pipe-secure-v3 · docs

Fixing MissingLicenseKeyError

Last updated 2 days ago · 4 min read

If pip install pipe-secure-v3 succeeds but your first call raises MissingLicenseKeyError, this page walks through the usual causes and the fix.

MissingLicenseKeyError: no valid license key was found in the environment. The client could not validate your installation.

On this page

Why this happens · The fix · Still stuck?

Why this happens

Version 3 moved license validation to install time. If the key is missing or the environment variable is spelled differently from what the client expects, the first call fails fast instead of silently returning empty results.

The fix

Set the key in your environment and re-run:

export PIPE_SECURE_KEY="your-key-here"
python -c "import pipe_secure_v3; pipe_secure_v3.ping()"

If you don't have a key yet, generate one from your account dashboard and store it in your local .env as PIPE_SECURE_KEY. The client reads it automatically.

Still stuck?

Make sure you're on pipe-secure-v3 >= 3.2 and that your .env is being loaded before the first import. Older loaders read it too late.