CueSync Dropped to Read-Only

What Read-Only Means

In read-only mode you can open the built-in demo show, press Space to step through its cues and watch each one fire on screen with nothing sent to real equipment, look through its Show Editor timeline and Run Mode, and tour the cue, pad, AutoPilot, device, network and Settings screens; building and saving shows, and live output, wait until the licence is active again. It's the same mode a fresh unlicensed install starts in. If a Mac that was fully licensed drops back to it, one of a small number of things happened.

The Usual Causes

1. Offline too long. A paid license runs fully offline for up to 7 days between successful license checks. Past that, CueSync falls back to read-only until it can reach the license server once. If your show machine deliberately stays offline, connect it briefly (a phone hotspot is sufficient) at least once a week.

2. A billing lapse. A failed renewal enters a 7-day grace period with automatic payment retries — covered in detail in Subscription Grace Period. If the grace period ran out, the license lapses and the desktop drops to read-only at its next license check.

3. A device change. Your license registers two Macs on a solo plan (three on a team plan). If this Mac was deactivated — from the dashboard, or to free a slot for another machine — it loses its activation — see Managing Devices.

Diagnosing It

Open Diagnostics and check the License card: it shows the edition CueSync is currently running, any offline grace remaining, and the most recent validation failure reason — that reason string identifies the cause in almost every case.

Getting Back to Live Output

1. Get the Mac online — CueSync revalidates against the license server and restores your edition on success. Restarting the app forces an immediate check.
2. Check your subscription in the account dashboard — if it shows past-due or cancelled, fix billing first; the license revives on the next check after payment succeeds.
3. Re-activate if needed — if the device was deactivated, paste your key again under Settings → Account & License.
4. Still read-only with an active subscription and a connected Mac? Contact support with the validation failure reason from the Diagnostics License card — that string pinpoints the problem.

Before a Tour

Two habits prevent nearly all mid-tour interruptions: confirm the Diagnostics License card shows your edition with healthy validation before departure, and ensure the show Mac gets online at least weekly. Your existing shows, venue profiles and settings are not deleted or changed by licence state; read-only limits building, saving and live output.