fix(embeddings): handle empty API key in LiteLLMEmbeddingEngine
- Add conditional check for empty API key to prevent authentication
errors- Set default API key to "EMPTY" when no valid key is provided-
This ensures proper fallback behavior when API key is not configured
```
<!-- .github/pull_request_template.md -->
## Description
This PR fixes an issue where the `LiteLLMEmbeddingEngine` throws an authentication error when the `EMBEDDING_API_KEY` environment variable is empty or not set. The error message indicated `"api_key client option must be set either by passing api_key to the client or by setting the OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable"`.
Log Error: 2025-12-23T11:36:58.220908 [error ] Error embedding text: litellm.AuthenticationError: AuthenticationError: OpenAIException - The api_key client option must be set either by passing api_key to the client or by setting the OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable [LiteLLMEmbeddingEngine]
**Root Cause**: When initializing the embedding engine, if the `api_key` parameter is an empty string, the underlying LiteLLM client doesn't treat it as "no key provided" but instead uses this empty string to make API requests, triggering authentication failure.
**Solution**: Added a conditional check in the code that creates the `LiteLLMEmbeddingEngine` instance. If the `EMBEDDING_API_KEY` read from configuration is empty (`None` or empty string), we explicitly set the `api_key` parameter passed to the engine constructor to a non-empty placeholder string `"EMPTY"`. This aligns with LiteLLM's handling of optional authentication and prevents exceptions in scenarios where keys are not required or need to be obtained from other sources
**How to Reproduce**:
Configure the application with the following settings (as shown in the error log):
EMBEDDING_PROVIDER="custom"
EMBEDDING_MODEL="openai/Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-xxx"
EMBEDDING_ENDPOINT="xxxxx"
EMBEDDING_API_VERSION=""
EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS=1024
EMBEDDING_MAX_TOKENS=16384
EMBEDDING_BATCH_SIZE=10
# If embedding key is not provided same key set for LLM_API_KEY will be used
EMBEDDING_API_KEY=""
## Acceptance Criteria
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* Key requirements to the new feature or modification;
* Proof that the changes work and meet the requirements;
* Include instructions on how to verify the changes. Describe how to test it locally;
* Proof that it's sufficiently tested.
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## Type of Change
<!-- Please check the relevant option -->
- [x] Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
- [ ] New feature (non-breaking change that adds functionality)
- [ ] Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
- [ ] Documentation update
- [ ] Code refactoring
- [ ] Performance improvement
- [ ] Other (please specify):
## Screenshots/Videos (if applicable)
<!-- Add screenshots or videos to help explain your changes -->
## Pre-submission Checklist
<!-- Please check all boxes that apply before submitting your PR -->
- [x] I have tested my changes thoroughly before submitting this PR
- [x] This PR contains minimal changes necessary to address the issue/feature
- [ ] My code follows the project's coding standards and style guidelines
- [ ] I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works
- [ ] I have added necessary documentation (if applicable)
- [ ] All new and existing tests pass
- [x] I have searched existing PRs to ensure this change hasn't been submitted already
- [ ] I have linked any relevant issues in the description
- [ ] My commits have clear and descriptive messages
## DCO Affirmation
I affirm that all code in every commit of this pull request conforms to the terms of the Topoteretes Developer Certificate of Origin.
<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
## Summary by CodeRabbit
* **Bug Fixes**
* Improved API key validation for the embedding service to properly handle blank or missing API keys, ensuring more reliable embedding generation and preventing potential service errors.
<sub>✏️ Tip: You can customize this high-level summary in your review settings.</sub>
<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
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Cognee - Accurate and Persistent AI Memory
Demo . Docs . Learn More · Join Discord · Join r/AIMemory . Community Plugins & Add-ons
Use your data to build personalized and dynamic memory for AI Agents. Cognee lets you replace RAG with scalable and modular ECL (Extract, Cognify, Load) pipelines.
🌐 Available Languages : Deutsch | Español | Français | 日本語 | 한국어 | Português | Русский | 中文
About Cognee
Cognee is an open-source tool and platform that transforms your raw data into persistent and dynamic AI memory for Agents. It combines vector search with graph databases to make your documents both searchable by meaning and connected by relationships.
You can use Cognee in two ways:
- Self-host Cognee Open Source, which stores all data locally by default.
- Connect to Cognee Cloud, and get the same OSS stack on managed infrastructure for easier development and productionization.
Cognee Open Source (self-hosted):
- Interconnects any type of data — including past conversations, files, images, and audio transcriptions
- Replaces traditional RAG systems with a unified memory layer built on graphs and vectors
- Reduces developer effort and infrastructure cost while improving quality and precision
- Provides Pythonic data pipelines for ingestion from 30+ data sources
- Offers high customizability through user-defined tasks, modular pipelines, and built-in search endpoints
Cognee Cloud (managed):
- Hosted web UI dashboard
- Automatic version updates
- Resource usage analytics
- GDPR compliant, enterprise-grade security
Basic Usage & Feature Guide
To learn more, check out this short, end-to-end Colab walkthrough of Cognee's core features.
Quickstart
Let’s try Cognee in just a few lines of code. For detailed setup and configuration, see the Cognee Docs.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10 to 3.13
Step 1: Install Cognee
You can install Cognee with pip, poetry, uv, or your preferred Python package manager.
uv pip install cognee
Step 2: Configure the LLM
import os
os.environ["LLM_API_KEY"] = "YOUR OPENAI_API_KEY"
Alternatively, create a .env file using our template.
To integrate other LLM providers, see our LLM Provider Documentation.
Step 3: Run the Pipeline
Cognee will take your documents, generate a knowledge graph from them and then query the graph based on combined relationships.
Now, run a minimal pipeline:
import cognee
import asyncio
async def main():
# Add text to cognee
await cognee.add("Cognee turns documents into AI memory.")
# Generate the knowledge graph
await cognee.cognify()
# Add memory algorithms to the graph
await cognee.memify()
# Query the knowledge graph
results = await cognee.search("What does Cognee do?")
# Display the results
for result in results:
print(result)
if __name__ == '__main__':
asyncio.run(main())
As you can see, the output is generated from the document we previously stored in Cognee:
Cognee turns documents into AI memory.
Use the Cognee CLI
As an alternative, you can get started with these essential commands:
cognee-cli add "Cognee turns documents into AI memory."
cognee-cli cognify
cognee-cli search "What does Cognee do?"
cognee-cli delete --all
To open the local UI, run:
cognee-cli -ui
Demos & Examples
See Cognee in action:
Persistent Agent Memory
Cognee Memory for LangGraph Agents
Simple GraphRAG
Cognee with Ollama
Community & Support
Contributing
We welcome contributions from the community! Your input helps make Cognee better for everyone. See CONTRIBUTING.md to get started.
Code of Conduct
We're committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful community. Read our Code of Conduct for guidelines.
Research & Citation
We recently published a research paper on optimizing knowledge graphs for LLM reasoning:
@misc{markovic2025optimizinginterfaceknowledgegraphs,
title={Optimizing the Interface Between Knowledge Graphs and LLMs for Complex Reasoning},
author={Vasilije Markovic and Lazar Obradovic and Laszlo Hajdu and Jovan Pavlovic},
year={2025},
eprint={2505.24478},
archivePrefix={arXiv},
primaryClass={cs.AI},
url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.24478},
}