diff --git a/api/apps/restful_apis/provider_api.py b/api/apps/restful_apis/provider_api.py
index d86628a1ce..b8aedfafae 100644
--- a/api/apps/restful_apis/provider_api.py
+++ b/api/apps/restful_apis/provider_api.py
@@ -336,11 +336,11 @@ async def create_provider_instance(tenant_id: str = None, provider_id_or_name: s
           type: object
     """
     data = await request.get_json()
-    if not data or "instance_name" not in data or "api_key" not in data:
+    if not data or "instance_name" not in data or ("api_key" not in data and provider_id_or_name != "VLLM"):
         return get_error_argument_result(message="instance_name and api_key are required")
 
     instance_name = data["instance_name"]
-    api_key = data["api_key"]
+    api_key = data.get("api_key", "")
     base_url = data.get("base_url", "")
     region = data.get("region", "")
     model_info = data.get("model_info", [])
@@ -405,11 +405,11 @@ async def verify_provider_api_key(provider_id_or_name: str = None):
           type: object
     """
     data = await request.get_json()
-    if not data or "api_key" not in data:
+    if not data or ("api_key" not in data and provider_id_or_name != "VLLM"):
         return get_error_argument_result(message="api_key is required")
 
     base_url = data.get("base_url", "")
-    api_key = data["api_key"]
+    api_key = data.get("api_key", "")
     region = data.get("region", "default")
     model_info = data.get("model_info", [])
 
diff --git a/api/apps/services/provider_api_service.py b/api/apps/services/provider_api_service.py
index 031cdca773..4016f7a862 100644
--- a/api/apps/services/provider_api_service.py
+++ b/api/apps/services/provider_api_service.py
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ def _normalize_provider_base_url(provider_name: str, base_url: str | None):
     return base_url
 
 
+def _normalize_provider_api_key(provider_name: str, api_key: str | dict | None):
+    if provider_name == "VLLM" and not api_key:
+        return "x"
+    return api_key
+
 
 def _factory_llm_name(llm: dict) -> str:
     return llm.get("name") or llm.get("llm_name", "")
@@ -219,6 +224,7 @@ async def list_provider_models(provider_id_or_name: str, api_key: str = None, ba
     factory_info = [f for f in FACTORY_LLM_INFOS if f["name"] == provider_name]
     if not factory_info:
         return False, f"Provider '{provider_id_or_name}' not found"
+    api_key = _normalize_provider_api_key(provider_name, api_key)
     static_llms = [{
             "name": _factory_llm_name(llm),
             "max_tokens": llm["max_tokens"],
@@ -318,6 +324,7 @@ async def create_provider_instance(tenant_id: str, provider_id_or_name: str, ins
     provider_name = provider_obj.provider_name
 
     base_url = _normalize_provider_base_url(provider_name, base_url)
+    api_key = _normalize_provider_api_key(provider_name, api_key)
 
     if instance_name == "default":
         return False, "Instance name cannot be 'default'"
@@ -411,6 +418,7 @@ async def verify_api_key(provider_id_or_name: str, api_key: str|dict, base_url:
     provider_name = provider_obj.provider_name if provider_obj else provider_id_or_name
 
     base_url = _normalize_provider_base_url(provider_name, base_url)
+    api_key = _normalize_provider_api_key(provider_name, api_key)
 
     if region and region == "intl" and provider_name.lower() == "siliconflow":
         target_factory_name = "siliconflow_intl"