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DeepSeek API error

DeepSeek API 401 - Authentication Fails: what it means and how to fix it

Error message
401 - Authentication Fails

Retry? Not statedLast verified 1 documented fix1 source

What it means

Authentication failed because of a wrong API key.

Causes

  • Wrong API key

How to fix it

  1. Fix 1.

    Check your API key. If you don't have one, create an API key on the DeepSeek platform first.

More DeepSeek API errors

HTTP 401 at other providers

Compare 401 across providers

FAQ

What does the DeepSeek API error "401 - Authentication Fails" mean?

Authentication failed because of a wrong API key.

How do I fix DeepSeek API "401 - Authentication Fails"?

Check your API key. If you don't have one, create an API key on the DeepSeek platform first.

Should I retry DeepSeek API "401 - Authentication Fails"?

Not stated. The official docs do not say whether this error is retryable.

Which other AI APIs return HTTP 401?

Per their official error docs: Anthropic API (401 authentication_error), Azure OpenAI (401 Unauthorized), Cohere API (401 Unauthorized), Gemini API (401 authentication), Groq API (401 Unauthorized), Mistral API (401 Unauthorized), OpenAI API (401 Invalid Authentication; 401 Incorrect API key provided; 401 You must be a member of an organization to use the API; 401 IP not authorized), OpenRouter (401 authentication), Vertex AI (401 UNAUTHENTICATED), xAI API (401 Unauthorized).

Sources

Last verified against 1 source: DeepSeek API's official docs and official SDK repositories.

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