diff --git a/app/core/config.py b/app/core/config.py
index a122364..5e6fd09 100644
--- a/app/core/config.py
+++ b/app/core/config.py
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     artifact_storage_host: str = Field(default="localhost", alias="ARTIFACT_STORAGE_HOST")
     artifact_storage_grpc_port: int = Field(default=50051, alias="ARTIFACT_STORAGE_GRPC_PORT")
     artifact_storage_http_port: int = Field(default=8080, alias="ARTIFACT_STORAGE_HTTP_PORT")
+    artifact_storage_api_key: str = Field(default="dev-api-key", alias="ARTIFACT_STORAGE_API_KEY")
 
     @field_validator("cors_origins", mode="plain")
     @classmethod
diff --git a/app/core/grpc_clients.py b/app/core/grpc_clients.py
index 4ce907d..f6031ce 100644
--- a/app/core/grpc_clients.py
+++ b/app/core/grpc_clients.py
@@ -21,14 +21,22 @@ async def get_artifact_storage_client() -> ArtifactStorageClient:
     """
     global _artifact_storage_client
     
-    if _artifact_storage_client is None:
+    # If client doesn't exist or isn't connected, initialize it
+    if _artifact_storage_client is None or _artifact_storage_client.stub is None:
         settings = get_settings()
-        _artifact_storage_client = ArtifactStorageClient(
+        client = ArtifactStorageClient(
             host=settings.artifact_storage_host,
-            port=settings.artifact_storage_grpc_port
+            port=settings.artifact_storage_grpc_port,
+            api_key=settings.artifact_storage_api_key
         )
-        await _artifact_storage_client.connect()
-        logger.info("Artifact Storage gRPC client initialized")
+        try:
+            await client.connect()
+            _artifact_storage_client = client
+            logger.info("Artifact Storage gRPC client initialized")
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Failed to initialize Artifact Storage gRPC client: {e}")
+            _artifact_storage_client = None
+            raise
     
     return _artifact_storage_client
 
diff --git a/app/grpc/clients/artifact_storage_client.py b/app/grpc/clients/artifact_storage_client.py
index 0a83e41..679fb93 100644
--- a/app/grpc/clients/artifact_storage_client.py
+++ b/app/grpc/clients/artifact_storage_client.py
@@ -19,15 +19,17 @@ class ArtifactStorageClient:
     - Listing artifacts
     """
     
-    def __init__(self, host: str, port: int):
+    def __init__(self, host: str, port: int, api_key: str):
         """
         Initialize Artifact Storage gRPC client.
         
         Args:
             host: Artifact Storage service hostname
             port: gRPC port (typically 50051)
+            api_key: Admin API Key for authentication
         """
         self.address = f"{host}:{port}"
+        self.api_key = api_key
         self.channel: Optional[grpc.aio.Channel] = None
         self.stub = None
         
@@ -90,7 +92,8 @@ async def get_upload_url(
                 project_id=project_id or ""
             )
             
-            response = await self.stub.GetUploadURL(request)
+            metadata = (("x-api-key", self.api_key),)
+            response = await self.stub.GetUploadURL(request, metadata=metadata)
             
             return {
                 "artifact_id": response.artifact_id,
@@ -132,7 +135,8 @@ async def complete_upload(
                 version_id=version_id
             )
             
-            response = await self.stub.CompleteUpload(request)
+            metadata = (("x-api-key", self.api_key),)
+            response = await self.stub.CompleteUpload(request, metadata=metadata)
             
             return response.status == "completed"
         except grpc.RpcError as e:
@@ -165,7 +169,8 @@ async def get_download_url(
                 expires_in_seconds=expires_in_seconds
             )
             
-            response = await self.stub.GetDownloadURL(request)
+            metadata = (("x-api-key", self.api_key),)
+            response = await self.stub.GetDownloadURL(request, metadata=metadata)
             
             return response.download_url
         except grpc.RpcError as e:
@@ -190,7 +195,8 @@ async def get_metadata(self, artifact_id: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             
             request = artifact_pb2.GetMetadataRequest(artifact_id=artifact_id)
             
-            response = await self.stub.GetMetadata(request)
+            metadata = (("x-api-key", self.api_key),)
+            response = await self.stub.GetMetadata(request, metadata=metadata)
             
             return {
                 "id": response.id,
@@ -237,7 +243,8 @@ async def list_artifacts(
                 pipeline_id=pipeline_id or ""
             )
             
-            response = await self.stub.ListArtifacts(request)
+            metadata = (("x-api-key", self.api_key),)
+            response = await self.stub.ListArtifacts(request, metadata=metadata)
             
             artifacts = []
             for artifact in response.artifacts: