What causes "DeepSeek API Key must be provided to use agents." in Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm?

Create an API key at https://platform.deepseek.com/api_keys and set DEEPSEEK_API_KEY in .env.

Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

DeepSeek API Key must be provided to use agents.

Error message

DeepSeek API Key must be provided to use agents.

What it means

Thrown by AgentHandler.checkSetup() (server/utils/agents/index.js:204) when the workspace agent provider is 'deepseek' but DEEPSEEK_API_KEY is unset/empty. DeepSeek's API (DeepSeek-V3/R1) is keyed by this single value, which the guard validates before the agent starts.

Source

Thrown at server/utils/agents/index.js:205

        break;
      case "textgenwebui":
        if (!process.env.TEXT_GEN_WEB_UI_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error(
            "TextWebGenUI API base path must be provided to use agents."
          );
        break;
      case "bedrock":
        // No validations since there are many possible authentication methods
        break;
      case "fireworksai":
        if (!process.env.FIREWORKS_AI_LLM_API_KEY)
          throw new Error(
            "FireworksAI API Key must be provided to use agents."
          );
        break;
      case "deepseek":
        if (!process.env.DEEPSEEK_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("DeepSeek API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "litellm":
        if (!process.env.LITE_LLM_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error(
            "LiteLLM API base path and key must be provided to use agents."
          );
        break;
      case "apipie":
        if (!process.env.APIPIE_LLM_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("ApiPie API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "xai":
        if (!process.env.XAI_LLM_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("xAI API Key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "zai":
        if (!process.env.ZAI_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Z.AI API Key must be provided to use agents.");

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

Create an API key at https://platform.deepseek.com/api_keys and set DEEPSEEK_API_KEY in .env.
Restart AnythingLLM to reload process.env.
Verify with curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer $DEEPSEEK_API_KEY' https://api.deepseek.com/models.
Ensure the agent model is a valid DeepSeek model id (e.g. deepseek-chat, deepseek-reasoner).

Example fix

// before (.env)
// DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=

// after (.env)
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=sk-...your-key

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const key = process.env.DEEPSEEK_API_KEY;
if (!key) {
  throw new Error(
    'Cannot start DeepSeek agent: set DEEPSEEK_API_KEY (from platform.deepseek.com/api_keys) in .env.'
  );
}

Try / catch

try {
  await agentHandler.start();
} catch (e) {
  if (/DeepSeek API Key must be provided/.test(e.message)) {
    return respondConfigError('deepseek', ['DEEPSEEK_API_KEY']);
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Generate the key at platform.deepseek.com and write it to .env immediately.
Restart the Node process / Docker container after .env edits.
Add a CI/startup check that DEEPSEEK_API_KEY is set when provider is deepseek.
Keep .env out of version control; rotate keys on quota exhaustion.

When it happens

Trigger: An agent invocation runs with workspace.agentProvider === 'deepseek' while DEEPSEEK_API_KEY is absent from process.env. Path: #providerSetupAndCheck() -> checkSetup() at index.js:476.

Common situations: DeepSeek selected in System > LLM Preference without a key; key created at platform.deepseek.com but not pasted into .env; .env updated but the server/container not restarted; key revoked after quota exhaustion.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/440478ee797eebef. Report an issue: GitHub.