diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 221eb47c..a18c29ca 100755
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,4 +14,12 @@ llamacpp.txt
 nohup.out
 out.txt
 test_llamacppserver.ipynb
-venv/
\ No newline at end of file
+venv/# Secrets
+*.pem
+*.key
+secrets.json
+credentials.json
+.env.local
+
+# Notebooks with secrets
+*.ipynb_checkpoints/
diff --git a/tradingagents/default_config.py b/tradingagents/default_config.py
index 1fbe7d59..017d9f66 100755
--- a/tradingagents/default_config.py
+++ b/tradingagents/default_config.py
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     "backend_embedding_url": "http://localhost:8081/v1",
     # "backend_embedding_url":"https://api.z.ai/api/v1",
     # "backend_url": "http://localhost:11434/v1",
-    "api_key": "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",
-    "embedding_api_key": "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",
+    "api_key": os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY", "your-api-key-here")
+    "embedding_api_key": os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY", "your-api-key-here")
+}
     # Debate and discussion settings
     "max_debate_rounds": 5,
     "max_risk_discuss_rounds": 5,