diff --git a/app/src/lib/audit/runner.ts b/app/src/lib/audit/runner.ts
index 5a4df62..9467d15 100644
--- a/app/src/lib/audit/runner.ts
+++ b/app/src/lib/audit/runner.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ export async function runLLMAudit(
   userPrompt: string,
   onProgress?: (msg: string) => void,
 ): Promise<string> {
+  config = { ...config, apiKey: config.apiKey?.trim() || '' };
   if (config.provider === 'openai') {
     return callOpenAI(config, systemPrompt, userPrompt, onProgress);
   } else if (config.provider === 'anthropic') {