Help & troubleshooting

The key was copied incompletely or from the wrong place.

1. Open aistudio.google.com/apikey (step-by-step: free Gemini key guide), click Create API key, then Copy.
2. Paste the whole key (a long string: older keys start with AIza, newer ones with AQ.) and press Test.
3. If Google says the key is “not allowed to use Gemini”, create a new key in a new project from the same page.

It is a scan or a photo. With a Gemini key entered, the app reads it for you automatically. Press Save again. Otherwise export the resume from Word as PDF, or upload the .docx directly.

Click setup in the overlay's header (next to pause). The same setup screen opens with everything pre-filled. Change what you need, press Save, and choose Restart now so the new settings apply. Your license and trial are untouched.

Click setup in the overlay's header. Under your resume are two boxes: Job description for this interview (up to 1,900 characters) and Your own examples (up to 3,300). Paste the job ad into the first. In the second, write a short paragraph for each real story: what happened, what you did, the numbers. Press Save and choose Restart now. Both boxes are optional; empty one and press Save to delete it.

Answers then use the role's words and tell your stories with their real details, so you can recognise your own story by its names and numbers. When none of your stories or CV fits a question, the answer says so (“I haven't hit that exact case, but here's how I'd approach it”) instead of making up an incident. No boxes in setup? Download the app again from this site to update.

Click More info → Run anyway. The installer is unsigned (signing certificates cost more than the app earns for now). It installs only into your own user folder, needs no admin rights, and adds a Start-menu and Desktop shortcut. Prefer no installer? The portable Interview-Sarthi.exe on the releases page runs from anywhere.

Best: wired earphones, or the laptop's own speaker and mic, in your meeting app.

Bluetooth earphones? Disconnect them, and use wired earphones or the laptop's own speaker and mic in your meeting app.

In Interview Sarthi, click setup and keep both sound boxes on Automatic. Then test with the AI interviewer before your next interview.

In Interview Sarthi, click more, then reconnect. Keep your meeting open.

If you do not see reconnect, download the update and install it over your old copy. Your key and settings stay.

Open Interview Sarthi once. Clicking its icon again brings the same window forward.

The message box grows to fit its text. Drag the small grip below it up or down to change its height. Double-click the grip to let it grow automatically again.

Windows found no audio device. This happens on desktop PCs with nothing plugged into the audio jack, or when the sound device is disabled.

1. Plug in headphones or speakers (and a microphone or headset if you have one).
2. Right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar → Sound settings → make sure an Output device and an Input device are listed and not disabled.
3. Close and start Interview Sarthi again. It listens to whatever Windows plays through, so a working output device is required.

Make sure you can hear the interviewer through this computer. Check, in order:

1. In your meeting app, choose this computer's speakers or earphones for listening. Keep the call's sound on this computer.
2. Bluetooth earphones? Disconnect them, and use wired earphones or the laptop's own speaker and mic in your meeting app.
3. In Interview Sarthi, click setup and keep both sound boxes on Automatic.
4. Click more, then reconnect, and try the AI interviewer.

Put on wired earphones. Bluetooth earphones? Disconnect them, and use wired earphones or the laptop's own speaker and mic in your meeting app.

If you are testing a call from your phone, keep the phone away from the laptop, or the app hears you twice.

Someone spoke while the app was answering. Ask the interviewer to repeat the question; the full answer also follows by itself.

Click setup in the overlay's header and check the resume line says “Resume ready: N lines”. If it says it could not be summarised, press Save again with internet on. Also check Your field is filled. It tunes the answers. The resume is summarised, so for answers that tell a real incident of yours (a bug you fixed, a deadline you saved), write it in Your own examples in setup; that box is used as you wrote it.

On Windows 10 (2004+) and 11, the overlay is hidden from supported screen sharing in compatible setups with Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, OBS and other apps. Visibility depends on the capture method and your setup. If the panel appears in your share, check your Windows version and sharing settings, then test both sides of a practice call.

Normal: the app reconnects by itself and carries the conversation over. You lose at most a few seconds. If it repeats every few seconds, your internet is dropping. Switch to a wired connection or mobile hotspot.

Open Interview Sarthi once, put on earphones and open the AI interviewer. Add your resume and press Start. When the interviewer asks a question, check that a suggested answer appears in Interview Sarthi.

Best: wired earphones, or the laptop's own speaker and mic. Bluetooth earphones? Disconnect them. Testing alone with the practice page or a phone? Answer when it asks; if the interviewer talks over an answer, the full answer follows in a moment. If you test from your phone instead, keep the phone away from the laptop, or the app hears you twice. Ask interview questions in English or Hindi.

The pass ran its 2 or 30 days, or the payment was refunded. Buy a new pass from the pricing section, paste the new key, click Activate. Your resume and settings are kept.

A 1-Month key works on two computers, a 2-Day key on one. On the old computer click setup in the overlay's header → License → Release this device. If you no longer have that computer, email us with your key and we will release it.

Check spam for your purchase email (from Cashfree in India, Dodo Payments outside India). The key is also shown on the page you were sent to after paying. Still nothing after 15 minutes: email us with the payment email address.

Your invite code is in the email with your license key, and on the page shown after you pay. You can also paste your key on the invite page to get your link. When a friend buys a pass with your code and activates it on their own computer, you each get a Free Interview Day key by email. It gives 24 hours on one computer and starts only when you activate it; activate it within 30 days. If a pass is still running, use the free day after it ends: the app then shows the license screen, where you paste the key and click Activate. Full rules.

Your first pass has a 7-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked: email us within 7 days of purchase with the payment email address and we refund in full. Later passes are refunded within 7 days if the app does not work on your computer and the steps above do not fix it. Refunds go back to the original payment method in 5–7 working days.