Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

Perplexity API key must be provided to use agents.

Error message

Perplexity API key must be provided to use agents.

What it means

Provider setup guard in AgentHandler.checkSetup: the selected agent provider is 'perplexity' but PERPLEXITY_API_KEY is empty/unset, so agent initialization aborts for lack of a provider credential.

Solutions

  1. Set the PERPLEXITY_API_KEY environment variable.
  2. Or select a different agent provider.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

When it happens

Trigger: Perplexity was selected as the agent provider but no API key is configured.

Common situations: This error is raised at runtime in server/utils/agents/index.js. It occurs when the required configuration for this provider is missing or invalid (unset environment variables, empty API key or base path), when the external service is unreachable or returns an unexpected response, or when invalid input reaches the call site. To prevent it, validate the relevant provider settings and environment variables at startup and confirm the service is reachable before this code path executes.

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@20f6d3546c (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/232cb4f220c01f0d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at server/utils/agents/index.js:186

          throw new Error(
            "LocalAI must have a valid base path to use for the api."
          );
        break;
      case "openrouter":
        if (!process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("OpenRouter API key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "mistral":
        if (!process.env.MISTRAL_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Mistral API key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "generic-openai":
        if (!process.env.GENERIC_OPEN_AI_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error("API base path must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "perplexity":
        if (!process.env.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Perplexity API key must be provided to use agents.");
        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)

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