diff --git a/dev_session.py b/dev_session.py
index 7dd87a4c..7e1184ac 100644
--- a/dev_session.py
+++ b/dev_session.py
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import json
 import re
 from typing import List, Dict, Optional, Tuple
 from getpass import getpass
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+load_dotenv()
 
 # --- API Helper Functions ---
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index b15b9bf7..0c55aa0d 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ pandas==1.5.3
 numpy
 scikit-learn
 openai==0.28.1
+python-dotenv
 thefuzz
 python-Levenshtein
 joblib