diff --git a/changelog.d/fixes/8864-uncloseai-noauth.md b/changelog.d/fixes/8864-uncloseai-noauth.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8a38e6b836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fixes/8864-uncloseai-noauth.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- fix(dashboard): treat UncloseAI as a no-auth provider so the connect form no longer forces a fake API key (#8864)
diff --git a/src/shared/constants/providers/apikey/gateways.ts b/src/shared/constants/providers/apikey/gateways.ts
index 606d6eb493..febe913909 100644
--- a/src/shared/constants/providers/apikey/gateways.ts
+++ b/src/shared/constants/providers/apikey/gateways.ts
@@ -639,20 +639,6 @@ export const APIKEY_PROVIDERS_GATEWAYS = {
       text: "Dahl auto-generates tokens via https://inference.dahl.global/tokens. No signup needed. Rate limits apply. You can also add your own API key.",
     },
   },
-  uncloseai: {
-    id: "uncloseai",
-    alias: "unc",
-    name: "UncloseAI",
-    icon: "auto_awesome",
-    color: "#8B5CF6",
-    textIcon: "UN",
-    website: "https://uncloseai.com",
-    hasFree: true,
-    freeNote: "Free forever — no signup, no credit card. OpenAI-compatible endpoints.",
-    passthroughModels: true,
-    authHint:
-      "No auth required. API accepts any non-empty string as key for identification. If older built-in models return 404, use Available Models → Import from /models or Auto-Sync; verified live model: solidrust/Hermes-3-Llama-3.1-8B-AWQ.",
-  },
   hackclub: {
     id: "hackclub",
     alias: "hc",
diff --git a/src/shared/constants/providers/noauth.ts b/src/shared/constants/providers/noauth.ts
index f7a0f1082a..42d0b3bfbf 100644
--- a/src/shared/constants/providers/noauth.ts
+++ b/src/shared/constants/providers/noauth.ts
@@ -175,6 +175,25 @@ export const NOAUTH_PROVIDERS = {
       text: "ZCode runs locally through its native app-server. OmniRoute never receives or stores the Z.ai credential.",
     },
   },
+  uncloseai: {
+    id: "uncloseai",
+    alias: "unc",
+    name: "UncloseAI",
+    icon: "auto_awesome",
+    color: "#8B5CF6",
+    textIcon: "UN",
+    website: "https://uncloseai.com",
+    noAuth: true,
+    hasFree: true,
+    passthroughModels: true,
+    serviceKinds: ["llm"],
+    authHint:
+      "No auth required. API accepts any non-empty string as key for identification. If older built-in models return 404, use Available Models → Import from /models or Auto-Sync; verified live model: solidrust/Hermes-3-Llama-3.1-8B-AWQ.",
+    freeNote: "Free forever — no signup, no credit card. OpenAI-compatible endpoints.",
+    notice: {
+      text: "UncloseAI needs no API key. API accepts any non-empty string as key for identification. If older built-in models return 404, use Available Models → Import from /models or Auto-Sync.",
+    },
+  },
   aihorde: {
     id: "aihorde",
     alias: "horde",
diff --git a/tests/unit/providers-constants-split.test.ts b/tests/unit/providers-constants-split.test.ts
index 9276da2206..3eabac24bb 100644
--- a/tests/unit/providers-constants-split.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/providers-constants-split.test.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@
 // (base-reds round 3, #9985) are both included in that measurement; Cursor API (specialty-media,
 // #10729) brings it to 229; Token Kiosk (gateways, #10722) — merged in the same
 // merge-train batch — independently bumped the gateways family too, landing at 231; Freebuff
-// (gateways, #10531) brings it to 232.
+// (gateways, #10531) brings it to 232. #8864 moves uncloseai (gateways family) into
+// NOAUTH_PROVIDERS, dropping the APIKEY_PROVIDERS count to 231.
 import { test } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 
@@ -53,12 +54,12 @@ test("barrel still exports every catalog + key helpers", () => {
   }
 });
 
-test("APIKEY_PROVIDERS merges the 6 family files into 232 entries (no loss / no dup)", async () => {
+test("APIKEY_PROVIDERS merges the 6 family files into 231 entries (no loss / no dup)", async () => {
   const keys = Object.keys((P as Record<string, object>).APIKEY_PROVIDERS);
-  assert.equal(keys.length, 232);
-  assert.equal(new Set(keys).size, 232, "duplicate keys after spread-merge");
+  assert.equal(keys.length, 231);
+  assert.equal(new Set(keys).size, 231, "duplicate keys after spread-merge");
   // the merged object's entry-count equals the sum of the 6 semantic family files; families are a
-  // strict partition (every provider in exactly one), so the sum must be exactly 232.
+  // strict partition (every provider in exactly one), so the sum must be exactly 231.
   const families: [string, string][] = [
     ["gateways", "APIKEY_PROVIDERS_GATEWAYS"],
     ["frontier-labs", "APIKEY_PROVIDERS_FRONTIER"],
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ test("APIKEY_PROVIDERS merges the 6 family files into 232 entries (no loss / no
       seen.add(k);
     }
   }
-  assert.equal(famTotal, 232, "families must partition all 232 providers");
+  assert.equal(famTotal, 231, "families must partition all 231 providers");
 });
 
 test("AI_PROVIDERS Proxy aggregates all sections; lookups resolve", () => {
diff --git a/tests/unit/providers/uncloseai-noauth.test.ts b/tests/unit/providers/uncloseai-noauth.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f43aa302a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/providers/uncloseai-noauth.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { NOAUTH_PROVIDERS, providerAllowsOptionalApiKey } from "@/shared/constants/providers";
+
+test("uncloseai should be treated as a no-auth provider", () => {
+  const isNoAuthRegistered = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(NOAUTH_PROVIDERS, "uncloseai");
+  const allowsOptionalKey = providerAllowsOptionalApiKey("uncloseai");
+
+  assert.equal(
+    isNoAuthRegistered || allowsOptionalKey,
+    true,
+    "uncloseai must be registered in NOAUTH_PROVIDERS or allow an optional API key " +
+      "so the dashboard doesn't force users to enter a key for a no-auth provider"
+  );
+  assert.equal(
+    isNoAuthRegistered,
+    true,
+    "uncloseai must be registered in NOAUTH_PROVIDERS (not just allow an optional key) " +
+      "so the dashboard renders the NoAuthProviderControls flow"
+  );
+});