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Model Authentication Error

Error Code: MODEL_AUTHENTICATION

This error occurs when there are issues with authenticating to a language model provider.

Common Causes​

  1. Invalid API Key: The provided API key is incorrect or expired
  2. Missing API Key: No API key was provided for the model
  3. Incorrect Environment Variable: The API key environment variable is not set correctly
  4. Provider Issues: The model provider's authentication service is down

Solutions​

1. Check API Key​

use ferriclink_core::FerricLinkError;
use std::env;

fn get_api_key() -> Result<String, FerricLinkError> {
    env::var("OPENAI_API_KEY")
        .map_err(|_| FerricLinkError::model_authentication(
            "OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable not set"
        ))
}

2. Validate API Key Format​

fn validate_api_key(key: &str) -> Result<(), FerricLinkError> {
    if key.is_empty() {
        return Err(FerricLinkError::model_authentication("API key is empty"));
    }
    
    if key.len() < 20 {
        return Err(FerricLinkError::model_authentication(
            "API key appears to be too short"
        ));
    }
    
    Ok(())
}

3. Test Authentication​

async fn test_authentication(api_key: &str) -> Result<(), FerricLinkError> {
    // Make a simple test request to verify the API key
    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
    let response = client
        .get("https://api.openai.com/v1/models")
        .bearer_auth(api_key)
        .send()
        .await
        .map_err(|_| FerricLinkError::model_authentication(
            "Failed to connect to API"
        ))?;
    
    if !response.status().is_success() {
        return Err(FerricLinkError::model_authentication(
            "API key authentication failed"
        ));
    }
    
    Ok(())
}

Environment Setup​

1. Set Environment Variables​

# For OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

# For Anthropic
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

# For other providers
export MODEL_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

2. Use .env Files​

use dotenv::dotenv;

fn load_env() -> Result<(), FerricLinkError> {
    dotenv().map_err(|_| FerricLinkError::model_authentication(
        "Failed to load .env file"
    ))?;
    Ok(())
}

Prevention​

  • Always validate API keys before use
  • Use environment variables for sensitive data
  • Implement proper error handling for auth failures
  • Test authentication in development
  • Keep API keys secure and rotate them regularly