BerriAI/litellm · error · ValueError

Either credential_values or model_id must be set

Error message

Either credential_values or model_id must be set

What it means

Pydantic model_validator on CreateCredentialItem: both credential_values and model_id were left unset, so the credential row would carry neither secret material nor a model binding — one of the two must be present for the record to be meaningful.

Source

Thrown at litellm/models/credentials.py:28

class CredentialBase(BaseModel):
    credential_name: str
    credential_info: dict


class CredentialItem(CredentialBase):
    credential_values: dict


class CreateCredentialItem(CredentialBase):
    credential_values: dict | None = None
    model_id: str | None = None

    @model_validator(mode="before")
    @classmethod
    def check_credential_params(cls, values):
        if not values.get("credential_values") and not values.get("model_id"):
            raise ValueError("Either credential_values or model_id must be set")
        return values

View on GitHub (pinned to 77b7c6c40c)

Solutions

  1. Set either credential_values (the actual credentials) or model_id when constructing the credentials record.
  2. Check the caller to ensure at least one of the two fields is populated.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at litellm/models/credentials.py:28 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of BerriAI/litellm@77b7c6c40c (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4b871e281f646523. Report an issue: GitHub.