charmbracelet/crush · error

no providers configured, please configure at least one provi

Error message

no providers configured, please configure at least one provider

What it means

defaultModelSelection picks default large/small models when none are explicitly selected. If there are no known catalog providers AND no configured custom providers, there is nothing to choose from, so it returns this error which propagates through resolveSelectedModels and Load.

Source

Thrown at internal/config/load.go:718

		}
		if len(cfg.RootMarkers) == 0 {
			cfg.RootMarkers = base.RootMarkers
		}
		cfg.Command = cmp.Or(cfg.Command, base.Command)
		if len(cfg.Args) == 0 {
			cfg.Args = base.Args
		}
		if len(cfg.Env) == 0 {
			cfg.Env = base.Environment
		}
		// Update the config in the map
		c.LSP[name] = cfg
	}
}

func (c *Config) defaultModelSelection(knownProviders []catwalk.Provider) (largeModel SelectedModel, smallModel SelectedModel, err error) {
	if len(knownProviders) == 0 && c.Providers.Len() == 0 {
		err = fmt.Errorf("no providers configured, please configure at least one provider")
		return largeModel, smallModel, err
	}

	// Use the first provider enabled based on the known providers order
	// if no provider found that is known use the first provider configured
	for _, p := range knownProviders {
		providerConfig, ok := c.Providers.Get(string(p.ID))
		if !ok || providerConfig.Disable {
			continue
		}
		defaultLargeModel := c.GetModel(string(p.ID), p.DefaultLargeModelID)
		if defaultLargeModel == nil {
			slog.Warn("Default large model %s not found for provider %s", p.DefaultLargeModelID, p.ID)
			if len(providerConfig.Models) == 0 {
				return largeModel, smallModel, fmt.Errorf("default large model %s not found for provider %s", p.DefaultLargeModelID, p.ID)
			}
			defaultLargeModel = &providerConfig.Models[0]
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 7944b8e522)

Solutions

1. Configure at least one provider (custom or via login/models command)
2. Check network access / catwalk catalog sync if known providers should exist
3. Restore the providers section in crush.json/crushrc
4. Run `crush models` to configure a provider and selected models explicitly

Example fix

// before
crush  // no crush.json, catalog unavailable -> error
// after (crush.json)
{"providers": {"anthropic": {"api_key": "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"}}, "options": {"preferred_model": {"large": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514", "small": "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-20250514"}}}

if len(knownProviders) == 0 {
    hasCustom := false
    raw, _ := os.ReadFile("crush.json")
    var c map[string]json.RawMessage
    if json.Unmarshal(raw, &c) == nil {
        if p, ok := c["providers"]; ok && string(p) != "{}" && string(p) != "null" {
            hasCustom = true
        }
    }
    if !hasCustom {
        return errors.New("no providers available: configure one or restore network/catalog access")
    }
}

store, err := config.Load(ctx, opts)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no providers configured") {
        // fallback: guide user to run `crush login` / `crush models`
        return fmt.Errorf("run `crush models` to configure a provider: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: resolveSelectedModels -> defaultModelSelection with len(knownProviders) == 0 && c.Providers.Len() == 0 — e.g. empty providers section, catwalk catalog empty/unavailable, or all providers disabled.

Common situations: Fresh install with no crush.json and the provider catalog failed to load; user deleted the providers section; offline environment where catwalk provider list can't be fetched and nothing is locally configured.

Related errors

• no providers found
• no providers found matching %q
• failed to configure selected models: %w
• model configuration not found
• no providers configured - please run 'crush' to set up a pro

AI-assisted analysis of charmbracelet/crush@7944b8e522 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/55e7a25aacb3832f. Report an issue: GitHub.