SillyTavern on Android: fixing the common Termux failures

Last updated August 29, 2026 · Commands follow the official SillyTavern Android guide

This guide is maintained by the developer of LonelyTavern, a native Android app for character chat. Everything below, though, is about getting your SillyTavern install working again.

1. Termux can't install or update anything

The most common root cause on a fresh setup: the Play Store version of Termux, which is no longer maintained and ships outdated packages. Uninstall it and install Termux from F-Droid (recommended) or from Termux's GitHub releases. Then bring everything current:

pkg update && pkg upgrade

If package downloads hang or time out, run termux-change-repo, pick a different mirror, and try again.

2. start.sh used to work — now it doesn't

The usual story: a package upgrade moved Node out from under SillyTavern, or Node was installed as the non-LTS build in the first place. The official guide pins nodejs-lts; many video tutorials say pkg install nodejs — that difference alone explains a lot of "it worked last week." Work down this ladder:

pkg update && pkg upgrade
pkg install nodejs-lts
cd ~/SillyTavern && git pull --rebase --autostash
bash start.sh

If it still fails, do a fresh clone — keeping your data:

mv ~/SillyTavern ~/SillyTavern-old
git clone https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern -b release
cp -r ~/SillyTavern-old/data ~/SillyTavern/
cd ~/SillyTavern && bash start.sh

Your chats, characters, and settings live in the data folder; the old install stays in ~/SillyTavern-old until you're sure everything came across.

3. The server dies when the screen locks

Android reclaims background processes aggressively, and a Node server inside Termux is a prime target. In order of effectiveness:

Run termux-wake-lock (or tap Acquire wakelock in Termux's notification) before long sessions.
Exempt Termux from battery optimization: Settings → Apps → Termux → Battery → Unrestricted. Menu names vary by manufacturer, and some vendors (heavy Android skins in particular) kill background apps anyway.
For long chats, keep Termux visible in split screen instead of fully backgrounded.

4. npm crashes during install (error code 134)

Error 134 during npm install is almost always memory exhaustion on a low-RAM phone. Close every other app and rerun the install; make sure Node is the LTS build (pkg install nodejs-lts). On 32-bit devices, the official guide additionally requires pkg install esbuild.

5. Everything is slow

The official Android guide calls out three config.yaml settings to review on low-resource devices: lazy character loading, disk caching, and automatic chat backups — see the docs for the current recommended values. Beyond that, phone storage is slow: very large chat files and libraries of hundreds of cards cost real load time on mobile, so keep the on-device library lean.

6. Chats or characters disappeared

Data-loss reports cluster around interrupted writes — the app or phone killed mid-save, or an update that went wrong. Prevention beats recovery. Run termux-setup-storage once to get access to shared storage, then back up before every update:

cp -r ~/SillyTavern/data ~/storage/shared/SillyTavern-backup

If something has already vanished: stop, don't keep writing, and check SillyTavern's own backups folder inside data before assuming the worst.

7. The reply dies when you lock the phone or switch apps

This one isn't the server — it's the browser. The reply streams into your open tab over a live connection, and mobile browsers suspend background tabs within seconds to save battery, which cuts the stream. Keep the screen on until generation finishes, use split screen, or reduce the response length so replies complete faster. Firefox on Android tends to keep background tabs alive slightly longer than Chrome.

If you'd rather not run a server on your phone

Everything above keeps SillyTavern itself running — and if that's what you want, the official docs are good and the community is helpful. But if what you actually need is your characters, your API key, and your phone, that's why we built LonelyTavern: a native Android app that imports V3 character cards and world-info lorebooks, works with any OpenAI-compatible provider under your own key, and keeps everything on your device. Free, no account, no ads — and nothing to maintain at 2 a.m. It isn't full SillyTavern (no extensions or group chats), but for the core loop it's install-and-go.

SillyTavern and Termux are independent projects of their respective authors. LonelyTavern is not affiliated with or endorsed by either project. Commands here follow the official SillyTavern documentation at docs.sillytavern.app — always check there for the current instructions.