Troubleshooting

Installation issues

central cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer

Right-click (or Ctrl+Click) the central binary.
Select Open from the context menu.
Click Open in the dialog.

Or remove the quarantine attribute:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ./central

central is damaged and can't be opened

The quarantine attribute wasn't fully removed:

                                xattr -cr ./central
                                chmod +x ./central
                            

Permission denied: Make the binary executable:
chmod +x ./central

SmartScreen blocked the app

Click More info on the SmartScreen dialog.
Click Run anyway.

Or unblock via PowerShell:

Unblock-File -Path .\central.exe

central: command not found

The binary is not on your PATH. Connected agents run into the same thing, because they start the proxy by running central themselves. Add the directory holding the binary, ~/.local/bin, to your PATH:

Append this line to your shell profile (~/.zshrc for zsh, ~/.bashrc for bash), then open a new terminal:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Run this in PowerShell, then open a new terminal:

                                [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path + ";$HOME\.local\bin", "User")
                            

To confirm the binary is found:

central --version

Browser doesn't open: If JetBrains Central CLI doesn't open your browser automatically, copy the URL from the terminal and paste it into your browser manually.
License check failed: Your JetBrains Account doesn't have an active AI subscription.
OAuth callback fails: Make sure port 19515 is available. JetBrains Central CLI uses this port for the OAuth callback server.
lsof -i :19515
netstat -ano | findstr :19515

Proxy issues

Proxy won't start

The proxy port is assigned per machine and stored as proxy_port in ~/.jetbrains-central/config.json; central status reports the one in use. Make sure that port is available — substitute it for <port>:

lsof -i :<port>

netstat -ano | findstr :<port>

If you need that port for something else, set a different one with central config set port <port> or the WIRE_PROXY_PORT environment variable.

If JetBrains Central CLI reports the proxy is running, but it's not responding, the PID file may be stale:

                        # Check if the process is actually running
                        ps aux | grep central

                        # If not, remove the stale PID file
                        rm ~/.jetbrains-central/proxy.pid
                    

Proxy stops unexpectedly

Check the daemon log files for errors:

                        ls ~/.jetbrains-central/logs/
                        cat ~/.jetbrains-central/logs/wire_$(date +%Y-%m-%d).log
                    

Log files are kept for two days and rotated daily. Set log_level to debug in JetBrains Central CLI settings for more details.

You can also open the logs directory from the interactive interface: Settings > Show Logs.

Agent issues

Auth conflict warning on startup

If Claude Agent shows a ⚠Auth conflict warning when it starts, the agent should still work through JetBrains Central CLI as long as apiKeyHelper is configured.

To make the warning disappear, make sure neither ANTHROPIC_API_KEY nor ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is set in your shell environment or shell startup files.

In the current shell session, you can clear them with:

unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN

auth picker / "GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT should be set": Gemini CLI requires workspace trust. When you open Gemini CLI in a new folder, it asks whether to trust the workspace. If you decline, Gemini CLI ignores settings.json and .env. Then JetBrains Central CLI configuration is not applied. Trust the folder when prompted, or type /permissions inside Gemini CLI to change trust settings.

Agent not working after wiring

Try the following:

Check proxy is running: central status
Open a new terminal and run the agent again.
Verify the config. Check the agent's config file to ensure the base URL points to the proxy.

"Connection refused" errors

Proxy isn't running. Start it with:

central proxy start

"Unauthorized" or "Forbidden" errors

Your token may have expired. JetBrains Central CLI auto-refreshes tokens, but if it fails:

Run central logout
Run central login

Agent shows "wired" but requests fail

Verify the config file has the correct URL:

                                cat ~/.claude/settings.json
                                # Should contain: "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:{port}/wire/{secret}/claude-code/anthropic"
                            

                                cat ~/.codex/config.toml
                                # Should contain: model_provider = "wire" and base_url with /wire/{secret}/codex/openai
                            

                                cat ~/.gemini/.env
                                # Should contain: GOOGLE_VERTEX_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:{port}/wire/{secret}/gemini-cli/vertex
                            

Agent enabled in Central Console is not available

If an administrator enables an additional agent for you in JetBrains Central Console, the agent may not appear in JetBrains Central CLI immediately.

Central CLI periodically checks for updated settings, approximately once an hour. So changes made in Central Console may take some time to become available in JetBrains Central CLI.

To update the settings immediately, run: central agents refresh

Then check the available agents again.

If the agent is still unavailable, contact your JetBrains Central admin.

Token issues

Token expired

Tokens expire roughly every 24 hours. JetBrains Central CLI handles this automatically:

The proxy refreshes tokens in the background every 2 hours.
On 401/403, the proxy refreshes immediately and retries.

If auto-refresh fails, try logging out and back in with central logout and central login.

Keychain access denied

JetBrains Central CLI stores the encryption key in your system keychain.

Open Keychain Access, search for wire-jbai, and allow access.

Make sure gnome-keyring or kwallet is running. JetBrains Central CLI uses the Secret Service D-Bus API.

Check Credential Manager for the wire-jbai entry.

Report an issue

Report an issue from the interactive interface

Run central.
Go to More... | Report issue.

This opens a browser form pre-filled with your version, operating system, proxy status, wired agents, and the last 50 lines of the daemon log.

When contacting JetBrains support manually, gather the following:

                        central --version    # JetBrains Central CLI version
                        central status       # auth, proxy, and agent status
                        uname -a             # OS information

                        # Log files, zipped so you can attach them
                        zip -rj ~/central-logs.zip ~/.jetbrains-central/logs/
                    

                        central --version    # JetBrains Central CLI version
                        central status       # auth, proxy, and agent status
                        systeminfo           # OS information

                        # Log files, zipped so you can attach them
                        Compress-Archive -Path $HOME\.jetbrains-central\logs\* -DestinationPath $HOME\central-logs.zip -Force
                    

Before filing anything, check the sections above — they cover installation, login, proxy, agent, and token problems.

18 September 2026