AreaCacao Docs

The recipe isn't delivered

When it appears: after its attempts, the engine couldn't get a recipe with all its parameters within the type's range (or with the minimum score). Instead of the result you'll see the We haven't mastered that combination yet screen, with the text "Your combination of type and flavor isn't in our recipe book yet, and we'd rather not hand you a half-baked recipe. We expand it every week. Your credits have been returned."
Why: the combination of filling type, flavors and diet leaves the engine no room for a balanced recipe.
What to do:
1. Click Try another combination: you go back to the review with your choices.
2. Try a more classic flavor (vanilla, coffee, hazelnut), change the filling type or drop the most demanding Diet constraint.
3. Create again. The credits from the previous attempt have already been returned.

What happens: scene 1 shows five active families: Ganache, Caramel, Pâte de fruit, Praline & gianduja and Truffle. Families still in development (Crunchy fillings, Foams, Creams and Traditional pastes) are hidden: they don't appear in the grid and can't be selected.
Why: the hidden ones don't yet have an engine with a quality guarantee, so the wizard doesn't expose them. There's no error flow or refund for them, because they can't be generated.
What to do: work with the five active families. When a new family is switched on, it will appear in the wizard and the documentation will grow accordingly.

When it appears: the search can't find your flavor, or the flavor family you're looking for doesn't show up for your filling type.
Why: the flavor isn't curated in the catalog yet or goes by a different name. Also, some types hide flavors that don't suit their technique: pâte de fruit doesn't show Dairy & cheeses and creamy praline only accepts fruit and other water-based flavors in dry form.
What to do: try a synonym or a similar flavor from the same aromatic family. If you work a lot with a flavor that doesn't appear, report it to support so it can be added.

Symptom: clicking Create my recipe opens the You're out of credits modal.
Why: your AI credit balance is below the 12 a generation costs. The button isn't disabled: the modal pops up when you try to create the recipe.
What to do: from the modal you can buy a credit pack (they never expire) or upgrade your plan. If you buy a pack, click Continue on the Credits added! screen and the recipe is created with the same choices. See Credits and refunds.

When it appears: something went wrong on the server while the recipe was being prepared.
What you see: the failure message and the note "Your credits have been returned: this recipe cost you nothing."
What to do: click Try again to relaunch it with the same choices, or Back to review to change something first. If it fails again, wait a few minutes.

If the recipe never gets started, you'll see a notice above the scene and no credits are used:

"Too many requests in a row. Wait a few seconds and try again."
"Connection error. Check your network and try again."
"We couldn't get your recipe started. No credits were used; please try again."

Symptom: the four progress phases don't move.
Action: the recipe is prepared on the server, so you can close the window or reload: when you come back to the formulator, the app picks up the generation in progress or shows you the result. If you'd rather not wait, click Cancel this recipe and we return your credits. If a generation makes no progress for more than 15 minutes, the system marks it as failed and returns the credits automatically.

The same combination keeps failing with standard flavors (raspberry, vanilla) and a reasonable weight (1 kg).
Your credits weren't returned after you saw the We haven't mastered that combination yet, We couldn't finish your recipe or You cancelled the generation screen.