From 503140d8d5c8de8e598653edf245d8babd8e73a4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Hunter Bown <hmbown@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 May 2026 00:29:28 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] fix(config): warn when root base_url is set with non-DeepSeek
 provider (#1308)
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Common footgun: users set api_provider = \"ollama\" (or vllm /
openrouter / etc.) at the top of config.toml and add a top-level
base_url = \"http://my-server\" alongside it. The root base_url field
is only read for DeepSeek/DeepseekCN (and a back-compat sniff for
NvidiaNim) — for every other provider it's silently ignored, and the
user can't figure out why their override doesn't apply.

Add a one-line tracing::warn at config load time pointing the user at
the matching `[providers.<name>]` table or the corresponding
`*_BASE_URL` env var. Skipped if the per-provider table already has
its own `base_url` (which would win anyway).

No behavior change to URL resolution.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 CHANGELOG.md             |  5 ++++
 crates/tui/src/config.rs | 51 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 56 insertions(+)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 618fd9ef..10cdf347 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ published.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **Hint when root `base_url` is set with a non-DeepSeek provider
+  (#1308)** — config load now logs a warning telling the user to
+  move the URL under the matching `[providers.<name>]` table or use
+  the `*_BASE_URL` env var. Closes the silent-ignore footgun for
+  Ollama / vLLM / OpenAI-compatible setups.
 - **Insecure base-URL error message is more discoverable (#1303)** —
   the rejection now spells out which env var to set (with underscores
   visible), notes that loopback hosts are auto-allowed, and shows a
diff --git a/crates/tui/src/config.rs b/crates/tui/src/config.rs
index 5048f7cb..b4cfb5f5 100644
--- a/crates/tui/src/config.rs
+++ b/crates/tui/src/config.rs
@@ -1078,9 +1078,60 @@ impl Config {
         apply_requirements(&mut config)?;
         normalize_model_config(&mut config);
         config.validate()?;
+        config.warn_on_misplaced_root_base_url();
         Ok(config)
     }
 
+    /// Surface a one-line warning when the user has set the legacy root
+    /// `base_url` field but their active provider is not DeepSeek (the only
+    /// provider that actually reads that field, plus an NvidiaNim back-compat
+    /// sniff). Common confusion: users add `base_url = "..."` at the top of
+    /// `~/.deepseek/config.toml` for ollama / vllm / openai-compat servers
+    /// and wonder why it's silently ignored (#1308).
+    fn warn_on_misplaced_root_base_url(&self) {
+        let Some(root_base) = self.base_url.as_deref().map(str::trim) else {
+            return;
+        };
+        if root_base.is_empty() {
+            return;
+        }
+        let provider = self.api_provider();
+        if matches!(provider, ApiProvider::Deepseek | ApiProvider::DeepseekCN) {
+            return;
+        }
+        if matches!(provider, ApiProvider::NvidiaNim)
+            && root_base.contains("integrate.api.nvidia.com")
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+        // Only warn if the per-provider table doesn't have an explicit
+        // `base_url`, because if it does, the per-provider one wins and the
+        // root field is just dead config — no behavior surprise.
+        let has_provider_base = self
+            .provider_config_for(provider)
+            .and_then(|p| p.base_url.as_deref().map(str::trim))
+            .is_some_and(|s| !s.is_empty());
+        if has_provider_base {
+            return;
+        }
+        let table = match provider {
+            ApiProvider::Openai => "providers.openai",
+            ApiProvider::Openrouter => "providers.openrouter",
+            ApiProvider::Novita => "providers.novita",
+            ApiProvider::Fireworks => "providers.fireworks",
+            ApiProvider::Sglang => "providers.sglang",
+            ApiProvider::Vllm => "providers.vllm",
+            ApiProvider::Ollama => "providers.ollama",
+            ApiProvider::NvidiaNim => "providers.nvidia_nim",
+            ApiProvider::Deepseek | ApiProvider::DeepseekCN => return,
+        };
+        tracing::warn!(
+            "Top-level `base_url = \"{root_base}\"` is ignored for the {provider:?} provider. \
+             Move it under `[{table}]` (e.g. `[{table}]\\nbase_url = \"...\"`) \
+             or set the corresponding `*_BASE_URL` env var. (#1308)"
+        );
+    }
+
     /// Validate that critical config fields are present.
     pub fn validate(&self) -> Result<()> {
         if let Some(provider) = self.provider.as_deref()