Troubleshooting

Check the status bar first

The main FossID status bar item shows the overall state:

Status bar	Meaning	Click to
FossID: Not configured	You aren't signed in yet.	Open the sign-in window.
FossID (check mark)	Signed in and working. Hover to see which license policy is in force.	Open the FossID side bar.
FossID: Scanning	Scan Workspace is running. Hover to see the current step.	Open the FossID side bar.
FossID: Sign-in failed	The server rejected your sign-in.	Open the sign-in window.
FossID: Offline	The server can't be reached, or is temporarily busy.	Check the server and sign-in.

A second item shows the state of the current file (FossID: clean, FossID: N finding(s), FossID: scan failed). Click it to rescan the file.

Connection problems

Run FossID: Test Connection to check your connection at any time. It reports Connected to <server>. or explains the problem.

When a problem occurs during scanning, FossID tells you once, not once per file:

Message	What to do
Your FossID sign-in was rejected by <server> — it may have expired, or your account may not have access. Sign in again.	Select Sign In and sign in again. If it keeps happening, ask your administrator to check your access.
Your FossID credential was accepted by <server>, but it isn't authorized for this operation — a capability or permission may be missing.	Your account lacks a permission. Contact your FossID administrator.
Could not reach <server>. Check the server URL and your network connection.	Check the address with FossID: Reconfigure, and check your network, VPN or proxy.
Could not securely connect to <server> — its TLS certificate could not be verified.	Your network may use a custom certificate authority. Ask IT to make sure the certificate is trusted on your machine.
Received an unexpected response from <server>. Check that the server URL points to a FossID server.	The address probably isn't a FossID server. Correct it with FossID: Reconfigure.

When the server is only temporarily busy or unavailable, FossID shows FossID: Offline without a notification and retries automatically. You don't need to sign in again.

The status bar returns to normal after the next successful scan, or when you sign in again.

For problems during sign-in itself, see When sign-in fails.

Findings don't appear

• Are you signed in? The status bar should show FossID with a check mark.
• Is the file scanned? FossID doesn't scan files outside your workspace folder, files over 10 MB, files in .fossid/, .vscode/, .cursor/ or .git/, or files you have excluded. Run FossID: Rescan Current File to force a scan.
• Unsaved changes? Findings are hidden while a file has unsaved changes. Save to rescan.
• No license findings? The license rules need a license policy. With the policy service on, hover over the status bar item to check which policy is in force.
• Turned off? Check Detection rules and the fossid.autoScan.* settings. Settings in .fossid/policy.json take precedence over VS Code settings.
• Ignored? The finding may be covered by an ignore. Check Manage Ignores, or look for the Suppresses N finding(s) line above wildcard entries in ignores.yaml.
• Dev dependency? Vulnerabilities and licenses of dev dependencies aren't reported by default.

Ignores suddenly stop working

If .fossid/ignores.yaml is invalid or has merge conflicts, no ignores apply and all findings reappear. The Problems panel shows exactly what's wrong. For merge conflicts, use Resolve Automatically. See When the ignores file has problems.

Results disappeared

Scan results are kept in memory for the current window only. They are cleared when you:

• reload or close the window;
• run FossID: Scan Workspace, which starts from a clean slate;
• switch the remote policy setting on or off.

They are rebuilt as you open and save files.

The AI assistant doesn't see FossID

• VS Code: open the MCP servers list (MCP: List Servers in the Command Palette) and check that fossid-mcp and fossid-editor are running. If not, start them from there.
• Cursor: enable fossid-mcp and fossid-editor in Cursor's MCP settings. They are added disabled.
• Claude Code: check that .mcp.json exists in your workspace folder, and approve the servers if asked.
• No folder open? FossID writes its configuration files only when a folder is open. In a multi-root workspace, it writes them to the first folder only.
• After changing server or settings, FossID may ask you to reconnect your chat client. Restart the server in the assistant, or start a new chat.

Run FossID: Set Up to write the configuration files again.

Scanning stopped working entirely

If the background scanner crashes, FossID restarts it automatically. If it crashes repeatedly in a short time, FossID stops trying. Scans then fail with FossID: scan failed. Run Developer: Reload Window to start it again, and check the log.

If FossID reports that the bundled scanner is missing, reinstall the extension.

Logs

FossID writes a detailed log to the Output panel:

1. Open View → Output.
2. Choose FossID from the drop-down.

Include this log when you contact FossID support. Sign-in secrets are never written to it.

Several windows on the same folder

Each editor window runs its own scanner with its own results. Findings aren't shared between windows. The second window uses different local ports and updates the assistant configuration files. If an assistant loses its connection, reconnect it from the window you are working in.

Uninstalling

For a clean uninstall:

1. Run FossID: Clean Up Workspace Configs in each workspace where you used FossID. It removes FossID's entries from .vscode/mcp.json, .mcp.json and .cursor/mcp.json, keeping any other servers, and deletes files that become empty.
2. Uninstall the extension from the Extensions view.

The uninstall also removes FossID's skills from ~/.claude/skills/ and tries to clean the workspace configuration files, but the editor doesn't always run uninstall steps reliably, so step 1 is recommended.

Files you committed are left alone, including .fossid/policy.json, .fossid/ignores.yaml and .fossidignore. So is the copy of the workflow skill at .fossid/workflow.md.