sgl-project/sglang · error · ValueError

Crusoe API key required. Pass api_key= or set CRUSOE_API_KEY

Error message

Crusoe API key required. Pass api_key= or set CRUSOE_API_KEY.

What it means

The Crusoe backend (CrusoeAI) requires an API key, resolved from the api_key argument or the CRUSOE_API_KEY environment variable. If neither is present, __init__ raises ValueError immediately — fail-fast credential validation before any request is made.

Source

Thrown at python/sglang/lang/backend/crusoe.py:33

    Args:
        model_name: The model to use, e.g. "meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct".
        api_key: Crusoe API key. Defaults to CRUSOE_API_KEY env var.
        base_url: Override the Crusoe endpoint. Defaults to the Crusoe API.
        chat_template: Optional custom chat template.
    """

    def __init__(
        self,
        model_name: str,
        api_key: Optional[str] = None,
        base_url: Optional[str] = None,
        chat_template: Optional[ChatTemplate] = None,
        **kwargs,
    ):
        resolved_api_key = api_key or os.environ.get("CRUSOE_API_KEY")
        if not resolved_api_key:
            raise ValueError(
                "Crusoe API key required. Pass api_key= or set CRUSOE_API_KEY."
            )

        super().__init__(
            model_name=model_name,
            chat_template=chat_template,
            api_key=resolved_api_key,
            base_url=base_url or CRUSOE_BASE_URL,
            **kwargs,
        )

View on GitHub (pinned to 0132848349)

Solutions

1. Export CRUSOE_API_KEY in the environment: export CRUSOE_API_KEY=sk-... (add to .env/shell profile).
2. Or pass the key explicitly: sgl.CrusoeAI(model_name=..., api_key='sk-...').
3. In CI, add CRUSOE_API_KEY as a masked secret variable.

Example fix

# before
backend = sgl.CrusoeAI(model_name="crusoe-model")

# after
backend = sgl.CrusoeAI(model_name="crusoe-m", api_key=os.environ["CRUSOE_API_KEY"])
# or: export CRUSOE_API_KEY=sk-... then construct as before

import os
if not (os.environ.get("CRUSOE_API_KEY") or api_key):
    raise SystemExit("Set CRUSOE_API_KEY or pass api_key=")
backend = sgl.CrusoeAI(model_name=..., api_key=api_key)

try:
    backend = sgl.CrusoeAI(model_name=m)
except ValueError as e:
    if "CRUSOE_API_KEY" in str(e):
        api_key = getpass("Crusoe API key: ")
        backend = sgl.CrusoeAI(model_name=m, api_key=api_key)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing sgl.CrusoeAI(model_name=...) without api_key= on a machine where CRUSOE_API_KEY is not exported; common in fresh shells, CI, or containers.

Common situations: Deploying to a new environment without copying env config; shell scripts that don't source the .env file; CI secrets not wired to the CRUSOE_API_KEY variable name.

Understand the failure class

Background: "API key is required" / "API key not found" / "No API key was set": the missing-api-key error family across 16 libraries — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

• This use case is not supported if api speculative execution
• Unknown dtype: {sampling_params.dtype}
• This use case is not supported. For OpenAI chat models, sgl.
• select/choices is not supported for chat models. Please try
• Invalid dtype: {sampling_params.dtype}

AI-assisted analysis of sgl-project/sglang@0132848349 (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4c92d3be08d4d3d5. Report an issue: GitHub.