How Can I Resolve SSL Certificate Verification Failures When Connecting to the OpenAI API?

Below is a checklist to diagnose and resolve certificate verification issues when connecting to the OpenAI API:

Troubleshooting Steps

• Update System CA Certificates
  Ensure your system has the latest trusted root certificates. On some systems (e.g., macOS), you may need to run an update script like the "Install Certificates.command" that comes with Python.

• Use Certifi
  Python’s certifi package provides an updated bundle of CA certificates. You can explicitly reference it in your code. For example:

  PYTHONCopied
  import openai
  import certifi
  
  openai.api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY"
  # Explicitly set the ssl certificate file to the one provided by certifi
  openai.verify_ssl_certs = True
  openai.ssl_cert_file = certifi.where()
  
  response = openai.Completion.create(
      engine="text-davinci-001",
      prompt="Hello World",
      max_tokens=5
  )
  print(response)

• Check Your Network Environment

  • Verify that your network settings (no misconfigured proxy) allow secure connections.
  • Ensure that your firewall is not blocking requests to api.openai.com.

• Ensure Environment Consistency
  Sometimes certificate verification issues may also arise from running in containerized environments which might need additional configuration for certificate stores.

Important Note

While it’s possible to bypass SSL verification, it is not recommended for production use because it compromises security. Always aim to resolve the underlying certificate issues.

By following the above steps, you should be able to resolve the SSL certificate verification error and establish a secure connection to the OpenAI API.