diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b66e620..0b08b99 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "notifkit",
-  "version": "0.1.5",
+  "version": "0.1.6",
   "description": "Self-hosted notification infrastructure. One call delivers to email, SMS, push, and webhook — routed by preference, quiet hours, and consent.",
   "license": "MIT",
   "author": "devkitshq",
diff --git a/src/config/index.ts b/src/config/index.ts
index c6c4bfe..4ea76c2 100644
--- a/src/config/index.ts
+++ b/src/config/index.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,11 @@ export const baseConfigSchema = z.object({
   HOST: z.string().default("127.0.0.1"),
   REDIS_URL: z.string().url().default("redis://localhost:6379"),
   DATABASE_URL: z.string().url().default("postgres://platform:platform@localhost:5432/notifkit"),
-  ADMIN_API_KEY: z.string().optional(),
+  // Trimmed because the incoming bearer token is trimmed before comparison, so
+  // an untrimmed value here could never match it. `set KEY=value && cmd` on
+  // Windows puts a trailing space in the variable, which otherwise turns every
+  // admin request into a 401 that reads like a wrong key.
+  ADMIN_API_KEY: z.string().trim().optional(),
   WORKER_CONCURRENCY: z.coerce.number().int().min(1).default(10),
   QUEUE_MAX_LEN: z.coerce.number().int().min(1).default(10000000),
   DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS: z.coerce.number().int().min(1).default(2),
diff --git a/tests/api.test.ts b/tests/api.test.ts
index 7bc9297..7017ae8 100644
--- a/tests/api.test.ts
+++ b/tests/api.test.ts
@@ -58,6 +58,19 @@ describe("extractAuthToken", () => {
     expect(extractAuthToken(req as any)).toBe("my-token-with-spaces");
   });
 
+  // `set ADMIN_API_KEY=key && cmd` on Windows puts a trailing space in the
+  // variable. The token side is trimmed, so if the configured side were not,
+  // the two could never match and every admin request would 401.
+  it("matches a configured key that carries the whitespace a shell added", async () => {
+    const { readBaseConfig } = await import("@/config/index.js");
+
+    const config = readBaseConfig({ ADMIN_API_KEY: "supersecretkey " } as NodeJS.ProcessEnv);
+    const token = extractAuthToken({ headers: { authorization: "Bearer supersecretkey" } } as any);
+
+    expect(config.ADMIN_API_KEY).toBe("supersecretkey");
+    expect(token).toBe(config.ADMIN_API_KEY);
+  });
+
   it("prioritizes Bearer authorization header over x-api-key if both are present", () => {
     const req = {
       headers: {