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A brain refused the key

The service behind the brain said no to the key Jean gave it. Make a new key on that service’s site, then open Settings › Brains, the brain that says Needs you, and press Change key.

Show me in JeanOpens Jean at the right place and points at each button. It changes nothing by itself.

Why it happens

The key was copied with a letter missing or a space too many; it was deleted or expired on the service’s site; or the account behind it was closed. With Vertex AI, the service account may also lack its role, roles/aiplatform.user.

Steps

  1. Open Settings, from the menu with your name (or “You”), at the foot of the task list, then Brains. The brain whose key was refused says Needs you: open it.
  2. On its service’s site, make a new key, and copy it.
  3. Under Key, press Change key, paste the new key, and press Connect.
  4. Or connect another brain instead, with Add a brain.

Good to know

  • Under an answer, the same message has a button that opens the brain’s page.
  • Each time you open Brains, Jean asks every brain again: once the new key works, Needs you goes away.
  • A key stays on this device, encrypted, and goes only to its own service.

If it doesn’t work

The new key is refused too

Look at the account on the service’s site: some ask for a payment method before a key works. Or start for free with OpenRouter: Choose the AI that answers.

You don’t know which service it is

The brain is named after it, in Brains and in the message: “… refused the key” starts with its name.

Still stuck?

Write to arnaud@jean.is: say what you see on the screen, and in which browser.

See also