Why is my Mac online but not getting Darkbloom jobs?
Updated
Short answer: run darkbloom status and check the Trust line says hardware / online; then send a self-routed test request, run darkbloom stop and darkbloom start, and reboot if nothing arrives within a few minutes. A Darkbloom provider can look healthy, online and with a model loaded, and still receive no paid work for hours. Other providers see the same thing. Most cases have one of a few causes, and most are fixed by a clean restart.
1. Check the basics first
- Run darkbloom status in Terminal. The provider should be running, signed in and serving a model.
- Make sure the Mac is awake and on power. A sleeping Mac drops off the network and gets no work.
- Check that your Mac appears in Darkbloom’s provider list in the console. Right after a restart it can take a few minutes to show up again.
2. Routing stall: online, but the network stopped sending work
The most common case. Your Mac is connected, but the coordinator has stopped routing requests to it. Providers in the Darkbloom Slack reported it every week of September 2026, lasting from 20 minutes to more than a day. These fix it, in order of effort:
- Send your Mac a self-routed test request: a normal request to api.darkbloom.dev with the header X-Darkbloom-Route: self (or an API key set to use only your own machine). It goes through the coordinator to your Mac, is free, and providers report it often gets paid work flowing again.
- Stop and start the provider: darkbloom stop, then darkbloom start. Let the start finish (see the drain note below), then give it a few minutes. Providers report this works more often than darkbloom restart.
- If that doesn’t help, reboot the Mac.
Earning base rewards but no paid jobs
Base rewards only need a loaded model and a steady connection, so they keep arriving while routing is stuck. Paid requests also need the coordinator to consider your Mac verified and routable. So “only base rewards for hours” usually means a routing stall (above) or pending verification (below), not a problem with your model. Note that Darkbloom’s earnings page counts base-reward rows as jobs, so a rising job count does not prove paid work is arriving.
Online is not the same as verified
Run darkbloom status and look at the Trust line. hardware / online means the coordinator can route public work to your Mac. self_signed, pending App Attest or untrusted means it is connected but not being sent paid requests. See the verification article below for the fix.
3. The provider is drained after a restart
Since Darkbloom 0.9.9, darkbloom start and restart first drain: new work is refused while accepted requests finish, for up to 10 minutes by default. If that wait times out, the provider can stay running but drained, and it serves nothing until it is restarted again. See the drained provider article below.
4. The coordinator’s record of your Mac is stale
A model_not_loaded reply for a model that is loaded means Darkbloom’s coordinator has an old picture of your Mac. A restart makes the provider reconnect and report its current state.
5. Nobody is asking for your model right now
Demand moves between models through the day, and in late September 2026 Darkbloom had far more Macs than requests (network utilization around 7%). Requests go to the Mac expected to answer fastest, so smaller Macs (24–32 GB) often serve nothing. When the model you run goes quiet, a healthy Mac still earns little. Switching to a model with steadier demand helps (see which model to run).
6. A problem on Darkbloom’s side
Sometimes many providers stop at once, for example on September 25, 2026, when a verification change in Darkbloom 0.9.9 dropped many Macs for about an hour. Darkbloom’s status page (status.darkbloom.dev) checks only its own servers and model availability, not whether your Mac is being routed work, so it can stay green during these. If restarts don’t help, check the #providers channel in the Darkbloom Slack before changing anything else.
How BloomGauge helps
BloomGauge notices when steady paid work stops and recovers on its own: it restarts a provider left drained, waits out the drain, restores the model that pays best on your Mac, and tells you if that doesn’t work.
Questions
Why does my Darkbloom provider say online but earn nothing?
Usually the coordinator has stopped routing work to the Mac (a routing stall), the provider is still drained after a restart, or demand for your model has dropped. Restart the provider with darkbloom restart and let it finish; if nothing arrives within a few minutes, reboot the Mac.
Why do I get only base rewards and no Darkbloom jobs?
Base rewards need only a loaded model and a steady connection, while paid requests also need the coordinator to route to your Mac. Hours of base rewards with no paid work usually mean a routing stall or pending verification. Send a self-routed test request, then run darkbloom stop and darkbloom start, then reboot.
Does sending my own request to the model help?
A self-routed request through api.darkbloom.dev (header X-Darkbloom-Route: self) goes through the coordinator and is reported to help. A plain local request to 127.0.0.1 does not, because it never passes through the coordinator.
The Darkbloom status page is green. Why is my Mac getting nothing?
The status page checks Darkbloom’s servers and model availability, not whether your Mac is verified and being routed work. Check the Trust line in darkbloom status.
What does model_not_loaded mean when my model is loaded?
Darkbloom’s coordinator has a stale record of your Mac. Restarting the provider makes it reconnect and report its current state.
Related
- Darkbloom verification pending: MDM, App Attest and trust on macOS 27
- Darkbloom provider stuck draining after a restart
- Which Darkbloom model should I run on my Mac?
- Darkbloom “machine_busy” or “your machine is at capacity” while the Mac is idle
Updated 2026-09-29. Still stuck? Ask in #bloomgauge on the Darkbloom Slack or contact us. BloomGauge is independent and not affiliated with Darkbloom.