What Test my setup checks

Setup on your computer. The two checks behind Test my setup, what each message means, and how to get to green.

"Test my setup" is step 3 on the Setup page. It runs two checks. Both must pass, and both must have happened after you made your choice in step 1. The first time both pass, Cardinal unlocks the app and shows "All set. Cardinal is unlocked."

Runner

Passes when Cardinal's runner on your computer has checked in. The message names the computer, the time it last checked in (UTC), and the claude version it found.

"No runner has checked in yet. Run the install line on your computer.": the line hasn't run, or it stopped with an error. Look at the last lines it printed.
A message that the claude CLI wasn't found there: the runner is fine, but AI drafts will fail until Claude Code is installed. Install it, run claude once to sign in, then make a new install line and run it again.

Claude

Passes when something arrives from Claude itself: a telemetry event, Claude's activity metrics, or a session-end hook.

"Nothing from Claude yet. Open Claude, ask it one question, then test again."

The installer's own hello does not count. The check needs real evidence from Claude, so ask Claude one question first. Telemetry usually arrives within seconds of your first prompt; a session-end hook arrives when you close a session.

Changing your answer

If you change your computer or Claude surfaces in step 1, the checks start again: the new computer has to show up before the test passes.

Workspace owners

The owner of a workspace may press "Continue without setup for now". Cardinal opens without AI drafts or team data and shows a banner until setup passes. Members can't skip setup.

Already set up

When your setup works, the page says when it was checked and links to Cardinal. A line saying "A runner is online for you" means a runner has checked in recently.