Custom provider ' ' API key not found. Set the environment…

Error message

Custom provider '{provider_name}' API key not found.
Set the environment variable {env_name} to your key, or add api_key to [providers.{provider_name}].

What it means

Thrown for a custom OpenAI-compatible provider when the configured api_key_env variable name exists but the key itself is missing at runtime. The config layer reads api_key_env from [providers.<name>], trims it, and if the env var it names is not set (or empty), it bails telling the developer exactly which variable to set. Custom providers must supply auth either inline or via a named env var.

Solutions

Export the env variable named in the error with your API key
Or add `api_key = "..."` directly under [providers.<name>] in ~/.codewhale/config.toml
Verify the env var name in config matches the exported name exactly (case-sensitive, no stray whitespace)

Example fix

// before
[providers.acme]
api_key_env = "ACME_KEY"  # ACME_KEY never exported
// after (shell)
export ACME_KEY="sk-..."
# or in config.toml
[providers.acme]
api_key = "sk-..."

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// custom provider declares api_key_env = "ACME_KEY"
let ok = std::env::var("ACME_KEY").map(|v| !v.trim().is_empty()).unwrap_or(false);
if !ok { eprintln!("ACME_KEY is not set; export it or set api_key in [providers.acme]"); }

Try / catch

match result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("Custom provider") && e.to_string().contains("API key not found") => export_custom_key_and_retry(),
    other => other?,
}

Prevention

Export the env var named by api_key_env before launching
Load .env files in shells/CI where codewhale runs
Match env var names exactly, including case

When it happens

Trigger: Using a custom provider that has api_key_env = "MY_KEY" in [providers.<name>] while MY_KEY is unset or empty in the environment.

Common situations: Env var defined in config but never exported; .env file not loaded in the shell/CI; key set under a different variable name than api_key_env declares; container images missing the secret.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@73e0f67d83 (2026-09-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/57682df4338792e0. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/config.rs:7449

                    credential_help_for_provider_route(provider, &self.active_route_base_url());
                anyhow::bail!(
                    "Ollama Cloud API key not found. Get a key: {}. Run 'codewhale auth set --provider ollama', set OLLAMA_API_KEY, or add [providers.ollama] api_key in ~/.codewhale/config.toml.",
                    help.credential_url
                        .unwrap_or(codewhale_config::provider::OLLAMA_CLOUD_API_KEY_URL)
                )
            }
            // Custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints (#1519): the key comes from the
            // env var named by `[providers.<name>] api_key_env`. If we reached
            // here it is unset/empty (and the endpoint is not loopback).
            ApiProvider::Custom => {
                let provider_name = self.provider.as_deref().unwrap_or("<name>");
                match self
                    .provider_config_for(provider)
                    .and_then(|entry| entry.api_key_env.as_deref())
                    .map(str::trim)
                    .filter(|name| !name.is_empty())
                {
                    Some(env_name) => anyhow::bail!(
                        "Custom provider '{provider_name}' API key not found.\n\
                         Set the environment variable {env_name} to your key, \
                         or add api_key to [providers.{provider_name}]."
                    ),
                    None => anyhow::bail!(
                        "Custom provider '{provider_name}' has no auth configured.\n\
                         Add api_key_env = \"YOUR_ENV_VAR\" (or api_key) to \
                         [providers.{provider_name}] in ~/.codewhale/config.toml."
                    ),
                }
            }
            _ => anyhow::bail!("{}", missing_provider_api_key_message(provider)?),
        }
    }

    /// Resolve the skills directory path.
    #[must_use]
    pub fn skills_dir(&self) -> PathBuf {

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