feat(llm): have OpenAI provider not require API keys (for endpoints like LM Studio)

apps/client/src/widgets/llm_chat/validation.ts

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ export async function validateEmbeddingProviders(validationWarning: HTMLElement)
                 // Check OpenAI configuration
                 const apiKey = options.get('openaiApiKey');
                 if (!apiKey) {
-                    configIssues.push(`OpenAI API key is missing`);
+                    configIssues.push(`OpenAI API key is missing (optional for OpenAI-compatible endpoints)`);
                 }
             } else if (provider === 'anthropic') {
                 // Check Anthropic configuration

apps/server/src/routes/api/openai.ts

@@ -66,12 +66,13 @@ async function listModels(req: Request, res: Response) {
         const apiKey = await options.getOption('openaiApiKey');
 
         if (!apiKey) {
-            throw new Error('OpenAI API key is not configured');
+            // Log warning but don't throw - some OpenAI-compatible endpoints don't require API keys
+            log.info('OpenAI API key is not configured when listing models. This may cause issues with official OpenAI endpoints.');
         }
 
-        // Initialize OpenAI client with the API key and base URL
+        // Initialize OpenAI client with the API key (or empty string) and base URL
         const openai = new OpenAI({
-            apiKey,
+            apiKey: apiKey || '', // Default to empty string if no API key
             baseURL: openaiBaseUrl
         });
 

apps/server/src/services/llm/providers/openai_service.ts

@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ export class OpenAIService extends BaseAIService {
     }
 
     override isAvailable(): boolean {
-        return super.isAvailable() && !!options.getOption('openaiApiKey');
+        // Make API key optional to support OpenAI-compatible endpoints that don't require authentication
+        // The provider is considered available as long as the parent checks pass
+        return super.isAvailable();
     }
 
     private getClient(apiKey: string, baseUrl?: string): OpenAI {
@@ -29,7 +31,7 @@ export class OpenAIService extends BaseAIService {
 
     async generateChatCompletion(messages: Message[], opts: ChatCompletionOptions = {}): Promise<ChatResponse> {
         if (!this.isAvailable()) {
-            throw new Error('OpenAI service is not available. Check API key and AI settings.');
+            throw new Error('OpenAI service is not available. Check AI settings.');
         }
 
         // Get provider-specific options from the central provider manager

apps/server/src/services/llm/providers/providers.ts

@@ -152,23 +152,30 @@ export async function createProvidersFromCurrentOptions(): Promise<EmbeddingProv
             }
         }
 
-        // Create OpenAI provider if API key is configured
+        // Create OpenAI provider even without API key (for OpenAI-compatible endpoints)
         const openaiApiKey = await options.getOption('openaiApiKey');
-        if (openaiApiKey) {
+        const openaiBaseUrl = await options.getOption('openaiBaseUrl');
-            const openaiModel = await options.getOption('openaiEmbeddingModel') || 'text-embedding-3-small';
+
-            const openaiBaseUrl = await options.getOption('openaiBaseUrl') || 'https://api.openai.com/v1';
+        // Only create OpenAI provider if base URL is set or API key is provided
+        if (openaiApiKey || openaiBaseUrl) {
+            const openaiModel = await options.getOption('openaiEmbeddingModel')
+            const finalBaseUrl = openaiBaseUrl || 'https://api.openai.com/v1';
+
+            if (!openaiApiKey) {
+                log.info('Creating OpenAI embedding provider without API key. This may cause issues with official OpenAI endpoints.');
+            }
 
             const openaiProvider = new OpenAIEmbeddingProvider({
                 model: openaiModel,
                 dimension: 1536,
                 type: 'float32',
-                apiKey: openaiApiKey,
+                apiKey: openaiApiKey || '', // Default to empty string
-                baseUrl: openaiBaseUrl
+                baseUrl: finalBaseUrl
             });
 
             registerEmbeddingProvider(openaiProvider);
             result.push(openaiProvider);
-            log.info(`Created OpenAI provider on-demand: ${openaiModel}`);
+            log.info(`Created OpenAI provider on-demand: ${openaiModel} at ${finalBaseUrl}`);
         }
 
         // Create Voyage provider if API key is configured
@@ -352,7 +359,8 @@ export function getOpenAIOptions(
     try {
         const apiKey = options.getOption('openaiApiKey');
         if (!apiKey) {
-            throw new Error('OpenAI API key is not configured');
+            // Log warning but don't throw - some OpenAI-compatible endpoints don't require API keys
+            log.info('OpenAI API key is not configured. This may cause issues with official OpenAI endpoints.');
         }
 
         const baseUrl = options.getOption('openaiBaseUrl') || PROVIDER_CONSTANTS.OPENAI.BASE_URL;
@@ -377,7 +385,7 @@ export function getOpenAIOptions(
 
         return {
             // Connection settings
-            apiKey,
+            apiKey: apiKey || '', // Default to empty string if no API key
             baseUrl,
 
             // Provider metadata