Every now and then the assistant can't read your menu or write your content. It's almost always a one-minute fix, and either way nothing is lost: what you've already entered stays, you can always add the dishes by hand, and a failed analysis never costs you credits.
Find the message you saw below.
"We couldn't find a menu in your sources"
It means nothing that looks like a menu reached the assistant. The three most common reasons:
- the file was too heavy and never made it (see the next section);
- the link you gave points to a page that loads the menu after it opens;
- you only provided a description of your business, with no menu.
What to do, quickest first:
- Photograph the menu and upload the shot: a phone photo is perfectly fine, we shrink photos for you before uploading them.
- Or paste the direct link to the menu PDF.
- Or choose "Add the menu by hand": you add the dishes yourself, and the assistant stays available later on.
"… is over 10 MB" — the file never made it
Photos should never give you this message: we shrink them before uploading, so even a heavy shot goes through. If you see it, it's almost always a PDF.
What to do with an oversized PDF:
- export it at a lower resolution from whatever created it;
- or upload only the menu pages, not the whole document;
- or, fastest of all: photograph the menu pages. To the assistant a photo is worth as much as a PDF.
If the message says the files exceed 20 MB in total, remove some and try again: you can upload at most five at a time.
iPhone photos? If your phone saves them as HEIC, export or share them as JPEG before uploading.
"We couldn't read the menu from that link"
By far the most common case is this one:
"Your website loads the menu after the page opens, and we can't read it from there."
Your site isn't broken — it works perfectly in your browser. The menu simply isn't inside the page: the site builds it right after opening, and we read the page exactly as it arrives. This is very common with sites made using online site builders.
What to do: on your website, instead of the link to the "Menu" page, grab the direct link to the PDF file (right-click the menu link → "Copy link address") and paste that. Or, simpler still, upload the file here instead of linking it.
The other link messages:
- "The PDF at that link is too long" — we accept up to 20 pages. Upload just the menu pages.
- "We couldn't open that link" — check that it's public and reachable without a password. A file on Drive or Dropbox is often private: make it accessible to anyone with the link, or upload it here directly.
- "That link doesn't lead to anything we can read" — we need a page, a PDF or an image of the menu. A video, a social profile or an archive won't work.
"We couldn't recognise your business"
The material you gave us talks about different things, or the link isn't your own site. Check that your description, your site and your files all talk about the same place, then try again. If you only wrote a couple of lines, tell us a bit more.
"We couldn't get enough to prepare your content"
We need a little more to work with. Tell us what you cook, what makes you different, who your customers are: three or four lines are enough. Alternatively upload a photo of the menu, which already says a lot on its own.
"We couldn't prepare suitable content"
Sometimes we can't produce publishable text from the material we received. No problem and no consequences: write the welcome text yourself — you can edit it at any time from the personalisation section — or carry on and deal with it later. Your menu and the rest of your setup are untouched.
"That didn't work" — and it works on the second try
Sometimes the problem is on our side, or the site you pointed us to didn't answer in time. Try again in a few minutes: in the vast majority of cases the second attempt goes through. Remember that a failed analysis doesn't use up credits.
Out of credits
The first analysis is free. After that it takes 1 credit (text only) or 2 credits (if we have to read photos, PDFs or web pages). If you see the out-of-credits message you can buy more from the credits section — or add the menu by hand, which is always free. The details are in the Mobee AI credits: how they work article.
The route that always works
If you're in a hurry or nothing seems to work, add the menu by hand: categories and dishes take a few minutes and your app can go live the same day. The assistant stays there: you can run it again whenever you like from your management area, even once the app is published.
The limits at a glance
- Up to 5 files per analysis;
- Photos: no practical limit, we shrink them for you before uploading;
- PDFs: 10 MB each, 20 MB in total, 20 pages maximum;
- Links: must lead to a page, a PDF or an image, public and without a password.
If the menu still won't go through after all this, tell us right here in the chat: describe the menu you're trying to upload (photo, PDF, link) and we'll take it from there — in many cases we'll upload it for you. Otherwise you can reach us at info@mobee.it.