Mistral API returns 401 in integration_openai while the same API key works with curl

[vertdechat]

Which version of integration_openai are you using?

4.5.1

Which version of Nextcloud are you using?

34.0.1

Which browser are you using? In case you are using the phone App, specify the Android or iOS version and device please.

Firefox

Describe the Bug

I am trying to use Mistral AI with the Nextcloud application OpenAI and LocalAI integration.

The application successfully reaches the Mistral API and retrieves the model list, but chat requests fail with:

OpenAI/LocalAI request failed: API request error:
Invalid API Key/Basic Auth:
Client error: POST https://api.mistral.ai/v1/chat/completions
resulted in a 401 Unauthorized response:

{"detail":"Unauthorized"}

Expected Behavior

The application should authenticate with the Mistral API using:

Authorization: Bearer <MISTRAL_API_KEY>

and successfully call:

https://api.mistral.ai/v1/chat/completions

To Reproduce

API key test

The same API key works correctly from inside the Nextcloud Docker container:

docker exec -it nextcloud-app-1 curl https://api.mistral.ai/v1/models
-H "Authorization: Bearer MISTRAL_API_KEY"

The command returns the Mistral model list successfully.

Network access also works:

docker exec -it nextcloud-app-1 curl -I https://api.mistral.ai
Configuration
API URL: https://api.mistral.ai/v1
Service name: Mistral
Model: mistral-small-latest
Basic authentication: disabled

The API key is entered without the Bearer prefix.

Troubleshooting already performed
Confirmed outbound HTTPS access to api.mistral.ai:443
Confirmed the API key works with curl
Disabled Basic Authentication
Deleted basic_user and basic_password
Deleted and re-entered the API key
Uninstalled and reinstalled integration_openai
Restarted the Nextcloud container
Tried mistral-small-latest
Log extract
A TaskProcessing core:text2text:chat task failed with the following message:

OpenAI/LocalAI request failed:
API request error:
Invalid API Key/Basic Auth:
Client error: POST https://api.mistral.ai/v1/chat/completions
resulted in a 401 Unauthorized response:

{"detail":"Unauthorized"}
Environment
Nextcloud version: 34.0.1.2
Nextcloud installation: Docker
Nextcloud image: nextcloud:apache
integration_openai version: [TO COMPLETE]
PHP version: [TO COMPLETE]
Host OS: Ubuntu
Mistral endpoint: https://api.mistral.ai/v1
Additional information

It looks like the API key used by integration_openai is not sent correctly in the Authorization header, or an old/incorrect credential is still being used internally.

Could you confirm whether Mistral API authentication is currently supported and whether the request header generated by the application is compatible with Mistral?

[lukasdotcom]

Hi @vertdechat,

The method of sending an authorization header should work and I don't remember it being cached. Can you double check that the api key is set correctly?

[dtump]

I have Mistral working with integration_openai 4.5.1 on Nextcloud 33.0.6, using a global admin API key.

Could you check whether the affected user has a personal API key configured under Personal settings → Assistant (in the OpenAI and LocalAI integration settings)? In 4.5.1, a non-empty personal key overrides the global admin key for that user’s chat requests. A stale or incorrect personal key could therefore cause the 401 even though the global key works with curl.

[vertdechat]

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked the affected user’s Personal settings → Assistant, and there is no personal API key configured. I also removed and re-saved the settings to make sure.

The issue still occurs with chat requests from Nextcloud, returning:

401 Unauthorized
Invalid API Key/Basic Auth

However, the same Mistral API key works correctly with curl executed directly from inside the Nextcloud Docker container against:

https://api.mistral.ai/v1/chat/completions

So the container has network access and the global API key itself is valid. It seems specific to how integration_openai builds or sends the authorization header for chat requests.

[vertdechat]

Thanks for your help.

I confirmed that no personal API key is configured for the affected user. The global Mistral API key also works correctly with curl from inside the Nextcloud container.

After enabling only the Conversation feature, chat requests started working. However, responses were extremely slow.

The delay appears to come from Nextcloud task processing rather than Mistral itself. I added dedicated taskprocessing:worker containers and started four workers to avoid waiting for the cron job.

I am now testing whether this makes chat responses immediate.