diff --git a/audio_keepalive.py b/audio_keepalive.py
index 508cafe..e7020a2 100644
--- a/audio_keepalive.py
+++ b/audio_keepalive.py
@@ -10,9 +10,23 @@ success; prints + exits non-zero on failure so scheduler logs capture it.
 import json, os, urllib.request, urllib.error, sys
 
 PORT = os.environ.get("PORT", "4000")
-KEY = os.environ.get("LITELLM_MASTER_KEY", "")
+
+def master_key():
+    """The gateway's start.sh generates the master key into /app/data/.master_key
+    and exports LITELLM_MASTER_KEY for the litellm process — scheduler tasks run
+    in a separate process tree, so read the key file directly."""
+    key = os.environ.get("LITELLM_MASTER_KEY", "")
+    if key:
+        return key
+    try:
+        with open("/app/data/.master_key") as f:
+            return f.read().strip()
+    except OSError:
+        return ""
+
+KEY = master_key()
 if not KEY:
-    print("keepalive: LITELLM_MASTER_KEY not set", file=sys.stderr)
+    print("keepalive: no master key (env or /app/data/.master_key)", file=sys.stderr)
     sys.exit(1)
 
 fail = 0