diff --git a/.changeset/polite-papayas-occur.md b/.changeset/polite-papayas-occur.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ab101e4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/polite-papayas-occur.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@browserbasehq/stagehand": patch
+---
+
+dont require LLM Client to use non-ai stagehand functions
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d041ac6a..3642d4ee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -81,8 +81,6 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 50
     env:
-      OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}
-      ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
       HEADLESS: true
 
     steps:
diff --git a/evals/deterministic/tests/Errors/apiKeyError.test.ts b/evals/deterministic/tests/Errors/apiKeyError.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c181fe27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/evals/deterministic/tests/Errors/apiKeyError.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import { test, expect } from "@playwright/test";
+import { Stagehand } from "../../../../lib";
+import StagehandConfig from "../../stagehand.config";
+import { z } from "zod";
+
+test.describe("API key/LLMClient error", () => {
+  test("Should confirm that we get an error if we call extract without LLM API key or LLMClient", async () => {
+    const stagehand = new Stagehand(StagehandConfig);
+    await stagehand.init();
+    await stagehand.page.goto("https://docs.browserbase.com/introduction");
+
+    let errorThrown: Error | null = null;
+
+    try {
+      await stagehand.page.extract({
+        instruction:
+          "From the introduction page, extract the explanation of what Browserbase is.",
+        schema: z.object({
+          stars: z.string().describe("the explanation of what Browserbase is"),
+        }),
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      errorThrown = error as Error;
+    }
+
+    expect(errorThrown).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+    expect(errorThrown?.message).toContain(
+      "No LLM API key or LLM Client configured",
+    );
+
+    await stagehand.close();
+  });
+
+  test("Should confirm that we get an error if we call act without LLM API key or LLMClient", async () => {
+    const stagehand = new Stagehand(StagehandConfig);
+    await stagehand.init();
+    await stagehand.page.goto("https://docs.browserbase.com/introduction");
+
+    let errorThrown: Error | null = null;
+
+    try {
+      await stagehand.page.act({
+        action: "Click on the 'Quickstart' section",
+      });
+    } catch (error) {
+      errorThrown = error as Error;
+    }
+
+    expect(errorThrown).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+    expect(errorThrown?.message).toContain(
+      "No LLM API key or LLM Client configured",
+    );
+
+    await stagehand.close();
+  });
+
+  test("Should confirm that we get an error if we call observe without LLM API key or LLMClient", async () => {
+    const stagehand = new Stagehand(StagehandConfig);
+    await stagehand.init();
+    await stagehand.page.goto("https://docs.browserbase.com/introduction");
+
+    let errorThrown: Error | null = null;
+
+    try {
+      await stagehand.page.observe();
+    } catch (error) {
+      errorThrown = error as Error;
+    }
+
+    expect(errorThrown).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+    expect(errorThrown?.message).toContain(
+      "No LLM API key or LLM Client configured",
+    );
+
+    await stagehand.close();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/StagehandPage.ts b/lib/StagehandPage.ts
index fbbf85b0..d7bcafe5 100644
--- a/lib/StagehandPage.ts
+++ b/lib/StagehandPage.ts
@@ -56,26 +56,28 @@ export class StagehandPage {
     });
     this.stagehand = stagehand;
     this.intContext = context;
-    this.actHandler = new StagehandActHandler({
-      verbose: this.stagehand.verbose,
-      llmProvider: this.stagehand.llmProvider,
-      enableCaching: this.stagehand.enableCaching,
-      logger: this.stagehand.logger,
-      stagehandPage: this,
-      stagehandContext: this.intContext,
-      llmClient: llmClient,
-    });
-    this.extractHandler = new StagehandExtractHandler({
-      stagehand: this.stagehand,
-      logger: this.stagehand.logger,
-      stagehandPage: this,
-    });
-    this.observeHandler = new StagehandObserveHandler({
-      stagehand: this.stagehand,
-      logger: this.stagehand.logger,
-      stagehandPage: this,
-    });
     this.llmClient = llmClient;
+    if (this.llmClient) {
+      this.actHandler = new StagehandActHandler({
+        verbose: this.stagehand.verbose,
+        llmProvider: this.stagehand.llmProvider,
+        enableCaching: this.stagehand.enableCaching,
+        logger: this.stagehand.logger,
+        stagehandPage: this,
+        stagehandContext: this.intContext,
+        llmClient: llmClient,
+      });
+      this.extractHandler = new StagehandExtractHandler({
+        stagehand: this.stagehand,
+        logger: this.stagehand.logger,
+        stagehandPage: this,
+      });
+      this.observeHandler = new StagehandObserveHandler({
+        stagehand: this.stagehand,
+        logger: this.stagehand.logger,
+        stagehandPage: this,
+      });
+    }
   }
 
   async init(): Promise<StagehandPage> {
@@ -98,22 +100,30 @@ export class StagehandPage {
             return result;
           };
 
-        if (prop === "act") {
-          return async (options: ActOptions) => {
-            return this.act(options);
-          };
-        }
-
-        if (prop === "extract") {
-          return async (options: ExtractOptions<z.AnyZodObject>) => {
-            return this.extract(options);
-          };
-        }
-
-        if (prop === "observe") {
-          return async (options: ObserveOptions) => {
-            return this.observe(options);
-          };
+        if (this.llmClient) {
+          if (prop === "act") {
+            return async (options: ActOptions) => {
+              return this.act(options);
+            };
+          }
+          if (prop === "extract") {
+            return async (options: ExtractOptions<z.AnyZodObject>) => {
+              return this.extract(options);
+            };
+          }
+          if (prop === "observe") {
+            return async (options: ObserveOptions) => {
+              return this.observe(options);
+            };
+          }
+        } else {
+          if (prop === "act" || prop === "extract" || prop === "observe") {
+            return () => {
+              throw new Error(
+                "No LLM API key or LLM Client configured. An LLM API key or a custom LLM Client is required to use act, extract, or observe.",
+              );
+            };
+          }
         }
 
         if (prop === "on") {
diff --git a/lib/index.ts b/lib/index.ts
index c898074c..0d958f67 100644
--- a/lib/index.ts
+++ b/lib/index.ts
@@ -359,17 +359,22 @@ export class Stagehand {
     this.projectId = projectId ?? process.env.BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID;
     this.verbose = verbose ?? 0;
     this.debugDom = debugDom ?? false;
-    this.llmClient =
-      llmClient ||
-      this.llmProvider.getClient(
-        modelName ?? DEFAULT_MODEL_NAME,
-        modelClientOptions,
-      );
-
-    if (!this.llmClient.logger) {
+    if (llmClient) {
+      this.llmClient = llmClient;
+    } else {
+      try {
+        // try to set a default LLM client
+        this.llmClient = this.llmProvider.getClient(
+          modelName ?? DEFAULT_MODEL_NAME,
+          modelClientOptions,
+        );
+      } catch {
+        this.llmClient = undefined;
+      }
+    }
+    if (this.llmClient && !this.llmClient.logger) {
       this.llmClient.logger = this.logger;
     }
-
     this.domSettleTimeoutMs = domSettleTimeoutMs ?? 30_000;
     this.headless = headless ?? false;
     this.browserbaseSessionCreateParams = browserbaseSessionCreateParams;