diff --git a/src/commands/models.ts b/src/commands/models.ts
index edba842..c24b99f 100644
--- a/src/commands/models.ts
+++ b/src/commands/models.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ interface CustomProvider {
   name: string;
   base_url: string;
   api_key?: string;
+  api_key_env?: string;
   api_mode?: string;
 }
 
@@ -84,6 +85,28 @@ function getProviderBaseUrl(config: Config, name: string): string | null {
   return envMap[name] || null;
 }
 
+function getProviderApiKey(provider: CustomProvider): string {
+  if (provider.api_key) return provider.api_key;
+  if (provider.api_key_env) {
+    // Try process.env first, then read from .env file
+    const envVal = process.env[provider.api_key_env];
+    if (envVal) return envVal;
+    if (existsSync(ENV_PATH)) {
+      for (const line of readFileSync(ENV_PATH, "utf-8").split("\n")) {
+        if (line.startsWith(`${provider.api_key_env}=`)) {
+          return line.split("=").slice(1).join("=").trim();
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return "";
+}
+
+function getAuthHeaders(provider: CustomProvider): Record<string, string> {
+  const key = getProviderApiKey(provider);
+  return key ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}` } : {};
+}
+
 // ── providers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function providers() {
@@ -136,9 +159,7 @@ async function list(providerName?: string) {
     try {
       const modelsUrl = provider.base_url.replace(/\/+$/, "") + "/models";
       const resp = await fetch(modelsUrl, {
-        headers: provider.api_key
-          ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${provider.api_key}` }
-          : {},
+        headers: getAuthHeaders(provider),
         signal: AbortSignal.timeout(10000),
       });
 
@@ -209,9 +230,7 @@ async function test(providerName?: string) {
 
     try {
       const resp = await fetch(modelsUrl, {
-        headers: provider.api_key
-          ? { Authorization: `Bearer ${provider.api_key}` }
-          : {},
+        headers: getAuthHeaders(provider),
         signal: AbortSignal.timeout(10000),
       });