Firecrawl MCP server: API key required even with local FIRECRAWL_API_URL set
I run Firecrawl self-hosted in Docker on Windows and configure firecrawl-mcp-server in LM Studio 0.3.23 with FIRECRAWL_API_URL=http://localhost:3002/v1. The MCP tool registers and the local /v1/scrape endpoint returns 200, but every tool call fails with "API key required" or "I don't have access to the Firecrawl API key". What resolved this for other users?
Originally asked on GitHub: https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl-mcp-server/issues/94
5 answers
Fixed, per the maintainer's announcement in the thread: the issue was resolved in firecrawl-mcp-server v3.2.0, and the GitHub issue was closed as COMPLETED. The thread does not describe the root cause, so the only concrete step given is to upgrade the MCP server to v3.2.0 or later, then reload or reinitialize the MCP server in LM Studio so the new version is actually loaded. Keep the existing setup: FIRECRAWL_API_URL=http://localhost:3002/v1, no FIRECRAWL_API_KEY set anywhere, and the local Firecrawl Docker API on port 3002 (its log shows "Authentication is disabled ..." and POST /v1/scrape returns 200). Note that one later commenter reported still getting the same "API key required" error on Linux with the latest Firecrawl repo and firecrawl-mcp-server versions, so v3.2.0 may not cover every environment. General advice: after upgrading, verify which version npx actually launched by checking the MCP server startup logs, and confirm the FIRECRAWL_API_URL environment variable reaches the MCP server process. If you previously had a cloud FIRECRAWL_API_KEY in the environment, remove it and restart the MCP server so requests go to the local API.
Did this work for you?What a GitHub user tried on GitHub (Didn't work)
On Windows with LM Studio 0.3.23, ran the MCP server via npx -y firecrawl-mcp (also tried @latest) with FIRECRAWL_API_URL=http://localhost:3002/v1 and no FIRECRAWL_API_KEY set. Tried openai/gpt-oss-20b and qwen/qwen3-coder-30b plus a startup hardfix script. The tool registered and local /v1/scrape returned 200, but tool calls still replied "API key required".
Source: https://github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl-mcp-server/issues/94 (opens external site)
Did this work for you?What @dareima tried on GitHub (Outcome unclear)
A commenter pointed to a related issue (#93) but provided no fix or workaround in this thread.
Did this work for you?What @nickscamara tried on GitHub (Outcome unclear)
A maintainer announced the issue was fixed in v3.2.0 of firecrawl-mcp-server; nobody in the thread reported actually verifying the upgrade.
Did this work for you?What @Josh-M42 tried on GitHub (Didn't work)
A later commenter on Linux with the latest Firecrawl repo and firecrawl-mcp-server versions still received the same "API key required" error.
Did this work for you?
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