diff --git a/gai-backend/run.sh b/gai-backend/run.sh
index fd44dec00..aac7f4c5d 100644
--- a/gai-backend/run.sh
+++ b/gai-backend/run.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,30 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+file_env() {
+    local var="$1"
+    local fileVar="${var}_FILE"
+    local def="${2:-}"
+
+    if [ "${!var:-}" ] && [ "${!fileVar:-}" ]; then
+        echo >&2 "error: both $var and $fileVar are set (but are exclusive)"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    local val="$def"
+    if [ "${!var:-}" ]; then
+        val="${!var}"
+    elif [ "${!fileVar:-}" ]; then
+        val="$(< "${!fileVar}")"
+    fi
+    export "$var"="$val"
+    unset "$fileVar"
+}
+
+file_env "ORCHID_GENAI_LLM_AUTH_KEY"
+file_env "ORCHID_GENAI_RECIPIENT_KEY"
+file_env "ORCHID_GENAI_LLM_URL"
+
 while true
 do
   python server.py;