diff --git a/.env.sample b/.env.sample
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b1810eaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.sample
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Copy this file to .env and fill in your API keys
+
+OPENAI_API_KEY=
+FINNHUB_API_KEY=
diff --git a/cli/main.py b/cli/main.py
index b1ee3ecf..f2f6b1bc 100644
--- a/cli/main.py
+++ b/cli/main.py
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ from rich.tree import Tree
 from rich import box
 from rich.align import Align
 from rich.rule import Rule
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+# Load API keys from .env
+load_dotenv()
 
 from tradingagents.graph.trading_graph import TradingAgentsGraph
 from tradingagents.default_config import DEFAULT_CONFIG
diff --git a/tradingagents/default_config.py b/tradingagents/default_config.py
index 089e9c24..b3e108f6 100644
--- a/tradingagents/default_config.py
+++ b/tradingagents/default_config.py
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 import os
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+# Load variables from .env
+load_dotenv()
 
 DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     "project_dir": os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".")),
@@ -19,4 +23,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     "max_recur_limit": 100,
     # Tool settings
     "online_tools": True,
+    # API keys from environment
+    "openai_api_key": os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY", ""),
+    "finnhub_api_key": os.getenv("FINNHUB_API_KEY", ""),
 }