Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

Error generating api key.

Error message

Error generating api key.

What it means

Thrown by generateApiKey in the AnythingLLM frontend when POST /api/system/generate-api-key responds non-2xx. The message is res.statusText with a fallback string — statusText is often just 'Internal Server Error' or empty behind some proxies, so the generic text frequently is what you see. The route inserts a new API key row, so failures are usually database-side.

Source

Thrown at frontend/src/models/system.js:570

        if (!res.ok) {
          throw new Error(res.statusText || "Error fetching api key.");
        }
        return res.json();
      })
      .catch((e) => {
        console.error(e);
        return { apiKey: null, error: e.message };
      });
  },
  generateApiKey: async function (data = {}) {
    return fetch(`${API_BASE}/system/generate-api-key`, {
      method: "POST",
      headers: baseHeaders(),
      body: JSON.stringify(data),
    })
      .then((res) => {
        if (!res.ok) {
          throw new Error(res.statusText || "Error generating api key.");
        }
        return res.json();
      })
      .catch((e) => {
        console.error(e);
        return { apiKey: null, error: e.message };
      });
  },
  deleteApiKey: async function (apiKeyId = "") {
    return fetch(`${API_BASE}/system/api-key/${apiKeyId}`, {
      method: "DELETE",
      headers: baseHeaders(),
    })
      .then((res) => res.ok)
      .catch((e) => {
        console.error(e);
        return false;
      });

View on GitHub (pinned to 3aec848f28)

Solutions

1. Check server logs for the actual 500 cause (database connection, missing table).
2. Run pending database migrations after upgrading the server.
3. Re-login if the request returned 401, then retry generation.
4. If statusText came back empty through a proxy, correlate with the status code in the Network tab.

const { apiKey, error } = await System.generateApiKey(data);
if (!apiKey) {
  // error is statusText or 'Error generating api key.' — server logs hold the cause
  showApiKeyError(error);
  return;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Database unreachable or locked when inserting the key row (500); missing api_keys table because migrations were not run after an upgrade; expired/invalid auth token (401); a reverse proxy returning an empty statusText.

Common situations: SQLite database file locked by a concurrent backup; container upgraded without running migrations; long-lived session that expired between page load and the click.

Related errors

• Could not validate login.
• Error uploading pfp.
• Error uploading logo.
• data.message || "Error creating slash command preset."
• data.message || "Could not update slash command preset."

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@3aec848f28 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/17260accd9fb5cd3. Report an issue: GitHub.