Cursor Docs AI Assistant Error: "AI Gateway authentication failed: Invalid API key"

Support Bug Reports
1

The following content was automatically generated by AI.

Issue Description:

When attempting to use the AI assistant on the Cursor documentation site, the request fails and returns an API authentication error.

Error Output:

JSON

{
  "type": "error",
  "errorText": "AI Gateway authentication failed: Invalid API key.\n\nCreate a new API key: https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%2Fapi-keys\n\nProvide via 'apiKey' option or 'AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY' environment variable."
}

Analysis & Impact : It appears that the Vercel AI Gateway API key configured for the Cursor docs backend has expired, been revoked, or is missing the AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY environment variable. This renders the documentation’s interactive AI assistant completely unusable for all visitors.

Steps to Reproduce:

  1. Go to the Cursor official documentation page.

  2. Open the AI Assistant / search feature and ask any question.

  3. Observe the raw JSON error response in the network response / interface.

Expected Result : The AI assistant should respond with guidance based on the documentation, rather than returning a Vercel AI Gateway authentication error.

2

Hi there!

We detected that this may be a bug report, so we’ve moved your post to the Bug Reports category.

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Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

  • Editor, Tab & Chat (autocomplete, Composer, in-editor agent)
  • Terminal & commands
  • Models, pricing & API keys (availability, Auto/Max, BYOK/Bedrock)
  • MCP & tools
  • Cloud Agents & Automations (cursor.com/agents, scheduled/event)
  • BugBot & Code Review
  • Cursor CLI
  • Cursor Mobile
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Steps to Reproduce
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Expected Behavior
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Version Information

  • For Cursor IDE: Menu → About Cursor → Copy
  • For Cursor CLI: Run agent about in your terminal
IDE:
Version: 2.xx.x
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: ......

CLI:
CLI Version 2026.01.17-d239e66

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Additional Information
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Does this stop you from using Cursor?

  • Yes - Cursor is unusable
  • Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor
  • No - Cursor works, but with this issue

The more details you provide, the easier it is for us to reproduce and fix the issue. Thanks!