diff --git a/test_classifier.py b/test_classifier.py
index 93cc9ce..5b50590 100644
--- a/test_classifier.py
+++ b/test_classifier.py
@@ -118,10 +118,13 @@ def call_ollama(messages: list[dict]) -> dict:
         "stream": False,
         "options": {"temperature": 0},
     }).encode("utf-8")
+    headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
+    if api_key := os.getenv("OLLAMA_API_KEY", ""):
+        headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {api_key}"
     req = Request(
         f"{OLLAMA_BASE_URL}/v1/chat/completions",
         data=payload,
-        headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+        headers=headers,
         method="POST",
     )
     with urlopen(req, timeout=300) as resp:
diff --git a/update_monitor/classifier.py b/update_monitor/classifier.py
index 9a072d1..038d0f4 100644
--- a/update_monitor/classifier.py
+++ b/update_monitor/classifier.py
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ class Classifier:
         self.base_url = base_url or os.getenv("OLLAMA_BASE_URL", "http://192.168.1.20:11434")
         self.model = model or os.getenv("OLLAMA_MODEL", "gemma4:26b")
         self.fallback_model = fallback_model or os.getenv("OLLAMA_FALLBACK_MODEL", "gemma4:12b")
+        self.api_key = os.getenv("OLLAMA_API_KEY", "")
 
     def classify(
         self,
@@ -77,10 +78,13 @@ class Classifier:
                 "stream": False,
                 "options": {"temperature": 0},
             }).encode("utf-8")
+            headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
+            if self.api_key:
+                headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {self.api_key}"
             req = Request(
                 f"{self.base_url}/v1/chat/completions",
                 data=payload,
-                headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+                headers=headers,
                 method="POST",
             )
             with urlopen(req, timeout=timeout) as resp: