diff --git a/packages/backend/src/ai/llm/client/mod.rs b/packages/backend/src/ai/llm/client/mod.rs
index 3d5fa548e..7140b1abf 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/ai/llm/client/mod.rs
+++ b/packages/backend/src/ai/llm/client/mod.rs
@@ -693,6 +693,9 @@ impl LLMClient {
                 if status == reqwest::StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST {
                     return Err(BackendError::LLMClientErrorBadRequest);
                 }
+                if status == reqwest::StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED {
+                    return Err(BackendError::LLMClientErrorUnauthorized);
+                }
                 if status.is_client_error() {
                     let error_text = response.text()?;
                     model.provider().parse_potential_error(&error_text)?;
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/lib.rs b/packages/backend/src/lib.rs
index 0be3d07ef..86b0f56c1 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/lib.rs
+++ b/packages/backend/src/lib.rs
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ pub enum BackendError {
     LLMClientErrorBadRequest,
     #[error("LLM Too Many Requests error")]
     LLMClientErrorTooManyRequests,
+    #[error("LLM Unauthorized error")]
+    LLMClientErrorUnauthorized,
     // TODO: fix this monstrosity
     #[error("LLM Quota Depleted error: {quotas}")]
     LLMClientErrorQuotasDepleted { quotas: serde_json::Value },
diff --git a/packages/backend/types/index.ts b/packages/backend/types/index.ts
index 17b058ac9..fccb70b12 100644
--- a/packages/backend/types/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/types/index.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,16 @@ export class BadRequestError extends Error {
   }
 }
 
+export class UnauthorizedError extends Error {
+  constructor() {
+    super('Unauthorized')
+    this.name = 'UnauthorizedError'
+    if (Error.captureStackTrace) {
+      Error.captureStackTrace(this, UnauthorizedError)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 export interface App {
   id: string
   app_type: string
diff --git a/packages/services/src/lib/ai/helpers.ts b/packages/services/src/lib/ai/helpers.ts
index 4824f5ead..b1bb8e5a4 100644
--- a/packages/services/src/lib/ai/helpers.ts
+++ b/packages/services/src/lib/ai/helpers.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,12 @@ import { codeLanguageToMimeType, markdownToHtml, useLogScope } from '@deta/utils
 import { WebParser } from '@deta/web-parser'
 import { PromptIDs, getPrompt } from './prompts'
 import type { AIService } from './aiClean'
-import { APIKeyMissingError, BadRequestError, TooManyRequestsError } from '@deta/backend/types'
+import {
+  APIKeyMissingError,
+  BadRequestError,
+  TooManyRequestsError,
+  UnauthorizedError
+} from '@deta/backend/types'
 import { type ChatError } from '@deta/types/src/ai.types'
 import { ResourceManager } from '@deta/services/resources'
 import { ResourceTag } from '@deta/utils/formatting'
@@ -284,6 +289,10 @@ export const parseAIError = (e: any) => {
   } else if (e instanceof BadRequestError) {
     error = PageChatMessageSentEventError.BadRequest
     content = 'The AI server sent a bad request error. You can try again with a different query.'
+  } else if (e instanceof UnauthorizedError) {
+    error = PageChatMessageSentEventError.Unauthorized
+    content =
+      'Unauthorized, please check your API key and make sure you have right access permissions.'
   } else {
     content = 'Encountered an unexpected error: ' + e?.message || String(e)
   }
diff --git a/packages/services/src/lib/sffs.ts b/packages/services/src/lib/sffs.ts
index 2c80aad9c..656748dd0 100644
--- a/packages/services/src/lib/sffs.ts
+++ b/packages/services/src/lib/sffs.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,12 @@ import type {
   Message,
   CreateChatCompletionOptions
 } from '@deta/backend/types'
-import { APIKeyMissingError, BadRequestError, TooManyRequestsError } from '@deta/backend/types'
+import {
+  APIKeyMissingError,
+  BadRequestError,
+  TooManyRequestsError,
+  UnauthorizedError
+} from '@deta/backend/types'
 
 export type HorizonToCreate = Optional<
   HorizonData,
@@ -979,6 +984,9 @@ export class SFFS {
         if (message.includes('LLM Too Many Requests error')) {
           throw new TooManyRequestsError()
         }
+        if (message.includes('LLM Unauthorized error')) {
+          throw new UnauthorizedError()
+        }
       }
       throw error
     }
diff --git a/packages/types/src/events.types.ts b/packages/types/src/events.types.ts
index 876084e61..58d39b443 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/events.types.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/events.types.ts
@@ -312,6 +312,7 @@ export enum MultiSelectResourceEventAction {
 export enum PageChatMessageSentEventError {
   APIKeyMissing = 'api_key_missing',
   BadRequest = 'bad_request',
+  Unauthorized = 'unauthorized',
   RAGEmptyContext = 'rag_empty_context',
   TooManyRequests = 'too_many_requests',
   Other = 'other'