Guide: AI checks unavailable
This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/troubleshooting/ai-checks-unavailable
Topic: Troubleshooting
Time: about 2 minutes
Who can do it: Anyone on your team
Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)
Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox
Result when done: You know which rules paused and that they catch up by themselves.
Context: Four rules read meaning with AI: Profanity, Negativity, Custom topics and Impersonators. If that service is briefly unavailable, those wait and retry; the rules that match text keep running.

Before you start:
1. Comments still arrive and are stored the whole time.
2. Live comments are retried automatically.
3. A cleanup that ran without AI says so on its result.

Steps:
Step 1 of 2: Confirm it.
Where: The Playground says AI checks are unavailable right now, and that they retry automatically on live comments.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox (Open the app)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-playground.en.webp (The playground verdict names the check that ran.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-playground-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: A statement instead of a wrong verdict.

Step 2 of 2: Re-run any cleanup that ran meanwhile.
Where: Re-run check on the post. The earlier check stays in the history for comparison.
Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/tools (Open post cleanup)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-loaded.en.webp (Check comments again.)
Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/cleanup-phone-loaded.en.webp (The same on a phone.)
You should see: A fresh check with the AI rules included.

If something is off:
Problem: Did I lose comments
Fix: No. Only the judgement waited.
Problem: How long does it last
Fix: Usually minutes, and there is nothing to switch at your end.
Problem: My cleanup flagged very little
Fix: It may have run without AI. The warning is on the result; re-run it.

Common questions:
Question: Which moderation rules depend on the AI service?
Answer: Four: Profanity, Negativity, Custom topics and Impersonators read meaning with AI. If that service is briefly unavailable those wait and retry, while the rules that match text keep running.
Question: Where can I confirm that AI checks are unavailable right now?
Answer: In the Playground on the page Moderation tab. It says AI checks are unavailable right now and that they retry automatically on live comments, so you get a statement instead of a wrong verdict.
Question: Are live comments re-checked on their own once the AI is back?
Answer: Yes. Live comments are retried automatically. A cleanup that ran without AI says so on its result; use Re-run check on the post for a fresh check with the AI rules, and the earlier check stays in the history for comparison.
Question: Does re-running a check after an AI outage cost credits again?
Answer: Yes. A re-run judges every loaded comment again, so it counts credits again. If you only want to see what the earlier run found, open the check history instead; reading it costs nothing.

Related guides:
- When the AI is unavailable: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/when-the-ai-is-unavailable
- Check comments against your rules: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/post-cleanup/check-comments-against-your-rules
- Test a comment in the Playground: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/test-a-comment-in-the-playground

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/troubleshooting/ai-checks-unavailable.md
All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt