Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT · error · HTTPException

Missing authentication. Provide API key or access token.

Error message

Missing authentication. Provide API key or access token.

What it means

Error "Missing authentication. Provide API key or access token." thrown in Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT.

Source

Thrown at autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/external/middleware.py:85

    # Try API key first
    if api_key is not None:
        api_key_info = await validate_api_key(api_key)
        if api_key_info:
            return api_key_info
        raise HTTPException(
            status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED, detail="Invalid API key"
        )

    # Try OAuth bearer token
    if bearer is not None:
        try:
            token_info, _ = await validate_access_token(bearer.credentials)
            return token_info
        except (InvalidClientError, InvalidTokenError) as e:
            raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED, detail=str(e))

    # No credentials provided
    raise HTTPException(
        status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED,
        detail="Missing authentication. Provide API key or access token.",
    )


def require_permission(*permissions: APIKeyPermission):
    """
    Dependency function for checking required permissions.
    All listed permissions must be present.
    (works with API keys and OAuth tokens)
    """

    async def check_permissions(
        auth: APIAuthorizationInfo = Security(require_auth),
    ) -> APIAuthorizationInfo:
        missing = [p for p in permissions if p not in auth.scopes]
        if missing:
            raise HTTPException(

View on GitHub (pinned to 9c8bb5550f)

Solutions

1. Provide either an API key header or a Bearer access token with the request.
2. Sign in first so the client can attach credentials.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/external/middleware.py:85 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

AI-assisted analysis of Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT@9c8bb5550f (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8454b5ba2ba6a16e. Report an issue: GitHub.