DeepSeek: Authentication Fails (API 401)

The DeepSeek API rejected the API key. This can happen because the key is incorrect, was deleted and recreated during a cyberattack response — DeepSeek's servers were compromised in early 2025, prompting many users to regenerate keys — or because the environment variable containing the key is not loaded properly. DeepSeek confirmed on their status page that during the January 2025 attack, some API keys stopped working and required deletion and recreation.