Secret Agent provides quick access to your Codebook records for inserting credentials into other applications. If you’re not familiar with Secret Agent, this documentation explains how to enable it, it’s capabilities, and how to setup Secret Agent Actions for multi-field insertion.
Great! you say, let’s get to it and start using the feature, but unfortunately you run into a problems: the hotkey isn’t triggering the Secret Agent window, or your fields aren’t inserting when choosing them. Not to fret, this post will walk you through common troubleshooting tips to get you back up and running.
Issue – Invoking the Secret Agent Hotkey doesn’t bring up the Secret Agent window:
If you’re using Codebook for Windows: Right click on the system tray icon for Codebook and select “Display Secret Agent”
If you’re using macOS Mojave ensure that you’ve allowed Codebook access to the Security and Privacy features of Accessibility and Automation found under Apple Menu > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy Tab.
Note: Sometimes it’s necessary to un-check/re-check Codebook even if it’s already checked.
Issue – Restarting Codebook turns off the “Enable Secret Agent” preference
For some of these tips, we’re going to use Terminal. Terminal can be found using Spotlight search or through Applications > Utilities > Terminal
Cause:
Multiple copies of codebook installed on your machine (for example one copy in Applications and another in Downloads). This can cause conflict with the preference, and prevent it from persisting.
Resolution:
Search for additional copies of Codebook on your machine (outside of the Applications folder), move them to the trash and empty the trash. Then restart Codebook, enable the Secret Agent preference, and attempt to invoke the Secret Agent hotkey again.
If no other copies are found using the standard finder search, you can also search via Terminal by using this command:
find / -name Codebook*.app 2>/dev/null
Cause:
Codebook is quarantined by your system – check this by opening Terminal and typing this command
xattr /Applications/Codebook.app
If nothing prints out, then you’re in good shape and Codebook isn’t quarantined. If com.apple.quarantine prints, then it means your system has quarantined Codebook
Resolution:
Within Terminal type this command to remove the quarnatine:
xattr -d -r -s com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Codebook.app
after which re-check the Codeobok attributes by typing
xattr /Applications/Codebook.app
and it should print out nothing
Cause:
The Secret Agent Helper application is in an invalid state and needs to be restarted. You can check this by typing this command in the Terminal
launchctl list | grep -i strip
which should print out something similar to this:
415 0 net.zetetic.STRIPHelperAgent
if your Helper Agent shows a - with a code of 78 (instead of 0 in the middle there), then that indicates it needs to be restarted manually.
Resolution:
Quit and close Codebook and type this command in Terminal:
launchctl remove net.zetetic.STRIPHelperAgent
Paste this command in terminal and hit enter to remove the bookmarked Application Scripts directory from your Codebook user defaults (so you will be prompted to choose a folder for the script in the next step):
defaults delete net.zetetic.Strip.mac ZSApplicationScriptsBookmarkData
Launch Codebook, and enable the Secret Agent Preference but when prompted to select a folder, go up one folder at the top of the window to “Application Scripts” and reselect the net.zetetic.Strip.mac folder then click “Choose User Scripts Folder”.
Issue – My field isn’t inserted when selecting it:
There are known issues inserting using Secret Agent into certain applications, for example Skype, on Windows machines
Resolutions:
- Restart your machine
- If you’re using Codebook for macOS you may need to un-check and re-check the Security and Privacy features of Accessibility and Automation found under Apple Menu > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy Tab. Reference the screenshots in the “Invoking the Secret Agent Hotkey doesn’t bring up Secret Agent window” section.
- If unchecking and re-checking the preference doesn’t work, you can also try removing Codebook from Apple Menu > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy Tab > Accessibility by selecting it from the list and using the
-button (you may need to click the lock in the lower left hand corner of the window and enter your Mac’s Password to be able to edit this). Then launch Codebook again and attempt to use Secret Agent again and you should be prompted to allow it in Accessibility again. Again Reference the screenshots in the “Invoking Secret Agent Hotkey doesn’t bring up Secret Agent window” section.
If these troubleshooting tips don’t help you to get Secret Agent up and running again, or you’re experiencing issues not listed here please feel free to reach out to us at support@zetetic.net and we’ll be happy to help.