diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1d2db44..e0047ba 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,8 +27,12 @@ See the example in [server.yaml](example/server.yaml) file.
 
 ```yaml
 api_key:
-  chatgpt: CHATGPT_API_KEY # <- Replace with your API Key
-  deepl: DEEPL_API_KEY # <- Replace with your API Key
+  chatgpt:
+    value: CHATGPT_API_KEY # <- Replace with your API Key
+    # file: $HOME/secrets/chatgpt.txt # <- You can also specify the file where to read api key
+  deepl:
+    value: DEEPL_API_KEY # <- Replace with your API Key
+    # file: $HOME/secrets/deepl.txt # <- You can also specify the file where to read api key
 ```
 
 ## DeepLX
@@ -41,7 +45,9 @@ See the example in [server.yaml](example/server.yaml) file.
 
 ```yaml
 api_key:
-  deeplx: DEEPLX_API_KEY # <- Replace with your API Key
+  deeplx:
+    value: DEEPLX_API_KEY # <- Replace with your API Key
+    # file: $HOME/secrets/deeplx.txt # <- You can also specify the file where to read api key
 host:
   deeplx: 127.0.0.1:1188 # <- Replace with your server IP address and port
 ```
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index ae240b4..24d90d9 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/eeeXun/gtt/internal/style"
 	"github.com/eeeXun/gtt/internal/translate"
@@ -160,8 +161,14 @@ func configInit() {
 	if err := serverConfig.ReadInConfig(); err == nil {
 		// api key
 		for _, name := range []string{"ChatGPT", "DeepL", "DeepLX"} {
-			if serverConfig.Get(fmt.Sprintf("api_key.%s", name)) != nil {
-				translators[name].SetAPIKey(serverConfig.GetString(fmt.Sprintf("api_key.%s", name)))
+			// Read from value first, then read from file
+			if serverConfig.Get(fmt.Sprintf("api_key.%s.value", name)) != nil {
+				translators[name].SetAPIKey(serverConfig.GetString(fmt.Sprintf("api_key.%s.value", name)))
+			} else if serverConfig.Get(fmt.Sprintf("api_key.%s.file", name)) != nil {
+				buff, err := os.ReadFile(os.ExpandEnv(serverConfig.GetString(fmt.Sprintf("api_key.%s.file", name))))
+				if err == nil {
+					translators[name].SetAPIKey(strings.TrimSpace(string(buff)))
+				}
 			}
 		}
 		// host
diff --git a/example/server.yaml b/example/server.yaml
index 733172f..54d54a6 100644
--- a/example/server.yaml
+++ b/example/server.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 # This file should be located at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gtt/server.yaml or $HOME/.config/gtt/server.yaml.
 api_key:
-  chatgpt: CHATGPT_API_KEY
-  deepl: DEEPL_API_KEY
-  deeplx: DEEPLX_API_KEY
+  chatgpt:
+    value: CHATGPT_API_KEY
+    # file: $HOME/secrets/chatgpt.txt
+  deepl:
+    value: DEEPL_API_KEY
+    # file: $HOME/secrets/deepl.txt
+  deeplx:
+    value: DEEPLX_API_KEY
+    # file: $HOME/secrets/deeplx.txt
 host:
   deeplx: 127.0.0.1:1188