Can I self host Composio on my own VM?

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

I wanted to self host Composio on my own VM instead of using their cloud, so I installed everything and tried to run the CLI there. Every command failed with Error: API Key not provided, either provide API key or export it as COMPOSIOAPIKEY or run composio login.

Steps

1. I wanted to self host Composio on my own VM instead of using their cloud, so I installed everything and tried to run the CLI there. Every command failed with Error: API Key not provided, either provide API key or export it as COMPOSIOAPIKEY or run composio login. That killed the whole self hosting plan since there was no way around the cloud dependency. The thread is from late 2024 and has the official answer.
2. There is no supported self hosted path for Composio on your own VM, at least not as of this thread. The tools always need a Composio API key, set COMPOSIOAPIKEY or run composio login first, and the maintainers said they dont support a VM self host setup and might look into it later. So the answer is short: you need the cloud account and an API key, self hosting the whole thing yourself isnt a thing.

When to use

You are seeing this: That killed the whole self hosting plan since there was no way around the cloud dependency. Use this skill when you run into "Can I self host Composio on my own VM?".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

In the thread https://vectle.com/threads/thr3MSmrPR7tcrVALnOhCxYvw, the question was: I wanted to self host Composio on my own VM instead of using their cloud, so I installed everything and tried to run the CLI there. Every command failed with Error: API Key not provided, either provide API key or export it as COMPOSIOAPIKEY or run composio login. That killed the whole self hosting plan since there was no way around the cloud dependency. The thread is from late 2024 and has the official answer. The verified resolution was: There is no supported self hosted path for Composio on your own VM, at least not as of this thread. The tools always need a Composio API key, set COMPOSIOAPI_KEY or run composio login first, and the maintainers said they dont support a VM self host setup and might look into it later. So the answer is short: you need the cloud account and an API key, self hosting the whole thing yourself isnt a thing.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

The team said it was fixed in @composio/core 0.1.36-next.5. This was an SDK bug, fixed in @composio/core 0.1.36-next.5.

Steps

1. The API key auth config was being created but the key itself wasnt persisted on the connected account, so any follow-up call failed. This was an SDK bug, fixed in @composio/core 0.1.36-next.5. The simplest path is just upgrading past that version. One reporter also shared a raw-fetch workaround against the /api/v3/connected_accounts endpoint using the x-api-key header, which works fine if you want to bypass the SDK entirely.

When to use

You are seeing this: I was using the Composio V3 TypeScript SDK on 0.1.36-next.0 to authenticate agents with an API key toolkit, via connectedAccounts.initiate with AuthScheme.APIKey({ api_key value... }). Use this skill when you run into "Composio V3 TypeScript SDK breaks after creating connection using AuthScheme.APIKey()".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: 0.1.36-next.0, composiocore 0.1.36-next.5. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

Why this happens

The initiate call seemed to succeed, but afterwards connectedAccounts.list and waitForConnection blew up.

A user asked: I was using the Composio V3 TypeScript SDK on 0.1.36-next.0 to authenticate agents with an API key toolkit, via connectedAccounts.initiate with AuthScheme.APIKey({ apikey value ... }). The initiate call seemed to succeed, but afterwards connectedAccounts.list and waitForConnection blew up. Looking at the dashboard I realized the connected account never actually saved the api key. Someone else on the thread confirmed the same with any auth type. The team said it was fixed in @composio/core 0.1.36-next.5. The verified answer: The API key auth config was being created but the key itself wasnt persisted on the connected account, so any follow-up call failed. This was an SDK bug, fixed in @composio/core 0.1.36-next.5. The simplest path is just upgrading past that version. One reporter also shared a raw-fetch workaround against the /api/v3/connectedaccounts endpoint using the x-api-key header, which works fine if you want to bypass the SDK entirely. Thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thr_kZzYPRgrky9fP50DHh4h8A

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix: Collaborator rafaelsideguide: set USEDBAUTHENTICATION=false in .env and use any string as the API key; follow the self-host guide.

The error

[Self-Host] Question: how to set the API key when running Firecrawl locally / what value to use in client SDKs and integrations like Dify.

Fix

1. Collaborator rafaelsideguide: set USEDBAUTHENTICATION=false in .env and use any string as the API key; follow the self-host guide.

Success check: the symptom above is gone and the original operation completes.

When to use

• You hit this exact symptom in firecrawl.
• You want the verified fix without digging through the thread.

When not to use

• A different error in firecrawl, even a similar-looking one.
• General firecrawl setup or credential questions.

Compatibility

• Firecrawl (firecrawl/firecrawl)

Variant phrasings

• How to fix "how to set the api key when running locally?" in firecrawl
• firecrawl: how to set the api key when running locally?

Source

• https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/issues/557

In gh:firecrawl/firecrawl#557 (https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl/issues/557), the question was: [Self-Host] Question: how to set the API key when running Firecrawl locally / what value to use in client SDKs and integrations like Dify. The verified resolution: Collaborator rafaelsideguide: set USEDBAUTHENTICATION=false in .env and use any string as the API key; follow the self-host guide. Lesson: local Firecrawl needs no real key - any string works once DB authentication is disabled, but it must match what clients send or you get 401 Unauthorized.