GPTScript Error: "Please provide your OpenAI API key" despite setting `process.env.GPTSCRIPT_API_KEY`

[KaziShahHamza]

Description:

I am running a Node.js Express server that executes a GPTScript file (story.gpt) using @gptscript-ai/gptscript. However, when I make a request, I get the following error:

Error occurred during GPTScript execution: Error: prompt occurred when prompt was not allowed: Message: Please provide your OpenAI API key:
Fields: key
Sensitive: true

Despite setting process.env.GPTSCRIPT_API_KEY, GPTScript still asks for an OpenAI API key.

---

Code & Setup

1️⃣ package.json

{
  "name": "server",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "keywords": [],
  "license": "ISC",
  "author": "",
  "type": "module",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js",
    "dev": "nodemon index.js"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@gptscript-ai/gptscript": "^0.9.5",
    "cors": "^2.8.5",
    "express": "^4.21.2",
    "uniqid": "^5.4.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "nodemon": "^3.1.9"
  }
}

---

2️⃣ story.gpt

tools: sys.write, sys.read, sys.download, sys.find
tools: github.com/gptscript-ai/browser
args: url: Articles link
args: dir: directory to save the created files

1. Browse to the ${url} and read the page's contents.
2. Create a TL;DR text version for an Instagram reel or YouTube short. No emojis and no more than 100 words.
3. Split the created text into 3 parts and save the texts to "${dir}/story-${INDEX}.txt".

---

3️⃣ index.js (Relevant Code Snippet)

import express from "express";
import uniqid from "uniqid";
import fs from "fs";
import cors from "cors";
import { GPTScript } from "@gptscript-ai/gptscript";

const g = new GPTScript({ key: process.env.GPTSCRIPT_API_KEY });

const app = express();
app.use(cors());

app.get("/create-story", async (req, res) => {
  const url = req.query.url;
  if (!url) return res.status(400).json({ error: "url is required" });

  const dir = `./stories/${uniqid()}`;
  fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });

  const opts = {
    input: `--url ${url} --dir ${dir}`,
    disableCache: true,
  };

  try {
    const run = await g.run("./story.gpt", opts);
    if (!run) return res.status(500).json({ error: "error running GPTScript" });

    const result = await run.text();
    if (!result) return res.status(500).json({ error: "no result" });

    return res.json(result);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error("Error running GPTScript:", e);
    return res.status(500).json({ error: "error occurred" });
  }
});

app.listen(8080, () => console.log("Listening on port 8080"));

---

Error Output

Received request with URL: https://www.astronomy.com/picture-of-the-day/photo/hide-and-seek/
Generated directory path: ./stories/16ym8g0m8aalonh
Directory created successfully
Running GPTScript with options: {
  input: '--url https://www.astronomy.com/picture-of-the-day/photo/hide-and-seek/ --dir ./stories/16ym8g0m8aalonh',
  disableCache: true
}
Error occurred during GPTScript execution: Error: prompt occurred when prompt was not allowed: 
Message: Please provide your OpenAI API key:
Fields: key
Sensitive: true
    at IncomingMessage.<anonymous> (file:///D:/VsCode/webDev%202.0/Shortify/server/node_modules/@gptscript-ai/gptscript/dist/gptscript.js:482:28)
    at IncomingMessage.emit (node:events:518:28)
    at emitErrorNT (node:internal/streams/destroy:170:8)
    at emitErrorCloseNT (node:internal/streams/destroy:129:3)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:90:21)

---

What I've Tried:

1. Checked if the API key is set properly:

   • Logged process.env.GPTSCRIPT_API_KEY to check if it exists.
   • Verified .env file contains GPTSCRIPT_API_KEY=your_api_key_here.
   • Restarted the server after modifying .env.

2. Tried passing the key directly in code:

   const g = new GPTScript({ key: "your-api-key-here" });

   • This works but is insecure, so I want to use .env instead.

3. Checked if dotenv is needed:

   • Added dotenv and required it at the top:

     import dotenv from "dotenv";
     dotenv.config();

   • Still, GPTScript does not recognize the key.

4. Checked execution environment:

   • Running console.log(process.env.GPTSCRIPT_API_KEY) before initializing GPTScript returns undefined.

---

Environment Details:

• Node.js Version: 22.14.4
• @gptscript-ai/gptscript Version: 0.9.5
• OS: Windows 10 / macOS / Linux

---

Expected Behavior:

GPTScript should recognize process.env.GPTSCRIPT_API_KEY and execute story.gpt without prompting for an API key.

Actual Behavior:

Despite setting the API key in .env, GPTScript still prompts for it, causing execution to fail.