Commands Not Working · Plugin Unresponsive

Scope

This page only covers "the plugin is installed but doesn't work". For English tutorials (how to use each feature), see Tutorials.

Quick reference

Symptom	Most likely cause	Fix
Clicking a command does nothing at all — no dialog, no message	Another plugin is conflicting / the command is taken over	2. Plugin conflict
Revit freezes / not responding when opening a tool that loads families	Input method (IME) compatibility	1. IME compatibility
All commands fail	Incomplete Revit installation	4. Incomplete Revit installation
Only fails in one project, works in another	Project template problem	3. Template file problem
Command line turns grey and you don't know what to click	Not a bug — see below	Grey command line
Right after opening Revit, Catfish takes a few seconds to become usable; the first radial menu stutters	Startup loads commands, fetches your licence online, installs the global hook	Normal, see 6

1. IME compatibility (family upgrade freeze)

Symptom: When a tool loads families by default and a family needs upgrading, Revit freezes and stops responding.

Cause: The input method editor (IME) grabs focus during the family upgrade and blocks it.

Fix: Configure your IME as shown below (install the US English keyboard and switch to it).

2. Plugin conflict (most common)

Symptom: A command does nothing, or gets taken over by another add-in.

Cause: Too many add-ins installed — especially ones with similar functionality or from different vendors — causing resource contention, command override, or a direct conflict.

Fix:

1. Open C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins and temporarily disable non-essential third-party add-ins one by one
2. Test the failing command after disabling each one (do not disable a batch at once)
3. Once you find the conflicting add-in, contact its vendor or keep it disabled

3. Template file problem

Symptom: The command misbehaves in the current project but works in another.

Cause: The project template is corrupt, misconfigured, or contains non-standard content that interferes with the plugin.

Fix:

1. Create a new file using Revit's default architectural template
2. Test the same command there
3. If it works, your original template is the problem — clean or rebuild it

4. Incomplete Revit installation

Symptom: Every add-in command fails.

Fix:

• Repair: Control Panel → Programs and Features → find Revit → Repair
• Reinstall: If repair doesn't help, completely uninstall and reinstall Revit from a known-good installer

5. Plugin bug

Fix:

• Make sure you are on the latest version
• Report with the information listed on the Troubleshooting home page
• For intermittent issues that can't be reproduced reliably: turn on the diagnostic log, reproduce the problem once, and send us the log directory

6. What Catfish does when Revit starts (a short delay is normal)

Symptom: Right after opening Revit, Catfish's panels take a few seconds to become usable and the buttons are grey for a moment; the first time you right-drag to pop the radial menu ("bubble") it stutters.

Cause: The plugin isn't "done the moment it opens" — at startup it does four things in the background, and each one takes time:

Step	What it does	Why it takes time
1	Load all commands	Registers every panel and button into Revit; pure in-memory work, usually the fastest
2	Fetch permissions online	Contacts the server to check the licence for all four tabs (Tools / Family Library / Base / Cloud); the four checks run in parallel, but a flaky network slows this down noticeably and the buttons stay grey longer
3	Load Revit's native commands	Collects all of Revit's built-in commands so the "bubble" menu can list them; it has to walk Revit's command list and reflect over the Ribbon tree — the most expensive step
4	Install the global mouse hook	The "right-drag to pop the radial menu" feature needs a global mouse hook; installed only when the bubble feature is on

Bottom line: These steps together are where "those few seconds after opening Revit" come from — native commands + the global mouse hook (both part of the bubble) are the most expensive, which is why the first radial-menu pop stutters. This is normal loading, not a freeze:

• Just wait a moment after opening Revit, or the first time you use the bubble; it is fast afterwards
• A flaky network clearly affects step 2 — the "greyed-out licence buttons" last longer and recover on their own once the network is back
• Only a long freeze (more than ten-odd seconds with no response at all) counts as a problem → check 2. Plugin conflict and 4. Incomplete Revit installation
• If you don't use the bubble, turn it off in "Bubble settings" and the global mouse hook won't be installed at startup, saving a little startup time

Grey command line (this is normal)

Not a bug. Most commands are multi-step: after pressing Enter for one step the command line turns grey, and the prompt appears at the bottom-left corner of the Revit window.

• Do whatever the bottom-left prompt says (e.g. "click to select an element", "select the direction of the main runner")
• Read the prompt for the required target — different commands need different objects (host, reference edge, clip strip direction, …)
• Most commands load a base family first; clicking before loading finishes does nothing
• Can't select something? Press Tab to drill through. Many commands group their output, and a group cannot be selected directly — you must Tab into it

Related

The typical case for "Tab through a group" is the framing back-brace / transfer layer / diagonal brace → see the Chinese video index, or the Framing notes.