SEODesktop

Common Errors

Most errors in SEODesktop come from one of three sources: bad credentials, DataForSEO's API rejecting a request, or the local app state being out of sync. Here's what to do for each.

401 Unauthorized / Invalid credentials

Cause: Your DataForSEO email or API key is wrong, or the key has been regenerated on the DataForSEO dashboard.

Fix:

  1. Open Settings → Account.
  2. Paste the current email and key from dataforseo.com → API Access.
  3. Click Test connection, then Save.

See Add Email & API Key.

402 Payment required / Insufficient credit

Cause: Your DataForSEO balance is zero.

Fix: Top up on the DataForSEO dashboard under Billing → Add Funds. Credits never expire.

429 Too Many Requests

Cause: You burst too many live calls too fast, usually outside of SEODesktop (e.g. running other tooling that hits the same account).

Fix: Wait 30–60 seconds and retry. SEODesktop's batch scheduler auto-throttles, so this rarely triggers from within the app. If it persists, open Settings → Cache and increase the live-endpoint TTL to reduce hit rate.

Connection refused / Cannot reach api.dataforseo.com

Cause: Network issue — a firewall, VPN, or DNS filter blocking the DataForSEO domain.

Fix:

  1. Test from the command line: curl https://api.dataforseo.com.
  2. If that fails, check your VPN / firewall.
  3. Corporate networks sometimes block the domain — talk to IT or switch networks.

Cache corrupt / Database is locked

Cause: The local SQLite cache database got into a bad state (usually from an unclean app shutdown).

Fix:

  1. Quit SEODesktop fully (check the system tray / menu bar).
  2. Open Settings → Cache → Clear all.
  3. Restart the app.

Clearing the cache doesn't affect your exports or saved result files.

AI provider errors

Invalid API key from Claude / OpenAI

Your provider key is wrong or revoked. Re-paste it in Settings → AI Providers.

Model not found

The model you selected is no longer available (common with Ollama when you remove a model). Pick a different default in Settings → AI Providers.

Context length exceeded

Your input is too long for the selected model. Switch to a larger-context model (Claude Opus, GPT-4.1) or reduce the input.

Still stuck?