OPENROUTER_API_KEY not set. Get one at https://openrouter.ai

Error message

OPENROUTER_API_KEY not set. Get one at https://openrouter.ai/keys

What it means

Thrown when the commit review/generation feature needs an OpenRouter API key but none can be found in the environment or config lookup. The message includes a link to obtain a key at https://openrouter.ai/keys. The library never silently proceeds without credentials for the AI-backed path.

Source

Thrown at src/commit.rs:13170

fn openrouter_api_key() -> Result<String> {
    if let Ok(value) = std::env::var("OPENROUTER_API_KEY") {
        if !value.trim().is_empty() {
            return Ok(value);
        }
    }

    if is_local_env_backend() {
        if let Ok(vars) = crate::env::fetch_personal_env_vars(&["OPENROUTER_API_KEY".to_string()]) {
            if let Some(value) = vars.get("OPENROUTER_API_KEY") {
                if !value.trim().is_empty() {
                    return Ok(value.clone());
                }
            }
        }
    }

    bail!("OPENROUTER_API_KEY not set. Get one at https://openrouter.ai/keys");
}

fn parse_review_json(output: &str) -> Option<ReviewJson> {
    let trimmed = output.trim();
    if trimmed.is_empty() {
        return None;
    }

    if let Ok(parsed) = serde_json::from_str::<ReviewJson>(trimmed) {
        return Some(parsed);
    }

    let start = trimmed.find('{')?;
    let end = trimmed.rfind('}')?;
    if end <= start {
        return None;
    }
    let candidate = &trimmed[start..=end];

View on GitHub (pinned to a747e741ae)

Solutions

Export the key: `export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...` (get one at https://openrouter.ai/keys)
Add the key to your CI secrets / .env file so automated runs get it
Verify with `echo ${OPENROUTER_API_KEY:+set}` that the variable is visible to the process
If you meant a different provider, configure that provider's key/env name instead

Example fix

// before (shell)
cargo run -- commit --ai
// error: OPENROUTER_API_KEY not set
// after (shell)
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...
cargo run -- commit --ai

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// run before invoking AI-backed commands
if std::env::var("OPENROUTER_API_KEY").map_or(true, |v| v.trim().is_empty()) {
    eprintln!("OPENROUTER_API_KEY not set — get one at https://openrouter.ai/keys");
    std::process::exit(1);
}

Try / catch

match run_ai_commit() {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("OPENROUTER_API_KEY") => {
        eprintln!("Set OPENROUTER_API_KEY (https://openrouter.ai/keys), then retry.");
        std::process::exit(2);
    }
    other => other,
}

Prevention

Commit a documented .env.example listing OPENROUTER_API_KEY
Declare the secret in CI (GitHub Actions secrets) before enabling AI features
Source your profile or use direnv so the key is set in every shell
Never commit the real key; rotate if leaked

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking the AI commit-message/review flow when OPENROUTER_API_KEY is absent from the process environment and no alternate config location checked by the key-lookup loop provides a value.

Common situations: Fresh clone on a new machine without .env, CI pipeline missing the secret, key stored under a different variable name (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY), or shell not sourcing the profile that exports the key.

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

AI-assisted analysis of nikivdev/code@a747e741ae (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1aea4c043a8127da. Report an issue: GitHub.