deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness · error · LlmError

INVALID_CREDENTIAL

INVALID_CREDENTIAL

Error message

this provider's API key is blank; enter it on the Models page, or clear it to probe unauthenticated

What it means

Error "this provider's API key is blank; enter it on the Models page, or clear it to probe unauthenticated" thrown in deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness.

Source

Thrown at packages/llm/llm-pi-ai/src/discovery.ts:175

      ...contextWindow === undefined ? {} : { contextWindow },
      ...maxTokens === undefined ? {} : { maxTokens },
    })
  }
  return models
}

/**
 * Accept one probe key, or refuse it before the header is built. Without this
 * the `fetch` below would throw a ByteString `TypeError` that this function's
 * catch reports as `could not reach <url>` — blaming the network for a local,
 * deterministic fault.
 * @param raw - the key typed into the form or read from storage.
 * @returns the trimmed, usable key.
 */
function usableProbeKey(raw: string): string {
  const checked = normalizeApiKey(raw)
  if (checked.ok) return checked.value
  throw new LlmError(
    checked.reason === 'empty'
      ? 'this provider\'s API key is blank; enter it on the Models page, or clear it to probe unauthenticated'
      : 'this provider\'s API key contains characters no HTTP header can carry; paste the raw key only',
    INVALID_CREDENTIAL_CODE,
  )
}

/**
 * Interrogate one draft provider endpoint for the models it advertises.
 * @param request - the endpoint, protocol, and one-shot credential to use.
 * @param storedApiKey - the credential the named route already stored, asked
 *   for only when the draft carries none and only on the path that reaches the
 *   network. A configuration surface never holds a stored secret — it edits a
 *   redacted descriptor — so without this an already-configured route would be
 *   interrogated unauthenticated and answer 401.
 * @returns the advertised models in endpoint order.
 * @throws LlmError when the protocol has no readable listing, the endpoint
 *   refuses or fails the request, or the reply is not a model listing.

View on GitHub (pinned to b150a551b8)

Solutions

1. Enter the API key on the Models page, or clear it to probe the provider unauthenticated.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/llm/llm-pi-ai/src/discovery.ts:175 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 deepseek-ai/deepseek-harness@b150a551b8 (2026-08-24). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7b6b5bafdd2b515e. Report an issue: GitHub.