OtterMind/Chat2DB · error · IllegalArgumentException

provider is required

Error message

provider is required

What it means

Thrown as IllegalArgumentException('provider is required') by AiModelConfigServiceImpl.validateRuntimeModel when runtimeModel.getProvider() is null. This is a raw IllegalArgumentException, not a BusinessException, so it bypasses the i18n BusinessException handler. It indicates the resolved AiRuntimeModel was constructed without a provider.

Source

Thrown at chat2db-community-server/chat2db-community-domain/chat2db-community-domain-core/src/main/java/ai/chat2db/community/domain/core/impl/ai/AiModelConfigServiceImpl.java:358

            runtimeModel.setBaseUrl(defaultValue(trimToNull(runtimeModel.getBaseUrl()), trimToNull(System.getenv("MINIMAX_BASE_URL"))));
            runtimeModel.setBaseUrl(defaultValue(trimToNull(runtimeModel.getBaseUrl()), DEFAULT_MINIMAX_BASE_URL));
            return;
        }
        if (provider == AiProviderEnum.CLAUDE) {
            runtimeModel.setApiKey(defaultValue(trimToNull(runtimeModel.getApiKey()), trimToNull(System.getenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"))));
            runtimeModel.setBaseUrl(defaultValue(trimToNull(runtimeModel.getBaseUrl()), trimToNull(System.getenv("ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL"))));
            return;
        }
        if (provider == AiProviderEnum.GEMINI) {
            runtimeModel.setProjectId(defaultValue(trimToNull(runtimeModel.getProjectId()), trimToNull(System.getenv("GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT"))));
            runtimeModel.setLocation(defaultValue(trimToNull(runtimeModel.getLocation()), trimToNull(System.getenv("GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION"))));
            runtimeModel.setLocation(defaultValue(runtimeModel.getLocation(), DEFAULT_GEMINI_LOCATION));
        }
    }

    private void validateRuntimeModel(AiRuntimeModel runtimeModel) {
        if (Objects.isNull(runtimeModel.getProvider())) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("provider is required");
        }
        if (StringUtils.isBlank(runtimeModel.getModel())) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("model is required");
        }
        AiProviderEnum provider = AiProviderEnum.from(runtimeModel.getProvider());
        if (provider == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported provider: " + runtimeModel.getProvider());
        }
        if (provider == AiProviderEnum.OPENAI || provider == AiProviderEnum.CLAUDE) {
            return;
        }
        if (provider == AiProviderEnum.GEMINI) {
        }
    }


    private synchronized void loadFromDisk() {
        if (!Files.exists(storagePath)) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 5ee1e990e7)

Solutions

1. Ensure the saved model config (or the resolve request) has a non-null provider (OPENAI, CLAUDE, GEMINI, or MINIMAX).
2. Audit the AiModelConfig record that produced the null provider and fix its provider field.
3. Guard resolveRuntimeModel to fail with a clearer BusinessException before reaching validateRuntimeModel.

Example fix

// before: config saved with null provider
AiModelConfig cfg = new AiModelConfig();
cfg.setModel("gpt-4o"); cfg.setApiKey(key); // provider missing
configService.save(cfg);

// after
AiModelConfig cfg = new AiModelConfig();
cfg.setProvider(AiProviderEnum.OPENAI.name());
cfg.setModel("gpt-4o"); cfg.setApiKey(key);
configService.save(cfg);

AiRuntimeModel m = /* built */;
if (m.getProvider() == null) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("provider is required before validate");
}

static boolean hasProvider(AiRuntimeModel m) {
    return m != null && m.getProvider() != null;
}

try {
    service.validateRuntimeModel(m);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    if ("provider is required".equals(e.getMessage())) {
        return ResponseEntity.badRequest().body("set a provider (OPENAI/CLAUDE/GEMINI/MINIMAX)");
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: validateRuntimeModel receives an AiRuntimeModel whose provider is null. Reachable when resolveRuntimeModel built a runtimeModel from a config/request that left provider null after defaultValue merging, or when validateRuntimeModel is called directly with an incomplete model.

Common situations: A saved AiModelConfig has a null provider (corrupt or hand-built config); the resolve request and the base config both lacked a provider so defaultValue(null,null)=null; programmatic construction of AiRuntimeModel without setting provider.

Related errors

• model is required
• ai.model.config.required
• Unsupported provider:
• The baseURL is not valid!
• The baseURL is not valid!

AI-assisted analysis of OtterMind/Chat2DB@5ee1e990e7 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/14cf6451e807bc3d. Report an issue: GitHub.