diff --git a/cmd/auth/auth.go b/cmd/auth/auth.go
index 87ff6b6..7bb5dfe 100644
--- a/cmd/auth/auth.go
+++ b/cmd/auth/auth.go
@@ -24,9 +24,13 @@ var AuthCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 
 		backendType := viper.GetString("backend_type")
-		if backendType == "" && backend == "" {
-			color.Red("No backend set. Please run k8sgpt auth")
-			os.Exit(1)
+		if backendType == "" {
+			// Set the default backend
+			viper.Set("backend_type", "openai")
+			if err := viper.WriteConfig(); err != nil {
+				color.Red("Error writing config file: %s", err.Error())
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
 		}
 		// override the default backend if a flag is provided
 		if backend != "" {
diff --git a/pkg/ai/ai.go b/pkg/ai/ai.go
index 1c42b37..ca14050 100644
--- a/pkg/ai/ai.go
+++ b/pkg/ai/ai.go
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@ type OpenAIClient struct {
 
 func (c *OpenAIClient) Configure(token string) error {
 	client := openai.NewClient(token)
-
 	if client == nil {
 		return errors.New("error creating OpenAI client")
 	}
+	c.client = client
 	return nil
 }