diff --git a/services/geminiService.ts b/services/geminiService.ts
index 2f6ff55..5456e8e 100644
--- a/services/geminiService.ts
+++ b/services/geminiService.ts
@@ -29,11 +29,18 @@ Guidelines:
 
 // Helper to get API key safely
 const getApiKey = (): string | undefined => {
-  try {
-    return process.env.API_KEY;
-  } catch (e) {
+  // Try different sources (Vite defines these at build time)
+  const key =
+    (typeof process !== 'undefined' && process.env ? process.env.API_KEY || process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY : undefined) ||
+    (import.meta as any).env?.VITE_GEMINI_API_KEY ||
+    (import.meta as any).env?.API_KEY ||
+    (import.meta as any).env?.GEMINI_API_KEY;
+
+  // Ensure it's not a literal "undefined" string from a failed build injection
+  if (key === "undefined" || key === "null" || !key) {
     return undefined;
   }
+  return key;
 };
 
 const formatCurrency = (val: number) => `€${val.toLocaleString('de-DE', { minimumFractionDigits: 0, maximumFractionDigits: 0 })}`;
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index 0c237f3..4f731fd 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -49,8 +49,10 @@ export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => {
     },
     plugins: [react()],
     define: {
-      'process.env.API_KEY': JSON.stringify(env.GEMINI_API_KEY || env.API_KEY),
-      'process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY': JSON.stringify(env.GEMINI_API_KEY || env.API_KEY)
+      'process.env.API_KEY': JSON.stringify(env.GEMINI_API_KEY || env.API_KEY || ""),
+      'process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY': JSON.stringify(env.GEMINI_API_KEY || env.API_KEY || ""),
+      'import.meta.env.VITE_GEMINI_API_KEY': JSON.stringify(env.GEMINI_API_KEY || env.API_KEY || ""),
+      'import.meta.env.API_KEY': JSON.stringify(env.GEMINI_API_KEY || env.API_KEY || "")
     },
     resolve: {
       alias: {