The app won't open

ADR Sentinel runs a quick health check every time it starts — it confirms your settings load, your cases folder is reachable, and your case files parse correctly. If something doesn't pass, the app doesn't just fail silently or refuse to launch. Instead it shows a diagnostic screen that tells you what went wrong and gives you a way out.

What you'll see

If a startup check fails, the diagnostic screen names the problem and offers a few escape paths:

• Use the last-known-good backup — restores from the most recent readable snapshot. The app keeps a rolling set of backups for every case, so a bad file rarely costs you anything (see Recovering from a crash).
• Export raw state as text — dumps a plain-text copy of what the app can read, so you have a recovery copy in hand before doing anything else.
• Send an error report — sends the diagnostic details (never your case data) so the issue can be fixed.
• Continue anyway — proceeds into the app despite the warning, if you'd rather press on.

Before you worry

Your case data is files on your disk, independent of the app. Even if a launch fails, the data is still there, and the automatic backups in each case's hidden .backups/ folder are too. The diagnostic screen exists to get you back to a good state, not to strand you.

If it keeps happening

If the same failure recurs, use Send an error report from the diagnostic screen (or Contact support from the Help panel) and describe what you were doing. Mention any recovery options you already tried — it saves a round trip.

See also

• Recovering from a crash
• A button doesn't seem to do anything