diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ff85f4b..2caf2d5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ You can also use CURL to get embeddings:
 ```bash
 curl http://localhost:8080/v1/embeddings \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-secret-key" \
   -d '{
     "input": "Your text string goes here",
     "model": "all-MiniLM-L6-v2"
diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index 750a3c6..4cc13eb 100755
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-
+export API_KEY=${API_KEY:-""}
 uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 12ec834..5212ff0 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -1,13 +1,33 @@
-from typing import Union, List, Dict
+from typing import Union, List, Dict, Optional
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 import os
-
-from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
+from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Security, Depends
+from fastapi.security import HTTPBearer, HTTPAuthorizationCredentials
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
 from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer
 
 models: Dict[str, SentenceTransformer] = {}
 model_name = os.getenv("MODEL", "all-MiniLM-L6-v2")
+api_key = os.getenv("API_KEY")
+
+security = HTTPBearer(auto_error=False)
+
+def verify_api_key(credentials: Optional[HTTPAuthorizationCredentials] = Security(security)):
+    if api_key:
+        if not credentials:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=401,
+                detail="API key required",
+                headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"},
+            )
+        if credentials.credentials != api_key:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=401,
+                detail="Invalid API key",
+                headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"},
+            )
+        return credentials.credentials
+    return None
 
 
 class EmbeddingRequest(BaseModel):
@@ -48,7 +68,10 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
 
 
 @app.post("/v1/embeddings")
-async def embedding(item: EmbeddingRequest) -> EmbeddingResponse:
+async def embedding(
+    item: EmbeddingRequest,
+    api_key: Optional[str] = Depends(verify_api_key)
+) -> EmbeddingResponse:
     model: SentenceTransformer = models[model_name]
     if isinstance(item.input, str):
         vectors = model.encode(item.input)