diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 9989df977..5614024ed 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 # [Recommended for local deployments] Backend API key for OpenAI, so that users don't need one (UI > this > '')
 OPENAI_API_KEY=
-
 # [Not needed] Set the backend host for the OpenAI API, to enable platforms such as Helicone (UI > this > api.openai.com)
 OPENAI_API_HOST=
-
 # [Not needed] Sets the "OpenAI-Organization" header field to support organization users (UI > this > '')
 OPENAI_API_ORG_ID=
 
-# [Optional] Sets the API Key and Host for ElevenLabs, for optional text-to-speech
+# [Optional] Enables ElevenLabs credentials on the server side - for optional text-to-speech
 ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=
 ELEVENLABS_API_HOST=
 ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID=
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/dialogs/SettingsModal.tsx b/components/dialogs/SettingsModal.tsx
index 53f0c38d7..15308e344 100644
--- a/components/dialogs/SettingsModal.tsx
+++ b/components/dialogs/SettingsModal.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ import { Link } from '@/components/util/Link';
 import { useSettingsStore } from '@/lib/store-settings';
 
 
+export const requireUserKeyOpenAI = !process.env.HAS_SERVER_KEY_OPENAI;
+
+export const requireUserKeyElevenLabs = !process.env.HAS_SERVER_KEY_ELEVENLABS;
+
+
 export const isValidOpenAIApiKey = (apiKey?: string) =>
   !!apiKey && apiKey.startsWith('sk-') && apiKey.length > 40;
 
@@ -97,8 +102,7 @@ export function SettingsModal({ open, onClose }: { open: boolean, onClose: () =>
 
   const handleMaxTokensChange = (event: Event, newValue: number | number[]) => setModelMaxResponseTokens(newValue as number);
 
-  const needsApiKey = !!process.env.REQUIRE_USER_API_KEYS;
-  const isValidKey = isValidOpenAIApiKey(apiKey);
+  const isValidOpenAIKey = isValidOpenAIApiKey(apiKey);
 
   const hideOnMobile = { display: { xs: 'none', md: 'flex' } };
 
@@ -114,10 +118,10 @@ export function SettingsModal({ open, onClose }: { open: boolean, onClose: () =>
 
           <FormControl>
             <FormLabel>
-              OpenAI API Key {needsApiKey ? '' : '(optional)'}
+              OpenAI API Key {requireUserKeyOpenAI ? '' : '(optional)'}
             </FormLabel>
             <Input
-              variant='outlined' type={showApiKeyValue ? 'text' : 'password'} placeholder={needsApiKey ? 'required' : 'sk-...'} error={needsApiKey && !isValidKey}
+              variant='outlined' type={showApiKeyValue ? 'text' : 'password'} placeholder={requireUserKeyOpenAI ? 'required' : 'sk-...'} error={requireUserKeyOpenAI && !isValidOpenAIKey}
               value={apiKey} onChange={handleApiKeyChange} onKeyDown={handleApiKeyDown}
               startDecorator={<KeyIcon />}
               endDecorator={!!apiKey && (
@@ -128,7 +132,7 @@ export function SettingsModal({ open, onClose }: { open: boolean, onClose: () =>
 
             />
             <FormHelperText sx={{ display: 'block', lineHeight: 1.75 }}>
-              {needsApiKey
+              {requireUserKeyOpenAI
                 ? <><Link level='body2' href='https://platform.openai.com/account/api-keys' target='_blank'>Create Key</Link>, then apply to
                   the <Link level='body2' href='https://openai.com/waitlist/gpt-4-api' target='_blank'>GPT-4 waitlist</Link></>
                 : `This key will take precedence over the server's.`} <Link level='body2' href='https://platform.openai.com/account/usage' target='_blank'>Check usage here</Link>.
@@ -261,7 +265,7 @@ export function SettingsModal({ open, onClose }: { open: boolean, onClose: () =>
         </Section>
 
         <Box sx={{ mt: 4, display: 'flex', justifyContent: 'flex-end' }}>
-          <Button variant='solid' color={isValidKey ? 'primary' : 'neutral'} onClick={onClose}>
+          <Button variant='solid' color={isValidOpenAIKey ? 'primary' : 'neutral'} onClick={onClose}>
             Close
           </Button>
         </Box>
diff --git a/next.config.js b/next.config.js
index 2a57ad882..e2b00a1f4 100644
--- a/next.config.js
+++ b/next.config.js
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ const nextConfig = {
   reactStrictMode: true,
   env: {
     // defaults to TRUE, unless API Keys are set at build time; this flag is used by the UI
-    REQUIRE_USER_API_KEYS: !process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY,
+    HAS_SERVER_KEY_OPENAI: !!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY,
+    HAS_SERVER_KEY_ELEVENLABS: !!process.env.ELEVENLABS_API_KEY,
   },
   webpack(config, { isServer, dev }) {
     // @mui/joy: anything material gets redirected to Joy
diff --git a/pages/index.tsx b/pages/index.tsx
index cdba83983..8e2d1c999 100644
--- a/pages/index.tsx
+++ b/pages/index.tsx
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export default function Home() {
 
   // show the Settings Dialog at startup if the API key is required but not set
   React.useEffect(() => {
-    if (!!process.env.REQUIRE_USER_API_KEYS && !isValidOpenAIApiKey(apiKey))
+    if (!process.env.HAS_SERVER_KEY_OPENAI && !isValidOpenAIApiKey(apiKey))
       setSettingsShown(true);
   }, [apiKey]);
 
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index bd5ac8432..f46d49283 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -22,6 +22,6 @@
       "@/types/*": ["types/*"]
     },
   },
-  "include": ["next-env.d.ts", "**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx"],
+  "include": ["next-env.d.ts", "types/**/*.ts", "**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx"],
   "exclude": ["node_modules"]
 }
diff --git a/types/env.d.ts b/types/env.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3b387c82b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/types/env.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// noinspection JSUnusedGlobalSymbols
+
+declare namespace NodeJS {
+
+  // available to the server-side
+  interface ProcessEnv {
+
+    // OpenAI - chat.ts
+    OPENAI_API_KEY: string;
+    OPENAI_API_HOST: string;
+    OPENAI_API_ORG_ID: string;
+
+    // ElevenLabs - speech.ts
+    ELEVENLABS_API_KEY: string;
+    ELEVENLABS_API_HOST: string;
+    ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID: string;
+
+  }
+
+  interface ProcessEnv {
+
+    // set in next.config.js and available to the client-side
+    HAS_SERVER_KEY_OPENAI: boolean;
+    HAS_SERVER_KEY_ELEVENLABS: boolean;
+
+  }
+}