OpenAI invalid api key

[Code-isseur]

I’m getting invalid api key when trying to use OpenAI as the model. It was working, but after switching it to heurist as the model and then back to OpenAI, can’t get past the error

[Code-isseur]

invalid API key format I should say

[Cfomodz]

1. Check Your .env File

Open .env and ensure your API key has NO quotes or spaces:

# ✅ CORRECT
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-abc123def456...

# ❌ WRONG
OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-abc123..."
OPENAI_API_KEY='sk-abc123...'
OPENAI_API_KEY= sk-abc123...

2. Restart Completely

# Stop all instances
pkill -f "eliza"

# Restart
pnpm start --characters="path/to/character.json"

3. Verify Character Config

Check your character JSON file - remove or empty any OPENAI_API_KEY in the character settings:

{
  "settings": {
    "secrets": {
      // Remove this or leave empty - let .env handle it
    }
  },
  "modelProvider": "openai"
}