diff --git a/network-poc/native-node/src/main.rs b/network-poc/native-node/src/main.rs
index 09ba82b..ffc7154 100644
--- a/network-poc/native-node/src/main.rs
+++ b/network-poc/native-node/src/main.rs
@@ -222,6 +222,8 @@ fn build_auth_message(allocated_gb: u32) -> String {
         v
     }).collect();
 
+    let api_key = std::env::var("NODE_API_KEY").unwrap_or_default();
+
     let mut msg = json!({
         "type": "auth",
         "status": "agent_ready",
@@ -231,6 +233,10 @@ fn build_auth_message(allocated_gb: u32) -> String {
         "system": sys,
     });
 
+    if !api_key.is_empty() {
+        msg.as_object_mut().unwrap().insert("api_key".to_string(), json!(api_key));
+    }
+
     if !gpu_json.is_empty() {
         msg.as_object_mut().unwrap().insert("gpus".to_string(), json!(gpu_json));
     }