Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

No OpenAI API key was set.

Error message

No OpenAI API key was set.

What it means

Thrown synchronously by the OpenAiWhisper constructor in collector/utils/WhisperProviders/OpenAiWhisper.js:6 when options.openAiKey is falsy. This provider calls the official OpenAI /audio/transcriptions endpoint, so an API key is mandatory. Constructing the class during the transcription pipeline bootstrap will throw and propagate up.

Source

Thrown at collector/utils/WhisperProviders/OpenAiWhisper.js:6

const fs = require("fs");

class OpenAiWhisper {
  constructor({ options }) {
    const { OpenAI: OpenAIApi } = require("openai");
    if (!options.openAiKey) throw new Error("No OpenAI API key was set.");

    this.openai = new OpenAIApi({
      apiKey: options.openAiKey,
    });
    this.model = "whisper-1";
    this.temperature = 0;
    this.#log("Initialized.");
  }

  #log(text, ...args) {
    console.log(`\x1b[32m[OpenAiWhisper]\x1b[0m ${text}`, ...args);
  }

  async processFile(fullFilePath) {
    return await this.openai.audio.transcriptions
      .create({
        file: fs.createReadStream(fullFilePath),
        model: this.model,

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

1. Set options.openAiKey to a valid OpenAI API key (starts with sk-).
2. If using env, ensure OPEN_AI_API_KEY is exported AND mounted into the collector container, then restart it.
3. In the UI, fill the OpenAI API key field under transcription/audio settings.
4. If you have no OpenAI key, switch WhisperProvider to a Generic OpenAI-compatible or local provider.

Example fix

// before
new OpenAiWhisper({ options: {} });

// after
new OpenAiWhisper({ options: { openAiKey: process.env.OPEN_AI_API_KEY } });
// and ensure process.env.OPEN_AI_API_KEY is set in the collector process

function canBuildOpenAiWhisper(options) {
  return !!(options && typeof options.openAiKey === "string" && options.openAiKey.length > 0);
}
if (!canBuildOpenAiWhisper(options)) {
  throw new Error("OpenAiWhisper requires options.openAiKey (set OPEN_AI_API_KEY)");
}
new OpenAiWhisper({ options });

/** @param {unknown} o */
function isOpenAiWhisperConfig(o) {
  return o != null && typeof o === "object"
    && typeof o.openAiKey === "string" && o.openAiKey.length > 0;
}

let provider;
try {
  provider = new OpenAiWhisper({ options });
} catch (e) {
  if (/No OpenAI API key was set/.test(e.message)) {
    return surfaceConfigError("Set an OpenAI API key, or switch the Whisper provider.");
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Instantiating new OpenAiWhisper({ options }) when the user picked WhisperProvider="OpenAiWhisper" but openAiKey is empty/undefined — most commonly OPEN_AI_API_KEY (or the equivalent setting feeding options.openAiKey) is not set in the environment / system prompt preferences.

Common situations: Fresh deployment without OPEN_AI_API_KEY set; env var present in shell but not passed into the Docker container; key cleared from settings UI; typo in the env var name; user switched LLM provider away from OpenAI but left Whisper on OpenAI.

Related errors

• No base URL was set.
• Audio file sample rate is too low for accurate transcription
• Audio file duration exceeds maximum limit of 4 hours.
• Audio file exceeds maximum allowed length.
• [Conversion Failed]: Could not convert file to .wav format!

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9f66ffa2a5e039b0. Report an issue: GitHub.