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Stream Deck Troubleshooting

Published 17 Sept 2026

Most problems here are one of three things: TipLink is not running, the Control API is off, or the two ends disagree about the port. Work down the list.

The Connect Button Does Nothing​

The connection row tells you which of these it is. See the full list of status messages.

"TipLink is not running." Start TipLink and click Retry. If TipLink is open, check the port - see below.

"Turn on the Control API…" TipLink is answering, but the API is off. Go to Settings → Control API and turn on Enable Control API.

"Waiting for you to approve this…" and nothing appears. The prompt window can land on a monitor you have since unplugged. Switch to TipLink - the app is greyed out while a prompt is pending, and that scrim carries a Deny & close button. Use it, then try Connect again.

"The request expired." The prompt waits five minutes. Press Try again when you are ready to answer it.

The Dropdowns Are Empty​

An empty alert or platform list means the plugin could not reach TipLink when the panel opened.

  1. Check the connection row at the bottom of the panel. If it is not green, fix that first.
  2. Once it is green, click the refresh arrow beside the dropdown.
  3. If it is still empty, close the key's settings and open them again.

A dropdown reading Not connected is the plugin telling you honestly that it asked and got nothing, rather than showing you a blank list you cannot explain.

Every Key Says Offline​

The plugin is paired but cannot reach TipLink right now.

  • Is TipLink running? Keys reconnect on their own within a few seconds of it starting.
  • Did you change the Webhook API Port? The Control API shares that port. Restart TipLink, then put the same number in Advanced connection settings → Port in any key's panel.
  • Did TipLink restart into a different port? Changing either the Control API toggle or the token restarts the shared server.

A key that knows what it points at shows its name above Offline, so you can still tell which key is which.

A Key Says Bad Token​

The plugin's authorization is no longer valid. Usually that means it was revoked in TipLink under Settings → Connected Apps, sometimes that a token in Advanced connection settings is wrong.

Click Reconnect in any key's panel and approve the new prompt. That fixes every key at once.

If you never revoked anything, clear the Token box under Advanced connection settings - a stale token there overrides the paired one.

A Key Shows a Question Mark​

? on a View Variable key means the variable or goal it points at is gone from TipLink. Open the key's settings and pick a source again.

The same situation on other actions shows the remembered name but flashes ✗ on press.

A Key Is Showing the Wrong State​

Keys are pushed state changes rather than polling, and TipLink re-checks everything every 30 seconds as a safety net - so a key should never be wrong for more than half a minute.

If one is:

  1. Press it. On View Variable that forces a redraw and does nothing else, which is the safe way to test.
  2. Switch to another Stream Deck profile and back. That redraws every key from scratch.
  3. If it persists, it is worth reporting with what the key showed and what TipLink showed.

Pressing a Key Flashes the ✗​

Stream Deck has one failure gesture for every cause, so check in this order:

Likely causeCheck
Nothing chosenDoes the key say Pick alert / Pick platform / Pick widget?
The target was deletedOpen the key's settings; the dropdown will have cleared or no longer match.
TipLink is unreachableIs the connection row green?
Pressed too fastThe Control API limits how many changes a second it accepts. Hammering a toggle key trips it briefly.

Two Twitch Accounts Look Identical​

Platform Connection lists accounts by their display name, not the platform. If two entries look the same, rename them on TipLink's Platforms page and click the refresh arrow beside the dropdown.

It Worked Yesterday and Now Nothing Connects​

In order of likelihood:

  1. TipLink updated and has not been opened yet. Start it.
  2. Windows Firewall prompted and was dismissed. The connection is local, so this is rare, but a blanket block rule on TipLink will do it.
  3. Another app took port 3821. Change Webhook API Port in TipLink's settings, restart it, and set the same port in the plugin's advanced settings.
  4. The grant was revoked. Check Settings → Connected Apps in TipLink. If Stream Deck is not listed, pair again.

Collecting Logs for a Bug Report​

If you are reporting a problem, the plugin's log is what makes it fixable.

Windows: %APPDATA%\Elgato\StreamDeck\logs macOS: ~/Library/Logs/ElgatoStreamDeck

Look for files named com.boba-tea-development.tiplink.*.log.

Read the log before you send it

Logs are safe to share by default. But if someone has asked you to turn on trace logging, that mode records every message between Stream Deck and the plugin - including your Control API token in plain text. Revoke Stream Deck in Settings → Connected Apps after sharing a trace log, then pair again.

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