diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9e5a164..2499704 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,6 +31,15 @@ A comprehensive toolkit that offers:
    ```bash
    pip install -r requirements.txt
    ```
+## Configuration
+
+Before using the `text2csvdeck.py` script, ensure that you have set the `OPENAI_API_KEY` environment variable:
+
+```bash
+export OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
+```
+
+Remember to replace `your_openai_api_key_here` with your actual OpenAI API key.
 
 ## Usage
 
diff --git a/text2csvdeck.py b/text2csvdeck.py
index 9919c07..29d68ea 100644
--- a/text2csvdeck.py
+++ b/text2csvdeck.py
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 import openai
 import sys
+import os
+
+API_KEY = os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY")
+if not API_KEY:
+    raise ValueError("Please set the OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable.")
 
-# Set up the OpenAI API key
-API_KEY = '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'
 openai.api_key = API_KEY
 
 # Given prompt template