Most problems with Sequence Shuttle resolve on their own — Shuttle attempts several rounds of silent repair in the background before it ever interrupts you with a dialog. This page covers the alerts you might still see, why they appear, and how to clear them, plus how Shuttle keeps itself current.
Background service approval#
Shuttle depends on a background helper process to handle file operations behind the scenes, and macOS requires you to approve it in Login Items (the System Settings list of apps allowed to run in the background) before it can start. That approval step belongs to macOS, not Shuttle.
Note
This approval step happens in System Settings > General > Login Items — a real macOS system screen, not a window Shuttle draws itself.
When macOS reports that the helper still needs approval, Shuttle opens the Login Items pane for you automatically and waits for your approval. If you haven't approved it by the time that wait ends, Shuttle brings itself to the front and shows an alert titled Background Service Needs Approval, asking you to approve Sequence Shuttle Helper.
To approve the helper:
- Open System Settings > General > Login Items (Shuttle usually opens this for you).
- Find Sequence Shuttle Helper in the list.
- Turn it on.
- If the alert shows a single Open Settings & Quit button, restart Shuttle after approving — Shuttle quits itself as soon as you dismiss that dialog.
Tip
If the alert instead shows separate Quit and Open Settings buttons, click Open Settings to jump straight to the Login Items pane without closing Shuttle.
Background service failures#
If the helper stops responding entirely, Shuttle tries to reinstall and reconnect it silently first — you only see a dialog if that attempt fails.
- If you see Background Service Not Responding: open System Settings > General > Login Items, find Sequence Shuttle Helper, turn it off, then back on, and restart Shuttle if the alert asks you to.
- If you see Critical Installation Error: this means your installed copy of Shuttle is damaged. Quit Shuttle, redownload the app, and reinstall it. Contact support if the problem continues.
- If you see Helper Upgrade Failed: restart Shuttle first. If the problem continues, reinstall Shuttle. Contact support if the issue persists.
You're asked to sign in again#
Shuttle renews your sign-in automatically in the background, well before it expires. You only see a sign-in prompt when that automatic renewal fails — for example, if your sign-in has been revoked — not merely because time has passed.
When that happens, Shuttle opens your default web browser to a sign-in page on its own; you don't need to click anything inside Shuttle first. Log in on the page that opens, and Shuttle finishes signing you in automatically, with no further action needed back in Shuttle. For the full first-time setup, see Install Shuttle and sign in.
Upload throttling & storage#
Shuttle watches how much space is still free within its configured cache limit and adjusts on its own as that space runs low:
- At 20% free space or more, uploads run at full speed.
- Between 10% and 20% free, Shuttle throttles uploads to one at a time and shows a storage warning.
- Below 10% free, Shuttle automatically evicts (removes) locally cached files to reclaim space, working to bring free space back up toward 20%.
If you notice a storage warning or slower uploads, you can give the cache more room by raising its size limit or clearing it. For the critical case, Shuttle recovers on its own by clearing cached files it no longer needs on your drive. Read more about what Shuttle keeps locally in Intro to local caching and storage.
Sync looks stuck or a file seems wrong#
If a project looks stuck or out of date and normal use hasn't cleared it up, Shuttle includes an option to reset its local sync data and re-sync everything fresh from the server. Use it as a last resort, since it starts a fresh sync of everything from the server rather than an incremental update.
If a single file disappears or shows an error in Finder instead, that most often means it was deleted from the project elsewhere, not a sign that something is wrong with Shuttle.
How Shuttle keeps itself updated#
Shuttle checks for updates automatically in the background, with no action required from you. When it finds a new version, Shuttle brings itself to the front and shows the standard update prompt; approve it, and Shuttle downloads the update, verifies it, and restarts itself on the new version.
You can also check for updates manually. If Shuttle is busy running a project refresh when you do, it shows an alert titled Cannot Check for Updates: "Please wait until the current refresh completes before checking for updates." Try again once the refresh finishes. If you're already on the latest version, Shuttle shows nothing further.