diff --git a/litellm/__init__.py b/litellm/__init__.py
index 83a97c6fd0e..cb13e3df825 100644
--- a/litellm/__init__.py
+++ b/litellm/__init__.py
@@ -868,7 +868,7 @@ def _populate_provider_model_sets(model_cost_map: Dict) -> None:
         elif value.get("litellm_provider") == "deepseek":
             deepseek_models.add(key)
         elif value.get("litellm_provider") == "clinepass":
-            clinepass_models.add(key)
+            clinepass_models.add(key)  # pyright: ignore[reportUnknownArgumentType]  # key comes from the untyped model cost map
         elif value.get("litellm_provider") == "tencent":
             tencent_models.add(key)
         elif value.get("litellm_provider") == "runwayml":
diff --git a/litellm/main.py b/litellm/main.py
index 979808143d7..e8eb20f2060 100644
--- a/litellm/main.py
+++ b/litellm/main.py
@@ -2466,15 +2466,15 @@ def _complete_clinepass(ctx: _CompletionDispatchContext) -> _CompletionDispatchR
     stream: Final = ctx.stream
     timeout: Final = ctx.timeout
 
-    api_key = api_key or get_secret_str("CLINEPASS_API_KEY") or litellm.api_key
+    api_key = api_key or get_secret_str("CLINEPASS_API_KEY")
 
     api_base = api_base or litellm.api_base or get_secret_str("CLINEPASS_API_BASE") or "https://api.cline.bot/api/v1"
 
     ## COMPLETION CALL
     response: Final = base_llm_http_handler.completion(
         model=model,
-        messages=messages,
-        headers=headers,
+        messages=messages,  # pyright: ignore[reportUnknownArgumentType]  # ctx.messages is list[Unknown]
+        headers=headers,  # pyright: ignore[reportUnknownArgumentType]  # ctx.headers is dict[Unknown, Unknown]
         model_response=model_response,
         api_key=api_key,
         api_base=api_base,
diff --git a/tests/unit/llms/clinepass/test_clinepass_endpoint_guard.py b/tests/unit/llms/clinepass/test_clinepass_endpoint_guard.py
index 1ddb517d99b..9897b58897f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/llms/clinepass/test_clinepass_endpoint_guard.py
+++ b/tests/unit/llms/clinepass/test_clinepass_endpoint_guard.py
@@ -125,3 +125,30 @@ def test_unknown_kwargs_are_flattened_not_wrapped_in_extra_body():
 
     assert "extra_body" not in params
     assert params["some_vendor_knob"] == 7
+
+
+def test_chat_does_not_fall_back_to_the_global_litellm_api_key(monkeypatch):
+    """`litellm.api_key` is the caller's general-purpose (usually OpenAI) key.
+
+    With no ClinePass credential configured, chat must not borrow it: doing so
+    sends that key to the Cline host as a Bearer token.
+    """
+    sent: list[tuple[str, str]] = []
+
+    def record_and_stop(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        sent.append((str(kwargs.get("url")), str((kwargs.get("headers") or {}).get("Authorization", ""))))
+        raise RuntimeError("stop before any network I/O")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(HTTPHandler, "post", record_and_stop, raising=True)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("CLINEPASS_API_KEY", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "api_key", SENTINEL_OPENAI_KEY)
+
+    with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
+        litellm.completion(
+            model="clinepass/deepseek-v4-flash",
+            messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
+            num_retries=0,
+        )
+
+    assert sent, "the chat request never reached the transport, so nothing was checked"
+    assert all(SENTINEL_OPENAI_KEY not in authorization for _, authorization in sent)