Fix OpenRouter 401 'User not found' authentication error

[kilo-code-bot]

Problem

The CLI app throws a 401 "User not found" error when trying to use the OpenRouter API, retrying 3 times before failing.

Root Cause

Two issues were identified:

1. Placeholder API keys not rejected — The getApiKey() function in src/model/llm.ts did not validate whether the API key was a placeholder value (e.g., your-api-key from env.example). If a user copied env.example to .env without replacing the placeholder, the invalid key would be sent to OpenRouter, resulting in a 401 "User not found" error. Note: checkApiKeyExists() in src/utils/env.ts already had this validation, but getApiKey() did not.

2. Missing required OpenRouter headers — OpenRouter's API requires HTTP-Referer and X-Title headers for proper request identification. Without these headers, authentication can fail or be unreliable.

Changes

• src/model/llm.ts:
  • Added placeholder value detection in getApiKey() — rejects keys starting with your- with a clear error message
  • Improved error messages to guide users on proper .env setup
  • Added HTTP-Referer and X-Title default headers to the OpenRouter configuration

How to Set Up the API Key

1. Copy the example environment file:

   cp env.example .env

2. Edit .env and replace the placeholder with your actual OpenRouter API key:

   OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-your-actual-key-here
   

3. Get your API key from OpenRouter

Alternatively, you can set the key interactively in the CLI using the /model command and selecting OpenRouter as the provider.

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