# Find out why your agents stopped scanning

URL: https://useembers.com/help/troubleshooting/agents-not-scanning/
Category: Troubleshooting
Updated: 2026-09-29
Last verified: 2026-09-29

> Read the status on the Agents and Watchlist screens to see whether an agent is inactive, on hold at the trial cap, paused, or failing, and how to restart it.

When new leads stop arriving, start with the agents. The top of **Agents** (`/agents`) sums up every agent in one line with a status pill, each agent card carries its own status and when it last ran, and each row on **Watchlist** (`/watchlist`) shows how its latest scan went.

## Read the summary on the Agents screen

| Summary line | Pill | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Your agents need a plan to run | Inactive | The workspace is on Free: the trial ended, or it never started |
| Your trial has used its 2,000 engagements | On hold | A trial that began at checkout reached its cap. Agents wait until the plan starts |
| Your agent is paused, or All agents are paused | Paused | Someone paused them |
| 2 of 5 agents paused (for example) | Partly paused | Some agents are paused and the rest are running |
| No agent is scanning yet | Idle | There are no agents in this workspace |
| All systems scanning normally | Live | Every agent is running on schedule |

Agents run every 24 hours, and a card that reads "last ran 6 hours ago" is waiting for its next run. See [pause an agent and read its scan history](/help/signals/agents-pause-and-scan-history/) for the run-by-run detail.

## Restart the agents

**Inactive**

The trial ended or the workspace is on Free. The banner reads `Your Embers trial ended on` and the date, then `Agents are paused and your leads are locked until you pick a plan.` Nothing is deleted.

Choose **Pick a plan**. As soon as the plan starts, every agent Embers paused for the plan resumes and runs a fresh scan. Trying to resume one before then is refused with `This agent cannot be resumed until the account is on a paid plan.` See [what happens when the trial ends](/help/account-and-billing/free-trial/).

**On hold**

A trial that started at checkout covers your first 2,000 engagers. At the cap the agents pause until the plan's first charge, and the summary names the date. Resuming an agent in the meantime is refused with `Your trial has used its 2,000 engagements. Start your plan to resume this agent.`

To restart today, the account owner opens **Settings**, then **Billing** (`/settings/billing`) and chooses **Start my plan now**. That charges the plan now, lifts the hold, and resumes the agents.

**Paused**

Someone on the workspace paused the agents. Turn each one back on with the switch on its card. Agents you pause yourself stay paused through plan changes; only agents Embers paused for the plan restart on their own.

## Read the status of each watched profile

The **Watchlist** screen shows one status per watched profile or company page:

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Setting up | Added, and its first scan has not started |
| Scanning | A scan is running now |
| Active | The last scan worked |
| No signals yet | The scan worked but found nothing to rank |
| Failed | The last scan could not read the profile |
| Paused | Its agent is paused |

**Failed** usually means LinkedIn could not read the profile: check that the URL is correct and that the profile is public, then wait for the next run. A single failure between good runs is normally a temporary gap in LinkedIn data and clears on the next pass. If the URL itself is wrong, remove the row and add it again from [add profiles to watch](/help/getting-started/connect-your-linkedin-profile/).

**No signals yet** is not an error. The profile had no recent public posts, or nobody engaged, or nobody cleared your ICP. Work through [no leads in your queue yet](/help/troubleshooting/no-leads-yet/).

## Troubleshooting

- **A manual scan says `Agent is paused. Resume it before triggering a scan.`** Resume the agent first. Manual scans are also limited to 30 an hour.
- **The agents are live but no leads arrive.** Scanning is working and the filtering is not letting anyone through. Check your ICP and blocklist with the [empty queue checklist](/help/troubleshooting/no-leads-yet/).
- **Only the account owner can start the plan.** Members see `The account owner can start it now.` in the summary. Ask the owner, or see [who can change billing](/help/reports-and-workspaces/team-and-roles/).

If an agent stays failed across several runs, email viraj@useembers.com with the profile URL and the time of the last run.

## Related

- [Pause an agent and read its scan history](/help/signals/agents-pause-and-scan-history/): Pause, resume, and read each run.

- [How the free trial works](/help/account-and-billing/free-trial/): What the trial covers and what happens at the end.

- [Fix an empty lead queue](/help/troubleshooting/no-leads-yet/): When the agents run but nothing ranks.

## Frequently asked questions

**Do my agents restart on their own when I pick a plan?**

Yes. Agents that Embers paused because of the plan or the trial resume as soon as the plan starts, and each begins a fresh scan. An agent you paused yourself stays paused until you resume it.

**How often should an agent scan?**

Every 24 hours. That is the only cadence. An agent that last ran a few hours ago is waiting for its next run, not stuck.

**Why can I not resume an agent?**

The workspace is not on a paid plan, or a trial has used its engagements and the plan has not started yet. The message you see says which.