jackwener/OpenCLI · critical · AuthRequiredError

WEREAD_API_KEY is not set. Export it with `export WEREAD_API

Error message

WEREAD_API_KEY is not set. Export it with `export WEREAD_API_KEY=<wrk-...>`.

What it means

getApiKey() reads WEREAD_API_KEY from the environment and throws AuthRequiredError when it is missing or blank after trimming. The WeRead official API requires a wrk- prefixed key on every request, so the client fails fast before making any network call. The message shows the exact export command to fix it.

Source

Thrown at clis/weread-official/utils.js:39

export const WEREAD_GATEWAY_URL = 'https://i.weread.qq.com/api/agent/gateway';
export const WEREAD_DOMAIN = 'weread.qq.com';

/**
 * Skill version reported with every gateway request. Bump when official
 * `weread-skills.zip` ships a new SKILL.md `version:` line.
 */
export const SKILL_VERSION = '1.0.4';

const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 30_000;

/** errcodes that mean "Bearer key invalid / token expired" — map to AuthRequiredError. */
const AUTH_ERRCODES = new Set([-2010, -2012]);

/** Resolve API key from env. Throws AuthRequiredError on missing / blank value. */
export function getApiKey() {
    const key = String(process.env.WEREAD_API_KEY ?? '').trim();
    if (!key) {
        throw new AuthRequiredError(
            WEREAD_DOMAIN,
            'WEREAD_API_KEY is not set. Export it with `export WEREAD_API_KEY=<wrk-...>`.',
        );
    }
    return key;
}

/**
 * Build the gateway request body. Business params are flattened next to
 * `api_name` and `skill_version` — never wrapped in a `params` / `data` /
 * `body` object (the gateway silently drops them and returns page 1).
 */
export function buildGatewayBody(apiName, params = {}) {
    if (!apiName || typeof apiName !== 'string') {
        throw new ArgumentError('weread-official: api_name is required');
    }
    const body = { api_name: apiName, skill_version: SKILL_VERSION };
    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(params ?? {})) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

1. Run `export WEREAD_API_KEY=<wrk-...>` in the current shell before invoking the command
2. Add the export to ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc so it persists across sessions
3. In CI, add WEREAD_API_KEY to the pipeline/secret manager environment settings
4. If using a .env file, ensure it's loaded into the environment before the CLI runs
5. Verify with `echo ${WEREAD_API_KEY:+set}` that the variable is non-empty

Example fix

// before (fails)
await wereadSearch({ keyword: '三体' });
// after
if (!process.env.WEREAD_API_KEY) {
  throw new Error('WEREAD_API_KEY is not set. Export it with `export WEREAD_API_KEY=<wrk-...>`.');
}
await wereadSearch({ keyword: '三体' });

if (!String(process.env.WEREAD_API_KEY ?? '').trim()) {
  throw new Error('WEREAD_API_KEY is not set. Export it with `export WEREAD_API_KEY=<wrk-...>`.');
}

function hasApiKey() { return String(process.env.WEREAD_API_KEY ?? '').trim().length > 0; }

try { await wereadCall(); }
catch (e) { if (e.name === 'AuthRequiredError') { console.error('Set WEREAD_API_KEY first: export WEREAD_API_KEY=<wrk-...>'); process.exit(1); } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Running the CLI in a shell where WEREAD_API_KEY was never exported; exporting it only in another shell/session/CI job; key set as empty string or whitespace; dotenv file not loaded; running under systemd/cron/Docker where the env var wasn't propagated.

Common situations: New machine setup where the key was never configured; CI pipelines missing the secret in the environment settings; switching from a .env-based tool to this CLI that reads process.env directly; sudo or subshell dropping the variable.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• Missing ${label}
• 12306 tk auth cookie missing
• Invalid ${label}: ${raw}
• ${label} returned HTTP ${resp.status}: ${summarizeApiError(p
• ${config.site} login

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/47a53c32df4b14a2. Report an issue: GitHub.