Notifications

Read and act on PromptMason's notifications about backups, your recovery kit, and the libraries you sync or share.

Notifications tell you when something about your backups, your recovery kit or your synced libraries needs you, or happened while you were busy. If you only use PromptMason on one PC with no backups, you’ll rarely see any.

Open Notifications

Click the bell in the top-right corner of any screen. A panel slides in from the right. A red number on the bell counts the items you need to act on.

The panel has two parts:

To do: things you need to act on. Each one stays until it’s dealt with, so you can come back to it later.
Earlier: things that were only for your information.

When there’s nothing at all, it says “You’re all caught up.”

Each item shows a title, when it happened (“just now”, “5 minutes ago”, “yesterday”, or a date), the library it’s about, a message, and its buttons. Most items also have a help link, such as How do I approve a PC?, which opens the matching guide in Help.

Corner messages

Information items also pop up once as a small message in the bottom-right corner. Up to three show at a time, and each one goes away after a few seconds, or when you click its X. You can read them again under Earlier in Notifications. A message you’ve already seen doesn’t pop up again on this PC.

Buttons

Some buttons act straight away, for example Try again, OK, Done, Ignore it, It was me and Re-sync. Others open the window or Settings pane where you deal with the item, and close the panel. For example, Review opens the request to approve, Open library settings opens the library’s Manage window in Settings → Libraries & sharing, and Open backup settings opens Settings → Backup & data.

Two buttons ask before they act:

Take it off this PC asks “Take [library] off this PC? Its blocks and prompts are removed from this PC only.” Click OK to go ahead.
Remove that PC and skip them asks “Remove that PC from the library and skip the changes that never arrived? The PC will need to be approved again to rejoin.” Click OK to go ahead.

If a button doesn’t work, the item shows what went wrong, or “That didn’t work. Try again.” Check your cloud storage app is running, then try again. Sync problems lists those messages and what to do about each.

Every notification

The primary owner is the one owner of a team library who approves PCs and removes people. See The primary owner. The Guide column links to the section for each item. The help link on the item in the app opens the same guide from the top.

In the titles below, [library] is a library’s name, [PC] is a PC shown by its code and name (for example “38C5 - Alex’s laptop”), and [name] is a person.

Backups and your recovery kit

Title	What to do	Guide
Your last backup didn’t finish	Check the backup folder is there (drive plugged in, cloud storage app running), click Open backup settings, then Back up now.	Backups
Confirm you saved your recovery kit	Click Check my kit, choose the kit file you saved and type its code.	Your recovery kit
A new recovery kit was made	If you made it, click It was me. If not, click Remove that PC, which opens the library’s settings, and remove the PC named in the message.	Lost or stolen PC or kit
Replace your keys	One of your PCs was removed while it still held your keys. Click Replace my keys and save your new kit.	Lost or stolen PC or kit

Joining and approving PCs

Title	What to do	Guide
Someone asked to join	Click Review, call the person and compare the approval code before approving.	Approve a PC
A member’s new PC asked to join	Click Review, then Approve. No call is needed.	Approve a PC
Is this your PC?	A PC asked to join as someone already in the library. Click Review. If the code matches the one on your new PC, click This is my PC. If it isn’t yours, click Not mine (or Decline on your approving PC); the item stays until the primary owner deals with that PC. Teammates’ PCs can show this for your new PC too.	Use your library on a second PC
A PC is waiting to be confirmed	A PC says it belongs to someone already in the library. If it’s your own new PC, click Review, check the code and click This is my PC. If it’s someone else’s, wait for them to confirm it.	Use your library on a second PC
Identity reset request	Someone who lost every PC asks to be put back. Click Review, call them and compare the code, then Reset identity.	Lost or stolen PC or kit
A member made a new recovery kit	Click Review, then Approve.	Your recovery kit
A request to join didn’t check out	Click Ignore it.	Approve a PC
Your request was declined	Click OK and ask the library’s primary owner about it.	Approve a PC

Removing people and PCs

Title	What to do	Guide
Remove them from the shared folder too	Remove the person from the folder’s sharing in your cloud storage, then click Done.	Remove a person or a PC
Waiting for PCs to pick up the change	Nothing. It clears as each PC syncs. To speed it up, ask the people listed to open PromptMason.	Remove a person or a PC
You no longer have access to this library	Your copy is read-only. Click Take it off this PC when you no longer need it, or ask the primary owner if it’s a mistake.	Team libraries

The library folder and syncing

Title	What to do	Guide
Can’t reach the library folder	Check your cloud storage app, then click Try again. If the folder moved, click Choose the folder again, then Choose the folder again… in the window that opens, and pick the folder where it is now.	Sync problems
The library folder is read-only	Ask whoever shared the folder for edit access, then click Try again.	Sync problems
The library folder was empty	If you moved the folder, click Choose the folder again. Otherwise click OK.	Sync problems
This isn’t the library’s folder	Click Open library settings and check with the primary owner which folder is right.	Sync problems
This PC needs to re-sync a library	Click Re-sync.	Sync problems
Changes from a PC haven’t arrived	Open PromptMason on that PC. If the PC is gone for good, the primary owner clicks Remove that PC and skip them.	Sync problems
Two copies of a PC are writing	The primary owner clicks Open library settings and removes that PC.	Sync problems
Another copy of this PC is writing	Ask the primary owner which copy to keep, then click Re-join with this PC on that copy.	Sync problems
The member list needs the primary owner	Tell the primary owner; they click Open library settings.	Sync problems
Update PromptMason	Click Check for updates, then Restart to update when it is ready.	Sync problems

For your information (under Earlier)

Title	What it means	Guide
Edited at the same time	Someone edited an item while you did. Both versions are in History. Click Open to see the item.	—
[name] deleted [library] or You deleted [library]	The primary owner deleted a team library for everyone. It has been, or will be, taken off each member’s PC.	Team libraries
Identity reset	The primary owner put a member back after they lost every PC.	Lost or stolen PC or kit
A change wasn’t applied	A change from someone wasn’t used, because their role doesn’t allow it or the item is in another library on this PC.	Team libraries
Some changes weren’t shared	Some of your changes stayed on this PC. The message says why.	Sync problems or, after this PC was removed, Remove a person or a PC
A PC’s clock looks wrong	That PC’s clock is wrong, so its saves win when two people edit the same item. On that PC, set Windows to set the time automatically.	Sync problems
Paused until tomorrow	This PC wrote a very large amount today. It carries on by itself tomorrow.	Sync problems
Unexpected files in the library folder	Keep other files out of the library folder. Nothing is lost.	Sync problems
Something in the library folder was ignored	PromptMason didn’t trust a file in the folder and ignored it. The library keeps working.	How PromptMason keeps your libraries safe

The exact message for each item is in Sync problems.

Want a hand?

Copy this prompt into Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant, and it walks you through it step by step.

I have a notification in PromptMason I'm not sure about. I'll paste its title and message. Tell me what it means and walk me through what to click.

Copy adds a short note about PromptMason and this guide's steps, so the assistant has what it needs.