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AI Proposal Stuck or Missing Card Playbook

Published · Last updated: May 2026 · 3 min read

Who this is for

Users who submitted a request to the AI Pilot and are not seeing a proposal card, or whose proposal card is stuck in a specific state.

AI Proposal Status Values

StatusMeaning
draftAI is generating the proposal — appears briefly
pending_approvalProposal is ready and waiting for your review/approval
approvedYou approved the proposal; execution is queued
rejectedYou or a safety guard rejected the proposal
executingAI is running the approved plan on the server
completedAll steps completed successfully
failedExecution failed partway through

Playbook: No Proposal Card Appearing

You asked the AI Pilot to do something but no card appeared.

Step 1 — Check the Activity Center

  1. Open the Activity Center (bell icon or top-right button).
  2. Look for a recent AI Pilot job.
  3. If there is an error: read the error message.

Step 2 — Check AI Pilot Settings

  1. Go to AI Pilot → Settings.
  2. Verify:
  • AI Pilot is enabled for this org.
  • The server you targeted has AI Pilot access enabled.
  • Write operations are not blocked by safety settings.

Step 3 — Retry the Request

The AI may have failed to generate a proposal due to a transient error (LLM timeout, context too large).

  1. Try rephrasing the request to be more specific.
  2. Target a specific server explicitly if you didn't before.

Playbook: Proposal Stuck in "draft"

If a proposal stays in draft state for more than 2 minutes:

  1. Refresh the page.
  2. Check the Activity Center for a timeout or error.
  3. If the draft persists with no progress: dismiss it and submit the request again.

Playbook: Proposal Stuck in "executing"

If a proposal was approved but execution is stuck:

Step 1 — Check Activity Center

Open the Activity Center and find the executing proposal. Expand it to see which step is running.

Step 2 — Check SSH Connectivity

Most execution failures are SSH-related. The AI executes commands on the server via SSH.

Step 3 — Wait or Intervene

Some AI operations (e.g., software installation, backups) can take several minutes.

  • If the Activity Center shows active progress: wait.
  • If the Activity Center shows no progress for 10+ minutes: there may be a stuck SSH process.

To recover from a stuck execution:

  1. SSH to the server via Terminal.
  2. Run ps aux | grep cloudpilot to find stuck processes.
  3. Kill them: sudo kill .
  4. The job will mark as failed. You can retry.

Playbook: Proposal Failed

If execution failed partway through:

  1. Read the error in the Activity Center.
  2. Common causes:
  • SSH dropped
  • Command permission denied (use sudo)
  • Disk full
  1. Fix the root cause.
  2. Re-submit the AI request, specifying what still needs to be done.

AI Safety Refusals

If the AI says it cannot perform an action, it may be blocked by safety rules:

  • Actions on servers marked as production-protected are blocked unless you disable protection.
  • Destructive operations (delete, drop database) require explicit confirmation.
  • Write operations may be disabled in AI settings.

See KB-07-12: Why AI May Refuse an Action.

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