AI Formatting Isn't Working
The Format with AI button in Specifications runs entirely in your browser. If it’s not working, here are the most common reasons and fixes.
The button is greyed out
Section titled “The button is greyed out”The formatter needs a browser feature that today only Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge have. In Firefox, and in older versions of Safari, the button is visible but disabled — hovering over it shows a message saying so.
What to do: open the specification in Chrome or Edge, or update your browser if it’s an old version.
Nothing seems to happen when you click it
Section titled “Nothing seems to happen when you click it”The most common reason on first use is that your browser is downloading the language model. It’s about a gigabyte, it only happens once, and it can take several minutes depending on your internet speed and computer.
What to do:
- Wait. Don’t close the tab or navigate away.
- Look at the progress bar under the button — it reads Loading AI Model during the download, then Formatting Data while it works.
- Once the download is complete, the formatter runs, and future uses start much faster.
If there’s no text in the editor, clicking the button does nothing — there’s nothing to format.
You’re told the text is too long
Section titled “You’re told the text is too long”The formatter handles one editor’s worth of text at a time. On a very long specification it stops and asks you to try a smaller section, leaving your text exactly as it was. Format the spec a section at a time.
The formatter ran but the results look wrong
Section titled “The formatter ran but the results look wrong”The formatter tidies and reformats text — it doesn’t rewrite content. Review the output carefully before saving. If the result isn’t what you expected, press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac) in the editor to put your original text back, or leave the page without saving.
If it fails partway through, your original text is restored automatically and a message tells you it didn’t work.
Still not working
Section titled “Still not working”Try these steps:
- Reload the page.
- Clear your browser cache (this will remove the downloaded model — you’ll need to wait for the first-use download again).
- Try Chrome or Edge if you weren’t already using one.
If none of these work, contact your firm’s AECPulse administrator.