diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index c4c684cde..3cbc375b4 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -53,10 +53,6 @@ MINIMAX_CN_API_KEY=
 # Get at: https://firecrawl.dev/
 FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=
 
-# Nous Research API Key - Vision analysis and multi-model reasoning
-# Get at: https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/
-NOUS_API_KEY=
-
 # FAL.ai API Key - Image generation
 # Get at: https://fal.ai/
 FAL_KEY=
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index 52f617f17..e955eae80 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -969,7 +969,7 @@ def set_config_value(key: str, value: str):
         'FAL_KEY', 'TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN', 'DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN',
         'TERMINAL_SSH_HOST', 'TERMINAL_SSH_USER', 'TERMINAL_SSH_KEY',
         'SUDO_PASSWORD', 'SLACK_BOT_TOKEN', 'SLACK_APP_TOKEN',
-        'GITHUB_TOKEN', 'HONCHO_API_KEY', 'NOUS_API_KEY', 'WANDB_API_KEY',
+        'GITHUB_TOKEN', 'HONCHO_API_KEY', 'WANDB_API_KEY',
         'TINKER_API_KEY',
     ]
     
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_set_config_value.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_set_config_value.py
index 35e885b57..52a9d1a6c 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_set_config_value.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_set_config_value.py
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ class TestExplicitAllowlist:
         "OPENROUTER_API_KEY",
         "OPENAI_API_KEY",
         "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
-        "NOUS_API_KEY",
         "WANDB_API_KEY",
         "TINKER_API_KEY",
         "HONCHO_API_KEY",
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_web_tools.py b/tests/integration/test_web_tools.py
index 971d98f2c..cd3de453a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_web_tools.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_web_tools.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Usage:
 
 Requirements:
     - FIRECRAWL_API_KEY environment variable must be set
-    - NOUS_API_KEY environment variable (optional, for LLM tests)
+    - An auxiliary LLM provider (OPENROUTER_API_KEY or Nous Portal auth) (optional, for LLM tests)
 """
 
 import pytest
@@ -128,12 +128,12 @@ class WebToolsTester:
         else:
             self.log_result("Firecrawl API Key", "passed", "Found")
         
-        # Check Nous API key (optional)
+        # Check auxiliary LLM provider (optional)
         if not check_auxiliary_model():
-            self.log_result("Nous API Key", "skipped", "NOUS_API_KEY not set (LLM tests will be skipped)")
+            self.log_result("Auxiliary LLM", "skipped", "No auxiliary LLM provider available (LLM tests will be skipped)")
             self.test_llm = False
         else:
-            self.log_result("Nous API Key", "passed", "Found")
+            self.log_result("Auxiliary LLM", "passed", "Found")
         
         # Check debug mode
         debug_info = get_debug_session_info()