BerriAI/litellm · error · HTTPException

Registration requires an API key associated with a team. Use

Error message

Registration requires an API key associated with a team. Use a team-scoped key.

What it means

Prerequisite guard on POST /v1/mcp/server/register: the API key used has no team_id. Submissions are filed on behalf of a team (the server is later attributed/approved in a team context), so a personal or unscoped key cannot use this endpoint.

Source

Thrown at litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/mcp_management_endpoints.py:1247

    async def register_mcp_server(
        payload: NewMCPServerRequest,
        user_api_key_dict: UserAPIKeyAuth = Depends(user_api_key_auth),
    ):
        """
        Allow team members to submit an MCP server for admin review.
        Creates the server with approval_status=pending_review.
        Requires a team-scoped API key.
        """
        if user_api_key_dict.user_role == LitellmUserRoles.PROXY_ADMIN:
            raise HTTPException(
                status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN,
                detail={
                    "error": "PROXY_ADMIN users should use POST /v1/mcp/server to create servers directly instead of the submission workflow."
                },
            )

        if not user_api_key_dict.team_id:
            raise HTTPException(
                status_code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
                detail={"error": "Registration requires an API key associated with a team. Use a team-scoped key."},
            )

        # stdio servers spawn a local subprocess on the proxy host with the
        # configured command + args, so accepting them from non-admin callers
        # would let a team member propose a server config that an admin could
        # rubber-stamp into local code execution. Restrict stdio submission to
        # the admin POST /v1/mcp/server path or to config.yaml.
        if payload.transport == MCPTransport.stdio:
            raise HTTPException(
                status_code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
                detail={
                    "error": (
                        "stdio MCP servers cannot be submitted via the user "
                        "registration workflow. Ask a proxy admin to add this "
                        "server via POST /v1/mcp/server or to declare it in "
                        "config.yaml."

View on GitHub (pinned to 77b7c6c40c)

Solutions

1. Authenticate with a team-scoped virtual key for the registration request.
2. Create a key bound to your team via /key/generate, then retry.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at litellm/proxy/management_endpoints/mcp_management_endpoints.py:1247 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/74cb63c169a984a2. Report an issue: GitHub.