diff --git a/providers/OpenAICompatProvider.cpp b/providers/OpenAICompatProvider.cpp
index a0ea2bb..93e1a42 100644
--- a/providers/OpenAICompatProvider.cpp
+++ b/providers/OpenAICompatProvider.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ void OpenAICompatProvider::prepareRequest(QJsonObject &request, LLMCore::Request
             request["frequency_penalty"] = settings.frequencyPenalty();
         if (settings.usePresencePenalty())
             request["presence_penalty"] = settings.presencePenalty();
+        const QString &apiKey = settings.apiKey();
+        if (!apiKey.isEmpty()) {
+            request["api_key"] = apiKey;
+        }
     };
 
     QJsonArray messages = prepareMessages(request);