---
title: "The Zesty provider returns 403 Forbidden"
slug: "the-zesty-provider-returns-403-forbidden"
updated: 2026-08-17T11:50:22Z
published: 2026-08-17T11:50:22Z
canonical: "docs.zesty.co/the-zesty-provider-returns-403-forbidden"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.zesty.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The Zesty provider returns 403 Forbidden

For production, do not set `ZESTY_HOST`. The provider defaults to the production Zesty API.

If validation fails with `403 Forbidden`, check for stale environment variables:

`env | grep '^ZESTY_'`

For production, remove any host override and keep only the API token:

```plaintext
unset ZESTY_HOST
export ZESTY_API_TOKEN="<your-zesty-api-token>"
```