diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e967ae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Copy to .env and fill in. .env is gitignored.
+OPENROUTER_API_KEY=
+
+# Prove-budget and `ousast index` embeddings via OpenRouter /embeddings.
+OPENROUTER_EMBEDDING_MODEL=openai/text-embedding-3-small
diff --git a/src/openultrasast/cli.py b/src/openultrasast/cli.py
index 18b5345..a243fe4 100644
--- a/src/openultrasast/cli.py
+++ b/src/openultrasast/cli.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ from .calibration import (
 )
 from .complexity import map as complexity_map
 from .complexity.ledger import persist_verdicts
-from .config import load_config
+from .config import load_config, load_dotenv
 from .findings import StaticFinding, quick_scan_findings, write_findings
 from .fusion import FusionDecision, fuse_findings_dispatch
 from .gate import FALSE_POSITIVE_CEILING, RECALL_FLOOR
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ class ScanOutcome:
 
 
 def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
+    load_dotenv()
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog="ousast")
     subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command", required=True)
 
diff --git a/src/openultrasast/config.py b/src/openultrasast/config.py
index d095a3a..3b2904d 100644
--- a/src/openultrasast/config.py
+++ b/src/openultrasast/config.py
@@ -9,6 +9,24 @@ from pathlib import Path
 DEFAULT_VECTOR_STORE = "json-local"
 
 
+def load_dotenv(path: Path | None = None, *, force: bool = False) -> None:
+    """Load KEY=VALUE lines from .env into os.environ. Stdlib only; never overrides."""
+    if not force and (os.environ.get("PYTEST_CURRENT_TEST") or os.environ.get("OPENULTRASAST_SKIP_DOTENV")):
+        return
+    env_path = path if path is not None else Path(".env")
+    if not env_path.is_file():
+        return
+    for raw in env_path.read_text().splitlines():
+        line = raw.strip()
+        if not line or line.startswith("#") or "=" not in line:
+            continue
+        key, _, value = line.partition("=")
+        key = key.strip()
+        value = value.strip().strip("'").strip('"')
+        if key and key not in os.environ:
+            os.environ[key] = value
+
+
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class ModelConfig:
     ranker: str | None = None
@@ -129,6 +147,7 @@ class ResolvedConfig:
 
 
 def load_config(config_path: Path | None = None) -> ResolvedConfig:
+    load_dotenv()
     data: dict[str, object] = {}
     if config_path is not None and config_path.exists():
         with config_path.open("rb") as handle:
@@ -177,7 +196,10 @@ def _load_models(value: object) -> ModelConfig:
 
 def _load_embeddings(value: object) -> EmbeddingConfig:
     data = _section(value)
-    return EmbeddingConfig(model=_string(data.get("model")), store=_string(data.get("store")) or DEFAULT_VECTOR_STORE)
+    return EmbeddingConfig(
+        model=_string(data.get("model")) or _string(os.environ.get("OPENROUTER_EMBEDDING_MODEL")),
+        store=_string(data.get("store")) or DEFAULT_VECTOR_STORE,
+    )
 
 
 def _load_sandbox(value: object) -> SandboxConfig:
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index c42ed54..6df0ac2 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
+import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
-from openultrasast.config import load_config, write_resolved_config
+from openultrasast.config import load_config, load_dotenv, write_resolved_config
 
 
 def test_load_config_reads_toml(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
@@ -159,3 +160,21 @@ def test_load_config_reads_regress_image_pins(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     assert config.complexity.top_k == 20
     assert config.complexity.max_hunter_hotspots == 8
     assert config.sandbox.memory_mb == 2048
+
+
+def test_load_dotenv_sets_missing_keys_only(tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch) -> None:  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def]
+    env_file = tmp_path / ".env"
+    env_file.write_text("OPENROUTER_API_KEY=from-file\nOPENROUTER_EMBEDDING_MODEL=openai/text-embedding-3-small\n")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("OPENROUTER_API_KEY", "already-set")
+    monkeypatch.delenv("OPENROUTER_EMBEDDING_MODEL", raising=False)
+
+    load_dotenv(env_file, force=True)
+
+    assert os.environ["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"] == "already-set"
+    assert os.environ["OPENROUTER_EMBEDDING_MODEL"] == "openai/text-embedding-3-small"
+
+
+def test_embeddings_model_from_env(monkeypatch) -> None:  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def]
+    monkeypatch.setenv("OPENROUTER_EMBEDDING_MODEL", "openai/text-embedding-3-small")
+    config = load_config(None)
+    assert config.embeddings.model == "openai/text-embedding-3-small"