Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · anyhow::Error

no runtime-effective API key

Error message

no runtime-effective API key

What it means

Guard in resolve_api_key: no API key source was found effective for the runtime (source is None after resolving runtime options with secrets). The route has no usable API key configured from any recognized source.

Source

Thrown at crates/cli/src/credential_handoff.rs:52

    if resolved.provider != provider {
        bail!("resolved a different provider");
    }
    let source = resolved.api_key_source;
    if source != Some(RuntimeApiKeySource::Cli) {
        if provider == ProviderKind::OpenaiCodex {
            bail!("bearer credentials are not an API key");
        }
        let uses_api_key = provider != ProviderKind::Xai
            || xai_auth_diagnostics(store, runtime_overrides).evaluates_runtime_api_key();
        ensure!(uses_api_key, "OAuth bearer credentials are not an API key");
        let kimi_bearer = provider == ProviderKind::Moonshot
            && resolved
                .auth_mode
                .as_deref()
                .is_some_and(auth_mode_uses_kimi_imported_token);
        ensure!(!kimi_bearer, "bearer credentials are not an API key");
    }
    ensure!(source.is_some(), "no runtime-effective API key");
    resolved
        .api_key
        .filter(|value| !value.trim().is_empty())
        .context("no usable runtime-effective API key")
}

pub(crate) fn handoff_secret_line(
    writer: &mut impl Write,
    stdout_is_terminal: bool,
    resolve: impl FnOnce() -> Result<String>,
) -> Result<()> {
    prepare_stdout(stdout_is_terminal)?;
    let secret = Zeroizing::new(resolve().map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("unavailable credential"))?);
    ensure!(!secret.trim().is_empty(), "credential handoff was empty");
    let written = writeln!(writer, "{}", secret.as_str());
    if written.is_ok() || written.is_err_and(|error| error.kind() == ErrorKind::BrokenPipe) {
        return Ok(());
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Set an API key for the provider via the CLI auth/login flow.
2. Check that the relevant credential environment variable or secret store entry is populated.
3. Ensure the provider route configuration points at a credential source that exists.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/cli/src/credential_handoff.rs:52 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/84e497b4bca83cc1. Report an issue: GitHub.