diff --git a/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/sidebar-content.tsx b/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/sidebar-content.tsx
index edf370ad..0d8d9aea 100644
--- a/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/sidebar-content.tsx
+++ b/apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/sidebar-content.tsx
@@ -460,12 +460,25 @@ async function transcribeWithDeepgram(audioBlob: Blob): Promise<string | null> {
 // Voice Note Recording Button
 function VoiceNoteButton({ onNoteCreated }: { onNoteCreated?: (path: string) => void }) {
   const [isRecording, setIsRecording] = React.useState(false)
+  const [hasDeepgramKey, setHasDeepgramKey] = React.useState(false)
   const mediaRecorderRef = React.useRef<MediaRecorder | null>(null)
   const chunksRef = React.useRef<Blob[]>([])
   const notePathRef = React.useRef<string | null>(null)
   const timestampRef = React.useRef<string | null>(null)
   const relativePathRef = React.useRef<string | null>(null)
 
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    window.ipc.invoke('workspace:readFile', {
+      path: 'config/deepgram.json',
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+    }).then((result: { data: string }) => {
+      const { apiKey } = JSON.parse(result.data) as { apiKey: string }
+      setHasDeepgramKey(!!apiKey)
+    }).catch(() => {
+      setHasDeepgramKey(false)
+    })
+  }, [])
+
   const startRecording = async () => {
     try {
       // Generate timestamp and paths immediately
@@ -627,6 +640,8 @@ ${transcript}
     setIsRecording(false)
   }
 
+  if (!hasDeepgramKey) return null
+
   return (
     <Tooltip>
       <TooltipTrigger asChild>