Common Issues

If something isn’t working, this page covers the most common fixes. For anything not listed here, send a bug report via the Sonomos popup → Send Feedback.

Note

The Sonomos browser extension is an early prototype. Some of the issues below are known sharp edges we’re actively working on, and a handful (anything involving native apps, IDEs, or the system clipboard) are gaps that will only be addressed by Sonomos Desktop — they’re outside what a browser extension can do.

Widget not appearing

Symptoms: No Sonomos shield widget visible on the page.

Solutions:

1. Verify the extension is installed and enabled in your browser’s extensions page (chrome://extensions or edge://extensions).
2. Check the toolbar — the Sonomos icon should be present. If it’s not, click the puzzle-piece icon and pin Sonomos.
3. Confirm the extension has permission to run on the current site. Some browsers let you scope extensions per-site; the per-site toggle for Sonomos must be on.
4. The widget may be hidden — right-click the Sonomos toolbar icon and select Show Widget.
5. Some pages (browser internal pages, new tab pages, the Chrome Web Store) don’t allow extensions to inject content. This is a browser restriction, not a Sonomos bug.
6. If you’re on Brave or Arc, lower shields/boost temporarily for that site to confirm Sonomos is the cause.
7. Refresh the page — if Sonomos was installed or updated while the page was loaded, it may need a refresh to inject the widget.

Cloak not intercepting

Symptoms: PII is sent unmasked despite Cloak being enabled.

Solutions:

1. Confirm Cloak is toggled on in the widget — the shield should show a lock icon and the border should reflect active masking.
2. Check that the platform is fully supported by Cloak. Today that’s Claude.ai, Gemini, and Grok. Other platforms (including ChatGPT) use Send Guard instead — Cloak will simply not engage there.
3. If the page loaded before the extension initialized (e.g. right after install or update), refresh the page.
4. If the platform recently shipped a UI change, Cloak may need a hotfix. Check the changelog and update the extension if a newer version is available.

Tip

Refreshing the page after installing or updating Sonomos ensures all protection features are fully active. This is the single most common fix for Cloak issues.

Send Guard not warning

Symptoms: You expect a warning banner or modal on a non-supported site, but nothing appears.

Solutions:

1. Check that Send Guard isn’t set to Off in Settings → Send Guard.
2. Confirm that the input is a recognizable text field — some rich-text editors use unusual structures Send Guard hasn’t been adapted for yet.
3. The detection severity may be below your configured threshold. In Banner only mode, high-severity content won’t trigger a modal.
4. If the site loads its input field dynamically, refresh after the field is visible.

High CPU usage

Symptoms: Browser becomes sluggish with Sonomos active.

Solutions:

1. Modern hardware with GPU acceleration will give the best performance for AI-powered detection.
2. On very long pages, Dagger may be scanning large amounts of text. This is expected and should settle once the initial scan completes.
3. Pages that re-render frequently (heavy single-page apps, dashboards) cause more rescans. This is a known limitation of running inside a browser tab; Sonomos Desktop will dramatically reduce overhead by running natively.
4. If the issue persists, report it via the feedback form in the Sonomos popup with the URL of the page if it can be shared.

False positives

Symptoms: Non-PII text is being flagged.

Solutions:

1. Some false positives are known — see Known Limitations.
2. Occasionally, short common words may be flagged. These are automatically excluded from Cloak masking even when they appear in the detection list.
3. If you encounter persistent false positives, please report them — this data helps improve detection accuracy and is one of the most valuable feedback signals during the prototype phase.

False negatives (missed PII)

Symptoms: Sonomos didn’t catch a piece of PII you expected it to detect.

Solutions:

1. Confirm the category is in the Detector Reference. Some uncommon identifier types aren’t covered yet.
2. Make sure the page finished loading and Sonomos finished scanning before you assessed the result — the widget should display its final color, not green-while-thinking.
3. Report the miss through Send Feedback. Describe the format (e.g. “10-digit number prefixed with ‘MRN-’”) rather than pasting the real value.

Extension not working after browser update

Symptoms: Sonomos stops functioning after a Chrome/Edge update.

Solutions:

1. Go to your browser’s extensions page and check for any error banners on the Sonomos card.
2. Try disabling and re-enabling the extension.
3. If the issue persists, uninstall and reinstall from the store. Settings tied to your Sonomos account will be restored when you sign back in.
4. Check the Changelog for any known compatibility issues with recent browser versions.

I want to protect a native app, IDE, or local LLM

This is out of scope for the browser extension — a browser extension cannot see traffic from native applications. This is the single biggest reason Sonomos Desktop is in development. If you have a specific app or workflow that you’d like prioritized, send it via Send Feedback or email info@sonomos.ai — that input directly shapes the desktop launch scope.