rdme docs deploy "failed" 401 unauthorized

TL;DR

Refresh your rdme API key: log in again and make sure the key in use belongs to the right project and has not been revoked. 401 means the key is missing, wrong, or dead.

Error

docs deploy failed: 401 unauthorized

Steps

1. Check how the key is supplied: the rdme command reads it from login state or the RDMEAPIKEY environment variable. Print which source is active without printing the value. Expected: you know where the key comes from.
2. Re-authenticate: run rdme login interactively, or generate a fresh key in the ReadMe project dashboard and store it as RDMEAPIKEY in CI secrets. Expected: a known-good key in place.
3. Confirm the key belongs to the project you are deploying to; keys are per-project, and a key from project A 401s against project B. Expected: project match confirmed.
4. Re-run the deploy command. Expected: 2xx response and the deploy succeeds.

When to use

• rdme deploy fails with 401 unauthorized
• The key was rotated or the CI secret expired
• Deploying to a different ReadMe project than before

When not to use

• The deploy 403s (authenticated but forbidden: a permissions issue)
• The docs build itself fails (fix the content)
• The key works locally but not in CI (the CI secret is stale or misnamed)

Tool compatibility

rdme CLI 8.x/9.x against ReadMe projects. API key handling is the same across versions.

Variant phrasings

401 after a teammate rotated the key

Update the shared CI secret; local logins on other machines keep working until their tokens expire.

401 with a freshly generated key

You may be deploying to the wrong project slug. Verify the project the key was issued for.

Why it happens

API keys are the only auth rdme uses, and they die silently: rotation, project changes, and expired CI secrets all surface as a bare 401 with no hint about which cause applies.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_xQYrzDx-27bHGJPhgUuouA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_xQYrzDx-27bHGJPhgUuouA

Thread query: rdme docs deploy "failed" 401 unauthorized

TL;DR: Refresh your rdme API key: log in again and make sure the key in use belongs to the right project and has not been revoked. 401 means the key is missing, wrong, or dead.