For problems drawing, editing, or with drawing layers, troubleshoot drawing issues. For data layers that won't show, load, or add, troubleshoot data layer issues.
I can't see something I've drawn
A hidden drawing layer, a hidden scenario, 0% opacity, or a paused engine are the usual causes. Work through the checks to troubleshoot drawing issues.
Undo doesn't work
Some non-QWERTY keyboard layouts don't map Cmd/Ctrl+Z correctly. Use Undo and Redo in the menus instead. In Giraffe 6 they're in the Edit menu of the top bar. In Giraffe 4 they're in the drawing toolbar's ••• menu.
Common reasons an edit is blocked
If an edit doesn't seem to do anything, check these first.
You're looking at the project as View-only, or through a published or embedded link. Both stay read-only, even for the project's owner in the case of a published link, and show "You do not have edit permission." when you try to edit. Open the project itself, and ask the project owner or a space admin to raise your access to Edit or Admin.
You can only draw inside a project, not while browsing a Space.
If the engine is paused, features and flows stop re-solving. See Improve Project Performance for when to pause it on purpose, and remember to resume it when you're done.
A hidden or locked active drawing layer blocks drawing. Learn how to troubleshoot drawing issues.
Validation errors when saving
A layer, scenario, or property name has to be unique in the project, and a handful of property names are reserved by Giraffe itself. Choose a different name if you're blocked.
Pasting more than 10 layouts into a project only copies the first 10. Each layout is also capped in size, so an extremely complex layout may not copy in full.
Shape errors, like a self-intersecting polygon, are listed in Troubleshoot Drawing Issues.
Opening a project with retired features
If a project uses geometry or tools from an older, no-longer-supported version of Giraffe, you'll see an Unsupported project features dialog. You can open it in the last app version that supported those features, remove the unsupported content to keep working in the current version, or continue anyway if you just need to look something up.
Browser and device requirements
Keep your browser up to date
Giraffe works best on the latest version of your browser. Update Google Chrome if you haven't recently.
Unsupported browser or device
Giraffe is built for desktop and laptop browsers. It blocks phones and tablets outright, and blocks any non-Chromium browser, or a Chromium browser older than version 101, with a warning screen. Switch to a recent version of Chrome or Edge on a desktop or laptop to continue.
Clipboard permissions block copy and paste
Check your browser's site permissions. When there's a pop up requesting access to the clipboard, allow it. To fix, go to chrome settings and change permissions for Giraffe.
Chrome running low on memory
Giraffe requires more processing power and memory than a typical website. It's processing a lot of graphics and data.
Close any memory-hogging desktop programs, like messaging or design software.
Plan and seat limits
Some actions are capped by your workspace's plan rather than by anything you did wrong:
A Team plan workspace is capped at 10 members. Inviting past that shows a seat-limit message with the option to contact sales or update your subscription.
Some features, like sharing with an entire team, template sharing, and creating a new Space, are only available on Team or Enterprise plans. A disabled control with an "upgrade to access" tooltip usually means this.
If your workspace's billing has lapsed, everyone sees a Workspace Error screen instead of the app. A workspace admin can trim seats to fix it from that screen. Anyone else should contact their workspace's billing admin.
Editing at the same time as someone else
Giraffe shows live cursors so you can see who else is in the project. There's no lock on what they're editing. If two people edit the same flow, layer tree, or usage at the same time, whoever saves last wins.
Error Codes
Giraffe doesn't use numbered error codes. Instead you'll see plain-text messages in toasts and the bottom status bar. Some of these messages are reused for several different underlying problems, so the same text can mean different things depending on where you see it. Layer errors are listed in Troubleshoot Data Layer Issues, and drawing, shape, and bake errors in Troubleshoot Drawing Issues.
Error | What it means | How to fix |
Section Error: <detail> (bottom status bar) | A processed feature failed. The bar appends the failure detail after the colon, and adds "(+N others)" if more than one feature is affected. This label covers a flow node error, a terrain elevation/projection failure, a 2D display-geometry failure, or a terrain draping failure. | Click the button to jump to the failing feature(s). If it has a flow attached, see Troubleshooting a Flow; otherwise try Recompute, or refresh terrain/draping |
Engine Error: <key> (bottom status bar, red) | The processing engine itself failed, not a specific feature | Pause and restart the engine; if that doesn't clear it, refresh the tab |
Engine Status: <type> (bottom status bar, yellow) | Normal - the engine is still processing recent changes, not an error | Wait a moment; refresh only if it never clears |
"Could not select N error section(s)" (toast, with a "Show hidden" button) | The feature(s) with the error live on a hidden layer or inactive scenario | Click "Show hidden layer(s)/scenario(s)" in the toast, or toggle visibility yourself |
"Changes not saved, you appear to be offline" (save-status tooltip) / "Can't save your changes right now. You appear to be offline." (persistent toast) | Same cause, worded two different ways: you lost connection to Giraffe's servers | Check your internet connection - your edits are kept locally and sync automatically once you're back online |
"Could not update/create/delete data for <model>." (toast, e.g. "layers", "teams", "webhooks") | A generic save/create/delete failure reused across many unrelated data types; the real cause (permissions, network, validation) is often hidden or just says "unknown" | Retry the action; check you have permission to edit that item; refresh and try again. If it keeps happening, report the exact message and what you were editing |
"Error" / "Something went wrong" (panel crash, with a Reload button) | A generic crash screen shown identically whether it's the Property Editor, a block form, or the Flow editor that crashed | Click Reload. If it recurs, note exactly which panel was open and refresh the browser tab |
"Update failed: [...]" / "Failed to delete: [...]" / "Creation failed: [...]" (toast) | Reused across app, file, and project-attachment edits; the bracketed detail is the raw backend error, often just "unknown" | Retry; check permissions/connection. Report the bracketed detail if it says "unknown" |
"Could not read that image" | An uploaded image file couldn't be read - corrupted file or unsupported format, across several upload fields (attachments, content library, project images) | Try a different image, or re-export/re-save it and upload again |
"Please fill in all required fields" | A required field is empty in whatever creation/save dialog is open (new project, bulk create, save-as) | Scroll the dialog and fill in every field marked required |
"You haven't drawn a project boundary yet" | Shown from "center on project" (bottom bar or command bar) when there's no boundary to center on | Draw a project boundary first |
"name is taken" | You're creating a group/usage with a name already used in this project | Choose a different, unique name |
"You don't have access to this project. Redirected to Home." / "Project could not be found. Redirected to Home." / "There was a server problem loading the project. Redirected to Home." / "Unknown error loading project. Redirected to Home." (redirect toasts) | "You don't have access to this project" means no permission. "Project could not be found" means the link is broken or the project was deleted. "There was a server problem loading the project" means a server error. "Unknown error loading project" means an unrecognized failure. | Request access / check the link / retry shortly / refresh and contact support if it repeats |