License Issues

Most license problems with the Celestial Vault fall into one of a few buckets. This page is the troubleshooting flow.

"My license key isn't accepted during welcome"

Step 1 — Verify The Key

Open the email from your purchase. The key is a string that looks like:

XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX

Make sure you're copying:

• The whole key (no truncation)
• Without surrounding spaces
• Without quote marks if the email had them around it

If your email is missing or you can't find the key, retrieve it from the Polar customer portal. Sign in with the email you used at purchase (Polar sends you a one-time code) and view the key on your order.

Step 2 — Check Your Internet

License validation hits a server at lemonsqueezy-api-server.vercel.app/api/license. If your internet is down, validation fails. Check that you can reach the wider internet (google.com loads in a browser).

If the server itself is briefly down (rare but possible), wait a few minutes and retry.

Step 3 — Check Your Slot Count

A Celestial Vault license has 3 device slots (License Unification & Your 3 Devices). If you've already activated on 3 machines, a 4th won't validate. Solution: remove an unused device in the Polar customer portal, then retry.

Step 4 — Force A Fresh Validation

If validation seems "stuck" (e.g., the key was right but never accepted):

1. Open the Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + P)
2. Run "Time Garden: Reset License Data"
3. Re-run the welcome flow (or just paste the key into Time Garden plugin's settings directly)

This clears the validation cache and forces a fresh check.

"My license worked, then stopped working"

License validation refreshes every ~24 hours in the background. If validation fails repeatedly for several days (e.g., extended internet outage, server outage, key revocation), the cached isValid: true flag eventually flips to false and AI features disable.

Restoring

• Was your internet down? Once it's back, the next validation run (within 24 hours) re-establishes the connection. Or trigger it immediately by running "Time Garden: Reset License Data" from the Command Palette.
• Did you trigger a refund? Refunds revoke the license. The vault content stays readable, but premium features are gone permanently.
• Did the server have issues? Check the Polar status page. If yes, wait for the outage to resolve.

"The Celestial welcome popup keeps showing"

The welcome popup sets celestialWelcomeComplete: true after you finish it. If it keeps appearing, the flag isn't getting saved. Possible causes:

• Permissions issue on the data file: check that .obsidian/plugins/celestial-plugin/data.json is writable
• Sync conflict: if you use Obsidian Sync or another sync tool, the file might be in conflict — check sync logs

If welcome won't dismiss even after completing it: open data.json, manually set "celestialWelcomeComplete": true, save, reload Obsidian.

"I want to see the welcome flow again"

Settings → Celestial Plugin → Journal Widget → Reset onboarding → click.

Reload Obsidian. Welcome runs again from step one.

"My license is valid but TG AI features don't work"

The Celestial welcome flow writes your license to two plugin data files:

• .obsidian/plugins/celestial-plugin/data.json
• .obsidian/plugins/time-garden-plugin/data.json

If something interrupted welcome after Celestial validated but before TG was updated, you can end up in a state where Celestial sees the license but TG doesn't.

Fix

1. Settings → Time Garden Plugin → check the License Status section
2. If it says invalid: paste your license key directly into TG's license field
3. Click Validate (or whatever the button is named in your version)

This re-runs the unification step manually.

If that fails: open the Command Palette → "Time Garden: Reset License Data" → re-enter the key.

"The license server appears unreachable"

If you see error messages mentioning failed network requests during validation:

1. Check your firewall. Some corporate firewalls block requests to vercel.app subdomains. Whitelist lemonsqueezy-api-server.vercel.app.
2. Check your VPN. Some VPNs block specific endpoints. Try disabling temporarily.
3. Check antivirus / network security software. Some scan and block plugin HTTPS requests.

If none of these apply and the server is reachable from your browser (try opening https://lemonsqueezy-api-server.vercel.app in a browser — you should get a small JSON response or 404 page), contact support with details.

"I lost my license key entirely"

Easy:

1. Visit the Polar customer portal
2. Enter the email you used to purchase; Polar sends you a one-time code to sign in
3. Find your Celestial Vault order
4. View and copy the license key from there

If the email you used is also lost: check the credit card statement for the date of purchase, then email support@timegarden.app with that info.

"I want to deactivate a device"

1. Open the Polar customer portal
2. Sign in with your purchase email (one-time code)
3. Find your Celestial Vault order
4. Open the license key's device list
5. Remove the device you want to drop
6. The slot is now free for a new activation

"I'm activating on a duplicate vault and getting a 'birth path' warning"

The vault tracks its original disk location to prevent license-sharing via folder copies. If you've legitimately moved or backed up your vault and are seeing this warning:

• Move, don't copy. If you want the vault in a new location, move the folder (cut + paste, not copy + paste).
• If a sync tool created the duplicate: most sync tools (iCloud, Dropbox, Syncthing) handle moves cleanly when configured well. Check sync logs for unintended copies.
• If it's a real false positive: email support@timegarden.app and support can adjust your license slots.

When To Reach Out

If nothing on this page resolves your issue:

• For license or purchase issues: email support@timegarden.app. (For payment-side problems, the Polar customer portal and Polar status page are the secondary places to check.)
• For Celestial Vault issues specifically: the easter-egg form / feedback

Include:

• Your OS and version
• Which step of welcome / which feature is failing
• The exact error message (or a screenshot)
• Whether the issue happens on a fresh activation or an existing one

That'll get you a fast, useful reply.

Up Next

• License Unification & Your 3 Devices — how the license actually works
• Welcome and Onboarding Issues — for non-license welcome problems
• AI not responding or Ollama issues — for AI-side issues that might masquerade as license issues