LifeTrace FAQ

Installation Related

Q: What should I do if dependency installation fails?

A: Try the following solutions:

1. Use Chinese mirror:

pip install -r requirements.txt -i https://pypi.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/simple

2. Upgrade pip:

pip install --upgrade pip

3. Install key dependencies separately:

pip install rapidocr-onnxruntime
pip install chromadb
pip install flask

Q: What if RapidOCR installation fails?

A: RapidOCR may require a specific version:

# Uninstall existing version
pip uninstall rapidocr-onnxruntime

# Install specific version
pip install rapidocr-onnxruntime==1.3.0

On macOS, you may need to install Xcode command line tools:

xcode-select --install

Q: ChromaDB initialization failed?

A: Ensure sufficient disk space and check permissions:

# Create data directory
mkdir -p ./chromadb

# Check permissions
chmod -R 755 ./chromadb

# Reinitialize
python init_db.py

Usage Related

Q: Screenshot service didn't start automatically?

A: Check the following:

1. Confirm service is running:

ps aux | grep screenshot_service

2. Check log file:

tail -f logs/screenshot.log

3. Manually start service:

python screenshot_service.py --debug

Q: What if OCR recognition is inaccurate?

A: Try the following optimizations:

1. Adjust image quality:

screenshot:
  quality: 95  # Increase quality (1-100)

2. Change OCR language model:

ocr:
  language: ch_en  # Chinese-English mixed

3. Enable post-processing:

ocr:
  post_process: true

Q: Search results not accurate?

A: Optimize search configuration:

1. Adjust similarity threshold:

search:
  similarity_threshold: 0.6  # Lower threshold (0-1)

2. Increase number of results:

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/search \
  -d '{"query": "keyword", "limit": 50}'

3. Use semantic search instead of keyword search

Q: What if storage space is too large?

A: Optimize storage strategy:

1. Lower image quality:

screenshot:
  quality: 70

2. Increase screenshot interval:

screenshot:
  interval: 300  # 5 minutes

3. Regularly cleanup old data:

lifetrace cleanup --before 2025-09-01

4. Enable image compression:

screenshot:
  compress: true

Performance Related

Q: LifeTrace consuming too much CPU?

A: Performance optimization:

1. Adjust screenshot interval to reduce frequency
2. Disable real-time OCR, switch to batch processing:

ocr:
  realtime: false
  batch_size: 10

3. Limit OCR threads:

ocr:
  max_threads: 2

Q: Database query slow?

A: Database optimization:

1. Rebuild index:

python manage.py rebuild-index

2. Cleanup old data
3. Increase memory cache:

database:
  cache_size: 1024  # MB

Q: Frontend interface lagging?

A: Frontend optimization:

1. Reduce per-page display count
2. Enable virtual scrolling
3. Optimize image loading (lazy loading)

Privacy & Security

Q: How to avoid capturing sensitive information?

A: Set application blacklist:

screenshot:
  blacklist:
    - "1Password"
    - "Bitwarden"
    - "Banking App"
    - "Private Browser"

Or set region exclusion:

screenshot:
  exclude_regions:
    - x: 0
      y: 0
      width: 100
      height: 100

Q: Will data be uploaded to cloud?

A: LifeTrace is a completely local application. All data is stored locally and will not be uploaded to any cloud server. Your data is completely under your control.

Q: How to encrypt stored data?

A: Enable data encryption:

security:
  encryption: true
  encryption_key: "your-secret-key"

Or use full disk encryption (such as BitLocker, FileVault).

Feature Related

Q: Does it support multiple monitors?

A: Yes, LifeTrace supports multiple monitors:

screenshot:
  multi_monitor: true
  # Specify monitors (optional)
  monitors: [0, 1]  # Capture 1st and 2nd monitor

Q: Can data be exported?

A: Yes, multiple formats are supported:

# JSON format
lifetrace export --format json --output data.json

# CSV format
lifetrace export --format csv --output data.csv

# Archive export with images
lifetrace export --format archive --output backup.zip

Q: Does it support cloud sync?

A: Current version doesn't directly support cloud sync, but you can:

1. Use cloud storage to sync data directory
2. Use rsync for regular backup
3. Build your own sync service

Q: Can it be used on multiple devices?

A: Yes, but requires separate deployment. For data sharing:

1. Use shared storage
2. Build centralized server
3. Use data export/import function

Error Handling

Q: "Port already in use" error?

A: Port is occupied:

# Find process occupying port
lsof -i :5000

# Kill process
kill -9 <PID>

# Or change port
python app.py --port 5001

Q: "Permission denied" error?

A: Permission issue:

# Check file permissions
ls -la

# Modify permissions
chmod -R 755 .

# Use sudo (carefully)
sudo python app.py

Q: OCR returns garbled text?

A: Encoding issue:

1. Check system encoding:

locale

2. Set correct encoding:

export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

3. Specify in config file:

ocr:
  encoding: utf-8

Development Related

Q: How to contribute code?

A: Welcome to contribute!

1. Fork project repository
2. Create feature branch
3. Submit code
4. Create Pull Request

See Contribution Guide

Q: How to develop custom plugins?

A: LifeTrace supports plugin system:

# my_plugin.py
from lifetrace.plugin import Plugin

class MyPlugin(Plugin):
    def on_screenshot(self, screenshot):
        # Custom processing
        pass

Register plugin:

plugins:
  - path: ./plugins/my_plugin.py
    enabled: true

Q: Where is the API documentation?

A: After starting the service, visit:

http://localhost:5000/api/docs

Or see Online API Documentation

Community Support

Q: How to get help when encountering problems?

A: Multiple channels:

1. Check GitHub Issues
2. Submit new Issue
3. Join discussion community
4. Check online documentation

Q: How to report bugs?

A: Submit an Issue on GitHub, please include:

1. Detailed problem description
2. Reproduction steps
3. System environment information
4. Related logs and error messages
5. Screenshots (if applicable)

Q: Are there plans to add new features?

A: Welcome to check the Roadmap, or submit feature suggestions.

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Have Other Questions?

If the above content doesn't solve your problem, please:

• Visit GitHub Repository
• Submit Issue
• Check Complete Documentation