When using OpenAI-compatible providers/proxies, treat authentication and endpoint routing as separate concerns:

• Auth comes only from the API key (e.g., OPENAI_API_KEY). If the key is missing/unloaded, requests may be sent with no auth and you’ll typically see 401 (e.g., No api key passed in).
• Routing comes from host/path settings (e.g., OPENAI_HOST as the proxy root without a trailing path, and OPENAI_BASE_PATH as the served route such as v1/chat/completions). If the path is wrong, you’ll typically see 404 for the expected operation/route.
• Don’t mix configuration approaches—choose one documented method for selecting the proxy.

Example (proxy via OpenAI-compatible settings):

# Proxy root only (no trailing path)
export OPENAI_HOST="https://your-proxy.example.com"

# Path the proxy serves (ensure it matches, e.g., v1/chat/completions)
export OPENAI_BASE_PATH="/v1/chat/completions"

# Auth token used by the client
export OPENAI_API_KEY="$YOUR_KEY"

Practical troubleshooting:

• If you get 401 with “No api key passed in” → check that OPENAI_API_KEY is set and loaded.
• If you get 404 for chat/completions → fix OPENAI_BASE_PATH (and verify it matches what the proxy actually exposes).