From 1c66608a7a85c0a1c91a07b90fbbbe4330cf43a8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Krrish Dholakia <krrish+github@berri.ai>
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:31:48 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] docs(cli): call out env-var auth for autoroute commands

---
 litellm/proxy/client/cli/README.md | 7 +++++++
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)

diff --git a/litellm/proxy/client/cli/README.md b/litellm/proxy/client/cli/README.md
index a2fffcd08ff..8134a0447ae 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/client/cli/README.md
+++ b/litellm/proxy/client/cli/README.md
@@ -508,6 +508,13 @@ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BerriAI/litellm/<branch-or-commit>/
   LITELLM_CLI_REF=<branch-or-commit> sh
 ```
 
+Point the CLI at your real proxy and key before running any `lite model-groups` or `lite autoroute` command -- like every other command in this CLI, they read `LITELLM_PROXY_URL`/`LITELLM_PROXY_API_KEY` (or `--base-url`/`--api-key`), no `lite login` required:
+
+```bash
+export LITELLM_PROXY_URL=http://localhost:4000
+export LITELLM_PROXY_API_KEY=sk-...
+```
+
 #### List Your Accessible Model Groups
 
 ```bash