BerriAI/litellm · error · ValueError

Blocking web crawlers is an enterprise feature. You must be

Error message

Blocking web crawlers is an enterprise feature. You must be a LiteLLM Enterprise user to use this feature. If you have a license please set `LITELLM_LICENSE` in your env. Get a 7 day trial key here: https://www.litellm.ai/enterprise#trial. 
Pricing: https://www.litellm.ai/#pricing

What it means

A startup-time ValueError from enterprise utils: general_settings contains block_robots=true, which is an Enterprise-only feature, and premium_user is not True (no valid LITELLM_LICENSE). The proxy validates this setting during config load and aborts rather than silently running the non-enterprise behavior.

Source

Thrown at enterprise/litellm_enterprise/proxy/utils.py:31

    general_settings:
      block_robots: true
    ```
    """
    from litellm.proxy.proxy_server import (
        CommonProxyErrors,
        general_settings,
        premium_user,
    )

    _block_robots: Union[bool, str] = general_settings.get("block_robots", False)
    block_robots: Optional[bool] = None
    if isinstance(_block_robots, bool):
        block_robots = _block_robots
    elif isinstance(_block_robots, str):
        block_robots = str_to_bool(_block_robots)
    if block_robots is True:
        if premium_user is not True:
            raise ValueError(
                f"Blocking web crawlers is an enterprise feature. {CommonProxyErrors.not_premium_user.value}"
            )
        return True
    return False

View on GitHub (pinned to 6c2dcb801b)

Solutions

1. Set a valid LITELLM_LICENSE (or trial key from https://www.litellm.ai/enterprise#trial) in the proxy environment and restart.
2. If you do not intend to use the feature, remove 'block_robots' (or set it to false) from general_settings in the config.
3. Verify the license env var actually reaches the process (docker -e, k8s secret, systemd Environment=) and check startup logs for license validation.
4. Pin a known-good deployment after fixing, since this error prevents the proxy from starting.

Example fix

# before (config.yaml)
general_settings:
  block_robots: true  # ValueError: enterprise feature, no license

# after: either license it...
# export LITELLM_LICENSE='<your-enterprise-key>'

# ...or drop the setting
general_settings: {}

import os, yaml
cfg = yaml.safe_load(open('config.yaml'))
if cfg.get('general_settings', {}).get('block_robots'):
    if not os.environ.get('LITELLM_LICENSE'):
        raise RuntimeError('block_robots requires LITELLM_LICENSE')

When it happens

Trigger: Enabling 'block_robots': true in general_settings of the proxy config while LITELLM_LICENSE is unset, expired, or invalid. The check `block_robots is True and premium_user is not True` fires and raises.

Common situations: Copying an enterprise example config into a community deployment; trial license expiring between restarts; LITELLM_LICENSE env var not passed into the container so the premium check fails after a redeploy.

Related errors

• Only premium users can add tags to projects. You must be a L
• Project management is an enterprise feature. You must be a L
• Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}
• Missing Authorization header
• Invalid bearer token

AI-assisted analysis of BerriAI/litellm@6c2dcb801b (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/634e3aace9902946. Report an issue: GitHub.