MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror · error · Error

apiKey is required

Error message

apiKey is required

What it means

WeatherAPI.com is a commercial API that requires an API key. #validateConfig throws this when config.apiKey is missing, null, or consists only of whitespace, aborting initialize before any network call is made.

Source

Thrown at defaultmodules/weather/providers/weatherapi.js:62

	stop () {
		if (this.fetcher) {
			this.fetcher.clearTimer();
		}
	}

	#validateConfig () {
		this.config.type = `${this.config.type ?? ""}`.trim().toLowerCase();

		if (this.config.type === "forecast") {
			this.config.type = "daily";
		}

		if (!["hourly", "daily", "current"].includes(this.config.type)) {
			throw new Error(`Unknown weather type: ${this.config.type}`);
		}

		if (!this.config.apiKey || `${this.config.apiKey}`.trim() === "") {
			throw new Error("apiKey is required");
		}

		if (!Number.isFinite(this.config.lat) || !Number.isFinite(this.config.lon)) {
			throw new Error("Latitude and longitude are required");
		}
	}

	#initializeFetcher () {
		const url = this.#getUrl();

		this.fetcher = new HTTPFetcher(url, {
			reloadInterval: this.config.updateInterval,
			headers: { "Cache-Control": "no-cache" },
			logContext: "weatherprovider.weatherapi"
		});

		this.fetcher.on("response", async (response) => {
			try {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4b4a59534f)

Solutions

1. Sign up at weatherapi.com and put the returned key in config: { apiKey: "<your-key>" }.
2. If the key comes from an env/config file, verify it resolves to a non-empty trimmed string (Log the length, never the value).
3. Make sure you are using a weatherapi.com key, not a key from a different provider.
4. Restart MagicMirror after adding the key so the module re-initializes.

Example fix

// before
config: {
  weatherProvider: "weatherapi",
  type: "current"
}
// after
config: {
  weatherProvider: "weatherapi",
  type: "current",
  apiKey: "abc123yourkey"
}

if (typeof config.apiKey !== "string" || config.apiKey.trim() === "") {
  throw new Error("weatherapi: set apiKey in the module config before starting MagicMirror");
}

function hasApiKey(config) {
  return typeof config.apiKey === "string" && config.apiKey.trim().length > 0;
}

When it happens

Trigger: apiKey not set in module config, set to empty string "" or " ", or set to a non-string falsy value (0, false, null) when the module initializes.

Common situations: Fresh MagicMirror install with a sample weather config and no key; key stored in an env var or custom.js that fails to resolve to a non-empty string; users confusing weatherapi.com's key with an OpenWeatherMap key.

Understand the failure class

Background: "API key is required" / "API key not found" / "No API key was set": the missing-api-key error family across 16 libraries — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

• Unknown weather type: ${this.config.type}
• Latitude and longitude are required
• [weather] Deprecation warning: Your are using the deprecated
• [weather] Deprecation warning: Your are using the deprecated
• [weather] Deprecation warning: Please consider updating show

AI-assisted analysis of MagicMirrorOrg/MagicMirror@4b4a59534f (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/12f9620e47631a80. Report an issue: GitHub.