diff --git a/deploy/hetzner.sh b/deploy/hetzner.sh
index 826c9b5..5deff22 100755
--- a/deploy/hetzner.sh
+++ b/deploy/hetzner.sh
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ build_cloud_init() {
     local env_content="# webclaw deployment — generated by hetzner.sh
 WEBCLAW_HOST=0.0.0.0
 WEBCLAW_PORT=3000
-WEBCLAW_AUTH_KEY=$auth_key
+WEBCLAW_API_KEY=$auth_key
 OLLAMA_HOST=http://ollama:11434
 OLLAMA_MODEL=$ollama_model
 WEBCLAW_LOG=info"
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ create_server() {
     printf "  ${BOLD}SSH:${RESET}          ssh root@%s\n" "$server_ip"
     printf "  ${BOLD}Auth key:${RESET}     %s\n" "$(mask_secret "$AUTH_KEY")"
     printf "  ${DIM}(full key stored in /opt/webclaw/.env on the server:\n"
-    printf "   ssh root@%s 'grep WEBCLAW_AUTH_KEY /opt/webclaw/.env')${RESET}\n" "$server_ip"
+    printf "   ssh root@%s 'grep WEBCLAW_API_KEY /opt/webclaw/.env')${RESET}\n" "$server_ip"
     echo
     printf "  ${BOLD}Monitor build progress:${RESET}\n"
     printf "    ssh root@%s 'cd /opt/webclaw && docker compose logs -f'\n" "$server_ip"
diff --git a/env.example b/env.example
index cfe9c61..58e3182 100644
--- a/env.example
+++ b/env.example
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ OLLAMA_MODEL=qwen3:8b
 # --- Server (webclaw-server only) ---
 # WEBCLAW_PORT=3000
 # WEBCLAW_HOST=0.0.0.0
-# WEBCLAW_AUTH_KEY=your-auth-key
+# WEBCLAW_API_KEY=your-auth-key
 # WEBCLAW_MAX_CONCURRENCY=50
 # WEBCLAW_JOB_TTL_SECS=3600
 # WEBCLAW_MAX_JOBS=100
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index 1b3c0fb..f059ba3 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ EOF
 # --- Server ---
 WEBCLAW_PORT=$server_port
 WEBCLAW_HOST=0.0.0.0
-WEBCLAW_AUTH_KEY=$auth_key
+WEBCLAW_API_KEY=$auth_key
 
 # --- Logging ---
 WEBCLAW_LOG=info