diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 043a4a2ef..4a4eef60c 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,13 @@ import { readEnvFile } from './env.js';
 import { isValidTimezone } from './timezone.js';
 
 // Read config values from .env (falls back to process.env).
-const envConfig = readEnvFile(['ASSISTANT_NAME', 'ASSISTANT_HAS_OWN_NUMBER', 'ONECLI_URL', 'TZ']);
+const envConfig = readEnvFile([
+  'ASSISTANT_NAME',
+  'ASSISTANT_HAS_OWN_NUMBER',
+  'ONECLI_URL',
+  'ONECLI_API_KEY',
+  'TZ',
+]);
 
 export const ASSISTANT_NAME = process.env.ASSISTANT_NAME || envConfig.ASSISTANT_NAME || 'Andy';
 export const ASSISTANT_HAS_OWN_NUMBER =
@@ -26,6 +32,7 @@ export const CONTAINER_IMAGE = process.env.CONTAINER_IMAGE || 'nanoclaw-agent:la
 export const CONTAINER_TIMEOUT = parseInt(process.env.CONTAINER_TIMEOUT || '1800000', 10);
 export const CONTAINER_MAX_OUTPUT_SIZE = parseInt(process.env.CONTAINER_MAX_OUTPUT_SIZE || '10485760', 10); // 10MB default
 export const ONECLI_URL = process.env.ONECLI_URL || envConfig.ONECLI_URL;
+export const ONECLI_API_KEY = process.env.ONECLI_API_KEY || envConfig.ONECLI_API_KEY;
 export const MAX_MESSAGES_PER_PROMPT = Math.max(1, parseInt(process.env.MAX_MESSAGES_PER_PROMPT || '10', 10) || 10);
 export const IDLE_TIMEOUT = parseInt(process.env.IDLE_TIMEOUT || '1800000', 10); // 30min default — how long to keep container alive after last result
 export const MAX_CONCURRENT_CONTAINERS = Math.max(1, parseInt(process.env.MAX_CONCURRENT_CONTAINERS || '5', 10) || 5);
diff --git a/src/container-runner.ts b/src/container-runner.ts
index 74252999a..4b7964c30 100644
--- a/src/container-runner.ts
+++ b/src/container-runner.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 
 import { OneCLI } from '@onecli-sh/sdk';
 
-import { CONTAINER_IMAGE, DATA_DIR, GROUPS_DIR, ONECLI_URL, TIMEZONE } from './config.js';
+import { CONTAINER_IMAGE, DATA_DIR, GROUPS_DIR, ONECLI_API_KEY, ONECLI_URL, TIMEZONE } from './config.js';
 import { readContainerConfig, writeContainerConfig } from './container-config.js';
 import { CONTAINER_RUNTIME_BIN, hostGatewayArgs, readonlyMountArgs, stopContainer } from './container-runtime.js';
 import { composeGroupClaudeMd } from './claude-md-compose.js';
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import {
 import { markContainerRunning, markContainerStopped, sessionDir, writeSessionRouting } from './session-manager.js';
 import type { AgentGroup, Session } from './types.js';
 
-const onecli = new OneCLI({ url: ONECLI_URL });
+const onecli = new OneCLI({ url: ONECLI_URL, apiKey: ONECLI_API_KEY });
 
 /** Active containers tracked by session ID. */
 const activeContainers = new Map<string, { process: ChildProcess; containerName: string }>();
diff --git a/src/modules/approvals/onecli-approvals.ts b/src/modules/approvals/onecli-approvals.ts
index 1594a8280..eec05c0b4 100644
--- a/src/modules/approvals/onecli-approvals.ts
+++ b/src/modules/approvals/onecli-approvals.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 import { OneCLI, type ApprovalRequest, type ManualApprovalHandle } from '@onecli-sh/sdk';
 
 import { pickApprovalDelivery, pickApprover } from './primitive.js';
-import { ONECLI_URL } from '../../config.js';
+import { ONECLI_API_KEY, ONECLI_URL } from '../../config.js';
 import { getAgentGroup } from '../../db/agent-groups.js';
 import {
   createPendingApproval,
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export const ONECLI_ACTION = 'onecli_credential';
 
 type Decision = 'approve' | 'deny';
 
-const onecli = new OneCLI({ url: ONECLI_URL });
+const onecli = new OneCLI({ url: ONECLI_URL, apiKey: ONECLI_API_KEY });
 
 interface PendingState {
   resolve: (decision: Decision) => void;