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Troubleshooting

Cannot reach Client site (staging/development only)​

Development/Testing Only

This section only applies when testing TrustedLogin on staging/development servers. Production usage doesn't require this configuration.

If you see "Cannot reach [domain]" when testing on a staging server that uses a production domain name, you need to configure your hosts file.

Quick fix​

Edit your hosts file on your machine (the support person's computer):

Mac/Linux: sudo nano /etc/hosts Windows: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (as Administrator)

Add this line:

192.168.1.100 example.com www.example.com

Replace 192.168.1.100 with your staging server IP and example.com with the actual domain.

Why this is needed​

When staging uses a production domain but runs on a different IP than DNS points to, your browser needs to know where to connect. The hosts file overrides DNS locally.

Important notes​

  • Include both www and non-www (DNS treats them as different hosts)
  • Each team member needs their own hosts file entry
  • Remove this entry when done or you can't access production normally
  • Flush DNS cache after editing: sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (Mac) or ipconfig /flushdns (Windows)

Access key not working​

If you enter an access key but receive an error like "Invalid access key" or "No matching sites found":

Check the team/account selection​

If you have multiple TrustedLogin accounts/teams configured in the Connector:

  • Verify you selected the correct team from the dropdown
  • The access key must match the team that the Client site granted access to
  • Different products/teams have different encryption keys

Verify the access key​

  • Access keys are exactly 64 characters long
  • Check for copy/paste errors (extra spaces, line breaks)
  • Keys are case-sensitive
  • Keys expire after the configured access period (default: 7 days)

Check the Client site​

On the Client site, verify:

  • Access was actually granted (check the TrustedLogin admin screen)
  • The access hasn't been revoked
  • The access period hasn't expired
  • The Client site can reach the TrustedLogin SaaS (https://app.trustedlogin.com)

Access key login shows "Redirecting..." but never completes​

This usually indicates the POST request to the Client site failed.

Common causes:

  1. DNS/hosts file issue - See Cannot reach domain above
  2. Firewall blocking POST request - Check firewall rules
  3. Client SDK not initialized - Client SDK must be initialized early enough (see Client troubleshooting)
  4. Network timeout - Client site takes too long to respond

Check browser console: Open browser developer tools (F12) and check the Console tab for errors like:

  • net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED - DNS issue, use hosts file
  • net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED - Server not responding on that IP
  • net::ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT - Network timeout, check firewall/routing

Help Scout integration not working​

See Help Scout integration documentation for specific troubleshooting steps.

Enabling debug logs​

When diagnosing Connector issues, you can enable debug logging to capture detailed information about what the plugin is doing.

Turn logging on​

There are two ways to enable logging:

  1. Settings toggle — In the WordPress admin, go to TrustedLogin → Settings and enable Error Logging.
  2. Constant — Define TRUSTEDLOGIN_DEBUG in wp-config.php. This forces logging on regardless of the settings toggle: 
    define( 'TRUSTEDLOGIN_DEBUG', true );

Where logs are stored​

Logs are written to the WordPress uploads directory:

wp-content/uploads/trustedlogin-logs/vendor-{hash}.log
  • {hash} is a randomized SHA-256 string generated once per site and stored in the trustedlogin_vendor_log_location option, so the filename is not guessable.
  • The trustedlogin-logs/ directory is created automatically and protected with an index.html file to prevent directory browsing.
  • If the random hash can't be generated for some reason, logs fall back to wp-content/uploads/trustedlogin-connector.log.

Reading the log​

Each line is formatted as:

[YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS] [level] message {optional JSON context}

You can find the exact path for your site by checking the TrustedLogin → Settings screen, which displays the current log file location when logging is enabled.

Disable logging when done​

Debug logs may contain sensitive request data. Turn the setting off (or remove the TRUSTEDLOGIN_DEBUG constant) once you've finished troubleshooting, and delete the log file from the uploads directory.