BerriAI/litellm · error · ValueError

PAGERDUTY_API_KEY is not set

Error message

PAGERDUTY_API_KEY is not set

What it means

ValueError raised in PagerDutyAlerting.__init__ (extends SlackAlerting) when the PAGERDUTY_API_KEY environment variable is empty or unset. The callback needs the key to authenticate against PagerDuty's Events API, so proxy startup fails fast when the callback is configured but the key is missing.

Source

Thrown at enterprise/litellm_enterprise/enterprise_callbacks/pagerduty/pagerduty.py:57

PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD = 60
PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD_WINDOW_SECONDS = 60
PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_HANGING_THRESHOLD_SECONDS = 60
PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_HANGING_THRESHOLD_WINDOW_SECONDS = 600


class PagerDutyAlerting(SlackAlerting):
    """
    Tracks failed requests and hanging requests separately.
    If threshold is crossed for either type, triggers a PagerDuty alert.
    """

    def __init__(
        self, alerting_args: Optional[Union[AlertingConfig, dict]] = None, **kwargs
    ):
        super().__init__()
        _api_key = os.getenv("PAGERDUTY_API_KEY")
        if not _api_key:
            raise ValueError("PAGERDUTY_API_KEY is not set")

        self.api_key: str = _api_key
        alerting_args = alerting_args or {}
        self.pagerduty_alerting_args: AlertingConfig = AlertingConfig(
            failure_threshold=alerting_args.get(
                "failure_threshold", PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD
            ),
            failure_threshold_window_seconds=alerting_args.get(
                "failure_threshold_window_seconds",
                PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD_WINDOW_SECONDS,
            ),
            hanging_threshold_seconds=alerting_args.get(
                "hanging_threshold_seconds", PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_HANGING_THRESHOLD_SECONDS
            ),
            hanging_threshold_window_seconds=alerting_args.get(
                "hanging_threshold_window_seconds",
                PAGERDUTY_DEFAULT_HANGING_THRESHOLD_WINDOW_SECONDS,
            ),

View on GitHub (pinned to 6c2dcb801b)

Solutions

1. Set PAGERDUTY_API_KEY in the proxy deployment environment (K8s secret, Compose environment, systemd Environment=).
2. Verify inside the container: printenv PAGERDUTY_API_KEY.
3. Confirm the key is a valid PagerDuty Events API v2 integration key so alerting works after startup.
4. If PagerDuty alerting is not wanted, remove the pagerduty callback from the config.

Example fix

# before (docker-compose)
services:
  litellm:
    environment:
      - ALERTING=pagerduty  # key missing -> ValueError

# after
services:
  litellm:
    environment:
      - ALERTING=pagerduty
      - PAGERDUTY_API_KEY=${PAGERDUTY_API_KEY}

import os

if not os.getenv("PAGERDUTY_API_KEY"):
    raise SystemExit("PAGERDUTY_API_KEY must be set when the pagerduty callback is enabled")

try:
    alerting = PagerDutyAlerting(alerting_args={...})
except ValueError as e:
    if "PAGERDUTY_API_KEY" in str(e):
        logger.error("set PAGERDUTY_API_KEY in the deployment environment")
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: Adding the pagerduty callback to litellm_settings.callbacks (or alerting config) without setting PAGERDUTY_API_KEY in the proxy process environment. os.getenv returns None or empty string, triggering the raise during callback initialization.

Common situations: Env var defined in a local .env but not in the Docker Compose environment block, Kubernetes secret, or systemd unit actually running the proxy; key name typos (PAGERDUTY_APIKEY, PAGER_DUTY_API_KEY); rotating secrets and accidentally deleting the variable.

Related errors

• Missing `LLM_GUARD_API_BASE` from environment
• File not found. blocked_user_list={blocked_user_list}
• An error occurred: {str(e)}, blocked_user_list={blocked_user
• Missing google.cloud package. Run `pip install --upgrade goo
• model_name not set for LlamaGuard

AI-assisted analysis of BerriAI/litellm@6c2dcb801b (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/77036ba9aa4687fc. Report an issue: GitHub.