Frequently Asked Questions¶

General¶

How do I change the model?¶

In the TUI, type /models to see and switch between configured models.

How do I start a new session?¶

Type /new in the TUI.

Where is my data stored?¶

All data is stored in ~/.nova/: - config.json -- configuration - nova.db -- sessions, messages, memories - logs/nova.log -- logs - skills/ -- installed skills - agents/ -- agent workspace files

How do I uninstall Nova?¶

pip uninstall nova
rm -rf ~/.nova

If you used browser automation, the downloaded Chromium lives in the Playwright cache (e.g. ~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright on macOS, ~/.cache/ms-playwright on Linux) and can be deleted as well.

Installation¶

`playwright install chromium` fails¶

This step is optional: Nova installs the Playwright package automatically on first use of the browser tool, and prefers a system Chrome when one is present. The bundled Chromium is only a fallback.

If the download fails, re-run it -- the usual cause is a network interruption. On Linux, if the download succeeds but the browser fails to launch, install the system libraries it needs:

playwright install-deps chromium

PyInstaller build fails¶

Make sure you have the latest PyInstaller:

pip install --upgrade pyinstaller

Configuration¶

"Provider type must be one of: anthropic, ollama, openai-compatible, openai-response"¶

Check that providers.<alias>.type in your config is set to ollama, anthropic, openai-compatible, or openai-response.

"Connection refused" when using Ollama¶

Make sure Ollama is running:

ollama serve

Tools¶

Shell commands are blocked¶

Hardline commands (shutdown, mkfs, rm -rf /) are always blocked
Dangerous commands (chmod 777, rm -r /etc) require approval
Safe commands (ls, cat, git status) run immediately

If a safe command is being flagged, check the approval allowlist.

Web tools don't work¶

Ensure Playwright is installed:

playwright install chromium

Memory isn't being saved¶

Memory is saved automatically based on the conversation. You can also explicitly ask:

Remember that I use VS Code for Python

Desktop¶

Desktop app won't launch¶

Check ~/.nova/logs/nova.log for error details. Common issues: - Port 8765 is already in use - Frontend assets are missing (run npm run build in frontend/)