Key path oauth-private.key does not exist or is not readable Laravel Origin: Application & API Last updated 4 Nov 2026

Laravel Passport: LogicException: Key path "file:///var/www/storage/oauth-private.key" does not exist or is not readable

Passport can't find or read its OAuth signing keys.

Exact message you may see Key path "file:///var/www/storage/oauth-private.key" does not exist or is not readableLogicException: Key path does not exist or is not readableoauth-private.key does not exist or is not readablePassport keys missingKey path oauth-public.key does not exist
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Seen on: Laravel PHP

Meaning

Generate keys with php artisan passport:keys (or passport:install), ensure they're in storage/ (not git-committed) and readable by the web user with correct permissions (600/660). On deploy, keys must be present or supplied via PASSPORT_PRIVATE_KEY/PASSPORT_PUBLIC_KEY env vars.

Common causes

  • passport:keys never run on this server
  • Keys not copied by the deploy
  • Permissions/ownership wrong
  • Keys wiped by clean deploy
  • Env var contains wrong line breaks

⚡ Quick fix

  1. php artisan passport:keys
  2. Check ls -l storage/oauth-*.key and chown to the web user
  3. Provide keys through env variables in container deployments

Detailed fix by platform

Laravel

  1. php artisan passport:keys --force && sudo chown www-data storage/oauth-*.key

How to diagnose

  1. Files — oauth-private/public.key exist?
  2. Perms — Readable by web user?
  3. Deploy — Preserved?

🔧 Still not fixed?

Many errors look alike. If the steps above didn’t solve it, one of these is probably what you’re facing:

Where this error sits

Origin: Application & API. Errors that are often confused with or caused by this one (click to open):

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