card with Deny, Always allow, and Allow once again (some cards say Reject and add Allow prefix).

It says it finished, but nothing happened

Symptom: Everfern says the file is made or the job is done, but you cannot find any change.

Likely cause: An April 2026 GitHub issue showed the agent reporting "Mission COMPLETED" after its log said "Found 0 tool calls." That means the model claimed success without doing anything. A file may also have gone into the Linux VM's own folder rather than yours, as page 3 explains.

Fix: Always check the folder yourself instead of trusting the chat. Ask Everfern for the full path of the file it made. If the path starts with /home, /root, or \\wsl.localhost, the file is inside the VM, so ask it to save a copy in everfern-tryout.

What you should see the file in everfern-tryout, opened by you.

Update it safely

Read the notes on the Everfern releases page before you update. Each start copies the built-in prompt files over the copies in ~/.everfern/prompts (C:\Users\<your name>\.everfern\prompts on Windows), except SOUL.md and agents.md. An update replaces those built-in copies the next time Everfern starts, while your persona files stay put.

Automatic updates.

  1. Quit Everfern. Copy the hidden .everfern folder in your user folder, and copy everfern-tryout too. On Windows the data folder is C:\Users\<your name>\.everfern. On a Mac it is ~/.everfern. It holds chats, memory, screenshots, saved rules, encrypted keys, custom skills, and your prompt files. A copy can live in Windows File History or Previous Versions, or in Mac Time Machine.

What you should see a second copy of .everfern and of everfern-tryout, dated today.

  1. Read the release notes, then let the app update. Everfern looks for an update when it starts, downloads it, and shows a card that can say Update Available, Downloading Update..., or Update Ready to Install. When it is ready, click Restart and Update (or open Settings, click Check for updates under App Version at the bottom of the sidebar, and click Restart & Install). If you quit first, the app can still install a finished download on quit. If no update appears in the app, download the newer installer from the releases page and run it as on page 2, without deleting .everfern.

What you should see the card or sidebar names the new version, and Everfern opens again after the restart.

  1. Open Settings and read App Version at the bottom of the sidebar to check the v number. Then run the chat-only job from page 2, and do not let it control the computer.

What you should see App Version shows the new number, a short answer appears with no mouse movement, and no Update Ready to Install card remains.

Uninstall or reset it cleanly

Symptom: You want to start over, or remove Everfern and everything it saved.

Likely cause: Uninstalling the app does not remove its data. Chats, memories, screenshots, saved rules, and encrypted keys live in a hidden .everfern folder in your user folder. A June 2026 bug report shows that folder on Windows as C:\Users\username\.everfern, where username is your own account name. A July 2026 report says deleting that folder alone did not fix a broken setup, so do the steps below in order.

Fix: Work through these in order, and skip any step that does not apply to you.

  1. Reset from inside the app. In the code's Privacy & Data settings section, a Danger Zone box warns: "Wipe all local data, search API keys, tool configurations, and reset your account. This cannot be undone." Click Reset Account & Delete All Data, type DELETE MY DATA, and click Confirm Reset.
  2. Uninstall the app. On Windows, open Start, then Settings, Apps, and Installed apps, find EverFern, and choose More and then Uninstall. On a Mac, drag EverFern from the Applications folder to the Trash.
  3. Delete the data folder. On Windows, type %USERPROFILE%\.everfern into the File Explorer address bar and delete that folder. On a Mac, in Finder choose Go, then Go to Folder, type ~/.everfern, and move that folder to the Trash.
  4. Remove the Linux VM. On a Mac, delete the container named everfern-ubuntu in Docker Desktop, or run docker rm -f everfern-ubuntu in Terminal. On Windows, Everfern uses a WSL Linux named Ubuntu. Microsoft warns that wsl --unregister Ubuntu permanently deletes "all data, settings, and software" in it, so run that only if nobody else on this computer uses WSL.
  5. Remove the Navis extension from Chrome or Firefox, if you added it.
  6. Revoke your keys. At each provider whose key you pasted into Everfern, delete that key, so a leftover copy cannot be used.

What you should see no EverFern in your apps, no .everfern folder in your user folder, and no Everfern key listed at your provider.

Sources

Opened 2026-11-14. Source-code links point to the v1.3.0 tag.

Next

Continue to Advanced.