Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

SambaNova API key must be provided to use agents.

Error message

SambaNova API key must be provided to use agents.

What it means

Thrown by checkSetup() (server/utils/agents/index.js:128) when the resolved agent provider is 'sambanova' but process.env.SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY is unset/empty. It is a precondition gate in agent.init() ensuring the SambaNova client is never built without an API key.

Source

Thrown at server/utils/agents/index.js:277

      case "cohere":
        if (!process.env.COHERE_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Cohere API key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "docker-model-runner":
        if (!process.env.DOCKER_MODEL_RUNNER_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error(
            "Docker Model Runner base path must be provided to use agents."
          );
        break;
      case "privatemode":
        if (!process.env.PRIVATEMODE_LLM_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error(
            "Privatemode base path must be provided to use agents."
          );
        break;
      case "sambanova":
        if (!process.env.SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("SambaNova API key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "lemonade":
        if (!process.env.LEMONADE_LLM_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error("Lemonade base path must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "omlx":
        if (!process.env.OMLX_LLM_BASE_PATH)
          throw new Error("OMLX base path must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "minimax":
        if (!process.env.MINIMAX_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Minimax API key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      case "cerebras":
        if (!process.env.CEREBRAS_API_KEY)
          throw new Error("Cerebras API key must be provided to use agents.");
        break;
      default:

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

  1. Set SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY in .env to a valid SambaNova key and restart the server.
  2. Verify the process loaded the key via a status probe, not by printing it.
  3. Switch provider if SambaNova is not intended.

Example fix

// before (.env)
SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY=
// after (.env)
SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY=<your-sambanova-key>
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function assertSambanovaReady(workspaceAgentProvider) {
  const using = workspaceAgentProvider === 'sambanova' || process.env.LLM_PROVIDER === 'sambanova';
  if (using && !process.env.SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY)
    throw new Error('SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY missing - set it before starting an agent.');
}

Try / catch

try { await agent.init(); } catch (e) { if (/SambaNova API key must be provided/.test(e.message)) return showProviderConfig('sambanova'); throw e; }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: A chat turn calls agent.init(); this.provider resolves to 'sambanova'; case 'sambanova' runs and process.env.SAMBANOVA_LLM_API_KEY is falsy.

Common situations: SambaNova selected as agent provider but the key was not saved; key expired/rotated and not updated in .env; server not restarted after .env change.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d2cf2f3228b2488d. Report an issue: GitHub.