Troubleshooting · Cursor

Cursor: Request Failed With Status Code 401 — Anthropic Key Fix

A 401 inside Cursor chat means the provider answered and rejected the credentials: key and base URL mismatched, key revoked, or the wrong header reaching the endpoint. The fix path.

What you see

Request failed with status code 401

Why it happens

  • The key verified once but was later revoked or expired — Cursor keeps using it until the provider starts answering 401.
  • The base URL override was changed after the key was saved, so the saved key now goes to an endpoint that has never seen it.
  • The account behind the key was suspended or its access withdrawn.

How to fix it

  • Re-check the pair as it exists right now: the override URL and the key must come from the same issuer. Fix whichever side changed.
  • Test the exact key against the exact base URL with curl — it removes Cursor from the equation in one step.
  • If curl also returns 401, the key itself is dead: check its status in the issuer's dashboard or reissue it.

Reproduce outside Cursor

curl https://api.apitoken.sale/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: sk-pool-•••" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"claude-sonnet-5","max_tokens":32,"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"ping"}]}'

Related searches

  • {"type":"error","error":{"type":"authentication_error","message":"invalid x-api-key"}}
  • cursor 401 anthropic

FAQ

Cursor verified my key earlier — why 401 now?+
Verification is a snapshot. A key revoked afterwards, or a base URL changed afterwards, produces 401s on every later request even though the initial verify passed.
Is this Cursor's bug?+
Almost never. A 401 is the provider's answer passed through. Reproduce it with curl: if curl gets 401 too, the credentials are the problem.
What if curl succeeds but Cursor still gets 401?+
Then Cursor is sending different credentials than you think — re-open settings and re-paste the key with the override URL already enabled.

All Cursor errors · Claude API error codes · Setup guide

Skip the broken setup

apiToken.sale serves the standard Anthropic API — same models, same SDKs, one prepaid balance. Point your tool's base URL at it, and the config on this page works as written.

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