What causes "Neither GOOGLE_API_KEY nor GEMINI_API_KEY is set." in heygen-com/hyperframes?

Export the key: export GOOGLE_API_KEY=your-key-here (or GEMINI_API_KEY).

heygen-com/hyperframes · error · RuntimeError

Neither GOOGLE_API_KEY nor GEMINI_API_KEY is set.

Error message

Neither GOOGLE_API_KEY nor GEMINI_API_KEY is set.

What it means

Thrown by generate_bgm() in the Lyria background music recipe script when neither the GOOGLE_API_KEY nor GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable is set. The script uses the Google GenAI client to call Lyria music generation, which requires an API key for authentication. Without it, the client cannot be constructed.

Source

Thrown at skills/media-use/audio/scripts/lyria-recipe.py:52

    p.add_argument("--negative-prompt", default=None, help="Styles to exclude (optional).")
    p.add_argument("--bpm", type=int, default=110)
    p.add_argument("--brightness", type=float, default=0.8, help="0-1, higher = brighter mood.")
    p.add_argument("--density", type=float, default=0.5, help="0-1, higher = fuller mix.")
    p.add_argument(
        "--scale",
        default="MAJOR",
        help="MAJOR / MINOR / PENTATONIC / etc. — see google.genai.types.Scale. Pass empty string for none.",
    )
    return p.parse_args()


async def generate_bgm(args: argparse.Namespace) -> dict:
    from google import genai
    from google.genai import types

    api_key = os.environ.get("GOOGLE_API_KEY") or os.environ.get("GEMINI_API_KEY") or ""
    if not api_key:
        raise RuntimeError("Neither GOOGLE_API_KEY nor GEMINI_API_KEY is set.")

    client = genai.Client(
        api_key=api_key,
        http_options={"api_version": "v1alpha"},
    )

    out_path = Path(args.output)
    out_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

    target_bytes = int(args.duration * SAMPLE_RATE * CHANNELS * SAMPLE_WIDTH)

    cfg: dict = {"bpm": args.bpm, "temperature": 1.0}
    if args.density is not None:
        cfg["density"] = args.density
    if args.brightness is not None:
        cfg["brightness"] = args.brightness
    if args.scale:
        scale_enum = getattr(types.Scale, args.scale, None)

View on GitHub (pinned to c2996c8626)

Solutions

Export the key: export GOOGLE_API_KEY=your-key-here (or GEMINI_API_KEY).
Add the key to your shell profile (~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc) for persistence.
In CI, add the secret as an environment variable in the pipeline config.
If using a .env file, load it before running: set -a; source .env; set +a or use python-dotenv.

Example fix

# before
python lyria-recipe.py --output bgm.wav
# RuntimeError: Neither GOOGLE_API_KEY nor GEMINI_API_KEY is set.

# after
export GOOGLE_API_KEY=$(cat /run/secrets/gemini-key)
python lyria-recipe.py --output bgm.wav

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import os

api_key = os.environ.get('GOOGLE_API_KEY') or os.environ.get('GEMINI_API_KEY')
if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError(
        'Set GOOGLE_API_KEY or GEMINI_API_KEY: export GOOGLE_API_KEY=...'
    )

Prevention

Export the key in your shell profile or CI secrets.
Use python-dotenv to load .env files automatically.
Check for the key at script entry and print a helpful message before the genai import.

When it happens

Trigger: The script is run (python lyria-recipe.py ...) without either environment variable exported. The code reads os.environ.get('GOOGLE_API_KEY') or os.environ.get('GEMINI_API_KEY') and if both return empty/falsy, raises RuntimeError before constructing the genai.Client.

Common situations: Developer forgot to export the key in their shell. The key is in a .env file that wasn't loaded (script doesn't use python-dotenv). CI runner doesn't have the secret injected. The key was renamed from GEMINI_API_KEY to GOOGLE_API_KEY and only the old name is set.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of heygen-com/hyperframes@c2996c8626 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/40980ec184daf7fc. Report an issue: GitHub.