Troubleshooting

RADAR_API_KEY not set

Radar did not receive credentials.

Fix:

export RADAR_API_KEY=sk-...

For MCP clients, make sure the MCP server process receives the same environment variable.

MCP Tool Hangs Or Feels Slow

Set verbose diagnostics:

RADAR_VERBOSE=1 radar ask -p README.md -q "What is this?"

Inspect:

• input_bytes
• corpus_ms
• api_ms
• total_ms
• token usage

If api_ms is high, the provider or model is slow. If input_bytes is high, narrow the files or lower corpus limits.

Corpus Too Large

Radar rejected the task before calling the worker model.

Fix one of these:

• Pass fewer files.
• Use search before ask.
• Summarize a large file first.
• Raise RADAR_MAX_CORPUS_BYTES if your provider and budget can handle it.

write Refuses To Replace A File

Radar will not overwrite existing targets by default.

Use one of:

radar write --dry-run ...
radar write --update ...
radar write --overwrite ...

Prefer --dry-run for anything the host agent should review.