nexu-io/open-design · error · RuntimeError

PARALLEL_API_KEY is required when web_backend='parallel'

Error message

PARALLEL_API_KEY is required when web_backend='parallel'

What it means

Same dispatcher guard for the 'parallel' branch: backend is 'parallel' but config.get('PARALLEL_API_KEY') is empty/missing. RuntimeError("PARALLEL_API_KEY is required when web_backend='parallel'"). The parallel backend uses Parallel AI's web search; without the key the call cannot proceed.

Source

Thrown at design-templates/last30days/scripts/lib/grounding.py:226

    if backend == "brave":
        key = config.get("BRAVE_API_KEY")
        if not key:
            raise RuntimeError("BRAVE_API_KEY is required when web_backend='brave'")
        return brave_search(query, date_range, key)
    if backend == "exa":
        key = config.get("EXA_API_KEY")
        if not key:
            raise RuntimeError("EXA_API_KEY is required when web_backend='exa'")
        return exa_search(query, date_range, key)
    if backend == "serper":
        key = config.get("SERPER_API_KEY")
        if not key:
            raise RuntimeError("SERPER_API_KEY is required when web_backend='serper'")
        return serper_search(query, date_range, key)
    if backend == "parallel":
        key = config.get("PARALLEL_API_KEY")
        if not key:
            raise RuntimeError("PARALLEL_API_KEY is required when web_backend='parallel'")
        return parallel_search(query, date_range, key)
    if backend != "none":
        raise ValueError(f"Unsupported web backend: {backend!r}")
    return [], {}


# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Helpers
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

def _normalize_date(value: object) -> str | None:
    if value is None:
        return None
    parsed = dates.parse_date(str(value).strip())
    if not parsed:
        return None
    return parsed.date().isoformat()

View on GitHub (pinned to 5be4028344)

Solutions

1. Export PARALLEL_API_KEY.
2. Use `--web-backend auto`, another backend you have a key for, or `--web-backend none`.

Example fix

# before
python3.12 last30days.py --topic x --web-backend parallel   # PARALLEL_API_KEY unset
# after
export PARALLEL_API_KEY=...
python3.12 last30days.py --topic x --web-backend parallel

if web_backend == 'parallel' and not config.get('PARALLEL_API_KEY'):
    raise RuntimeError("PARALLEL_API_KEY is required when web_backend='parallel'")

When it happens

Trigger: `--web-backend parallel` with PARALLEL_API_KEY unset/empty.

Common situations: Forcing parallel without the key; secret absent in CI; env var misnamed.

Related errors

• BRAVE_API_KEY is required when web_backend='brave'
• EXA_API_KEY is required when web_backend='exa'
• SERPER_API_KEY is required when web_backend='serper'
• Unsupported web backend: {backend!r}
• No sources are available for this run.

AI-assisted analysis of nexu-io/open-design@5be4028344 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7d3930514cdfd024. Report an issue: GitHub.