diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 93508a6eb7..f340e14508 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -32,4 +32,5 @@ Packages
 xcuserdata/
 
 # Don't commit any secrets to the repo.
+.env
 .env.secret.toml
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f06b861591..5edd5eb886 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4548,6 +4548,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.100",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dotenv"
+version = "0.15.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "77c90badedccf4105eca100756a0b1289e191f6fcbdadd3cee1d2f614f97da8f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "dotenvy"
 version = "0.15.7"
@@ -4970,6 +4976,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "collections",
  "context_server",
  "dirs 5.0.1",
+ "dotenv",
  "env_logger 0.11.8",
  "extension",
  "fs",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d90a256a9c..d9bbb0481d 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -437,6 +437,7 @@ dashmap = "6.0"
 dap-types = { git = "https://github.com/zed-industries/dap-types", rev = "be69a016ba710191b9fdded28c8b042af4b617f7" }
 derive_more = "0.99.17"
 dirs = "4.0"
+dotenv = "0.15.0"
 ec4rs = "1.1"
 emojis = "0.6.1"
 env_logger = "0.11"
diff --git a/crates/eval/Cargo.toml b/crates/eval/Cargo.toml
index 6c754bf7ff..21d9816708 100644
--- a/crates/eval/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/eval/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ client.workspace = true
 collections.workspace = true
 context_server.workspace = true
 dirs = "5.0"
+dotenv.workspace = true
 env_logger.workspace = true
 extension.workspace = true
 fs.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/eval/README.md b/crates/eval/README.md
index 75fe7265fc..c1543734b0 100644
--- a/crates/eval/README.md
+++ b/crates/eval/README.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ This eval assumes the working directory is the root of the repository. Run it wi
 cargo run -p eval
 ```
 
+The eval will optionally read a `.env` file in `crates/eval` if you need it to set environment variables, such as API keys.
+
 ## Explorer Tool
 
 The explorer tool generates a self-contained HTML view from one or more thread
diff --git a/crates/eval/src/eval.rs b/crates/eval/src/eval.rs
index dcc39592ed..f3a9624553 100644
--- a/crates/eval/src/eval.rs
+++ b/crates/eval/src/eval.rs
@@ -34,9 +34,12 @@ use std::collections::VecDeque;
 use std::env;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::rc::Rc;
-use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::sync::{Arc, LazyLock};
 use util::ResultExt as _;
 
+static CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR: LazyLock<PathBuf> =
+    LazyLock::new(|| PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")));
+
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
 #[command(name = "eval", disable_version_flag = true)]
 struct Args {
@@ -57,6 +60,8 @@ struct Args {
 }
 
 fn main() {
+    dotenv::from_filename(CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR.join(".env")).ok();
+
     env_logger::init();
 
     let system_id = ids::get_or_create_id(&ids::eval_system_id_path()).ok();