xtekky/gpt4free · error · MissingAuthError

API key is required for {cls.__name__}

Error message

API key is required for {cls.__name__}

What it means

MissingAuthError raised by AsyncAuthedProvider.on_auth_async when the subclass's authentication step is entered without an 'api_key' in kwargs. AsyncAuthedProvider is the base for providers that require a pre-issued API key and cache the auth result to a JSON file; the key must be supplied on the first call (via kwargs or the client's api_key parameter).

Source

Thrown at g4f/providers/base_provider.py:436

                    raise RateLimitError(f"Error {status}: {message}")
                raise ResponseError(f"Error {status}: {message}")
            raise ResponseError(f"Error: {message}")


class AuthFileMixin:
    @classmethod
    def get_cache_file(cls) -> Path:
        return (
            Path(get_cookies_dir())
            / f"auth_{cls.parent if hasattr(cls, 'parent') else cls.__name__}.json"
        )


class AsyncAuthedProvider(AsyncGeneratorProvider, AuthFileMixin):
    @classmethod
    async def on_auth_async(cls, **kwargs) -> AuthResult:
        if "api_key" not in kwargs:
            raise MissingAuthError(f"API key is required for {cls.__name__}")
        return AuthResult()

    @classmethod
    def write_cache_file(cls, cache_file: Path, auth_result: AuthResult = None):
        if auth_result is not None:
            cache_file.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
            try:

                def toJSON(obj):
                    if hasattr(obj, "get_dict"):
                        return obj.get_dict()
                    return str(obj)

                with cache_file.open("w") as cache_file:
                    json.dump(auth_result, cache_file, default=toJSON)
            except TypeError as e:
                raise RuntimeError(
                    f"Failed to save: {auth_result.get_dict()}\n{type(e).__name__}: {e}"

View on GitHub (pinned to 973504e177)

Solutions

1. Pass the API key explicitly: provider.create_async_generator(model, messages, api_key='...') or set it on the client used to build kwargs.
2. Place the key in the environment/config your g4f client reads before the first request.
3. If you believe you already authenticated, check that the auth cache file (Path(get_cookies_dir()) / f'auth_{provider.__name__}.json') exists and is valid JSON.
4. Subclass authors: override on_auth_async if your provider uses cookies/tokens instead of api_key.

Example fix

// before
response = await MyAuthedProvider.create_async_generator(model=model, messages=messages)

// after
response = await MyAuthedProvider.create_async_generator(
    model=model, messages=messages, api_key=os.environ['MY_PROVIDER_API_KEY']
)

api_key = os.environ.get('MY_PROVIDER_API_KEY')
if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError('MY_PROVIDER_API_KEY not set; required by AsyncAuthedProvider subclasses')

from g4f.errors import MissingAuthError
try:
    result = await provider.create_async_generator(model, messages)
except MissingAuthError:
    result = await provider.create_async_generator(
        model, messages, api_key=os.environ['MY_PROVIDER_API_KEY']
    )

When it happens

Trigger: Instantiating a provider that subclasses AsyncAuthedProvider and calling create_async_generator / create_authed without passing api_key, with no valid cached auth file present (get_auth_result would also raise MissingAuthError without the file).

Common situations: Forgetting to set the API key in .env or the client constructor; expecting the auth cache file (auth_<Provider>.json in the cookies dir) to exist on a fresh machine or after clearing ~/.config/g4f; renaming providers so the cache filename no longer matches.

Related errors

• No Yupp accounts configured. Set YUPP_API_KEY environment va
• GitHub Copilot OAuth not configured. Please run 'g4f auth gi
• Cannot validate GLM account (status {response.status})
• Add a "api_key"
• API key has failed too many times.

AI-assisted analysis of xtekky/gpt4free@973504e177 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bf976385fe36fd48. Report an issue: GitHub.