diff --git a/lua/avante/config.lua b/lua/avante/config.lua
index 59bddee..120d757 100644
--- a/lua/avante/config.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/config.lua
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ M.defaults = {
     timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
     temperature = 0,
     max_tokens = 4096,
-    ["local"] = false,
   },
   ---@type AvanteSupportedProvider
   copilot = {
@@ -44,7 +43,6 @@ M.defaults = {
     timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
     temperature = 0,
     max_tokens = 4096,
-    ["local"] = false,
   },
   ---@type AvanteSupportedProvider
   claude = {
@@ -53,7 +51,6 @@ M.defaults = {
     timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
     temperature = 0,
     max_tokens = 8000,
-    ["local"] = false,
   },
   ---@type AvanteSupportedProvider
   gemini = {
@@ -62,7 +59,6 @@ M.defaults = {
     timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
     temperature = 0,
     max_tokens = 4096,
-    ["local"] = false,
   },
   ---@type AvanteSupportedProvider
   vertex = {
@@ -71,7 +67,6 @@ M.defaults = {
     timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
     temperature = 0,
     max_tokens = 4096,
-    ["local"] = false,
   },
   ---@type AvanteSupportedProvider
   cohere = {
@@ -80,7 +75,6 @@ M.defaults = {
     timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
     temperature = 0,
     max_tokens = 4096,
-    ["local"] = false,
   },
   ---To add support for custom provider, follow the format below
   ---See https://github.com/yetone/avante.nvim/wiki#custom-providers for more details
@@ -93,7 +87,6 @@ M.defaults = {
       timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
       temperature = 0,
       max_tokens = 8000,
-      ["local"] = false,
     },
     ---@type AvanteSupportedProvider
     ["claude-opus"] = {
@@ -102,7 +95,6 @@ M.defaults = {
       timeout = 30000, -- Timeout in milliseconds
       temperature = 0,
       max_tokens = 8000,
-      ["local"] = false,
     },
   },
   ---Specify the behaviour of avante.nvim
diff --git a/lua/avante/providers/azure.lua b/lua/avante/providers/azure.lua
index 85e4b44..29e9f21 100644
--- a/lua/avante/providers/azure.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/providers/azure.lua
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ M.parse_curl_args = function(provider, code_opts)
   local headers = {
     ["Content-Type"] = "application/json",
   }
-  if not P.env.is_local("azure") then headers["api-key"] = provider.parse_api_key() end
+  if P.env.require_api_key(base) then headers["api-key"] = provider.parse_api_key() end
 
   return {
     url = Utils.url_join(
diff --git a/lua/avante/providers/claude.lua b/lua/avante/providers/claude.lua
index f2a00ea..db266a3 100644
--- a/lua/avante/providers/claude.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/providers/claude.lua
@@ -101,7 +101,8 @@ M.parse_curl_args = function(provider, prompt_opts)
     ["anthropic-version"] = "2023-06-01",
     ["anthropic-beta"] = "prompt-caching-2024-07-31",
   }
-  if not P.env.is_local("claude") then headers["x-api-key"] = provider.parse_api_key() end
+
+  if P.env.require_api_key(base) then headers["x-api-key"] = provider.parse_api_key() end
 
   local messages = M.parse_messages(prompt_opts)
 
diff --git a/lua/avante/providers/cohere.lua b/lua/avante/providers/cohere.lua
index c076350..af12faa 100644
--- a/lua/avante/providers/cohere.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/providers/cohere.lua
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ M.parse_curl_args = function(provider, code_opts)
       .. "."
       .. vim.version().patch,
   }
-  if not P.env.is_local("cohere") then headers["Authorization"] = "Bearer " .. provider.parse_api_key() end
+  if P.env.require_api_key(base) then headers["Authorization"] = "Bearer " .. provider.parse_api_key() end
 
   return {
     url = Utils.url_join(base.endpoint, "/chat"),
diff --git a/lua/avante/providers/copilot.lua b/lua/avante/providers/copilot.lua
index b218181..7f9af1d 100644
--- a/lua/avante/providers/copilot.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/providers/copilot.lua
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ end
 ---@field github_token CopilotToken?
 M.state = nil
 
-M.api_key_name = P.AVANTE_INTERNAL_KEY
+M.api_key_name = ""
 M.tokenizer_id = "gpt-4o"
 M.role_map = {
   user = "user",
diff --git a/lua/avante/providers/init.lua b/lua/avante/providers/init.lua
index 733c41a..38689e6 100644
--- a/lua/avante/providers/init.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/providers/init.lua
@@ -108,32 +108,32 @@ E.parse_envvar = function(Opts)
 
   local cmd = type(api_key_name) == "table" and api_key_name or api_key_name:match("^cmd:(.*)")
 
-  local key = nil
+  local value = nil
 
   if cmd ~= nil then
     -- NOTE: in case api_key_name is cmd, and users still set envvar
     -- We will try to get envvar first
-    if Opts._shellenv ~= nil and Opts._shellenv ~= M.AVANTE_INTERNAL_KEY then
-      key = os.getenv(Opts._shellenv)
-      if key ~= nil then
-        ---@diagnostic disable: no-unknown
-        E.cache[Opts._shellenv] = key
-        E.cache[cache_key] = key
+    if Opts._shellenv ~= nil and Opts._shellenv ~= "" then
+      value = os.getenv(Opts._shellenv)
+      if value ~= nil then
+        E.cache[cache_key] = value
         vim.g.avante_login = true
-        return key
+        return value
       end
     end
 
     if type(cmd) == "string" then cmd = vim.split(cmd, " ", { trimempty = true }) end
 
+    Utils.debug("running command:", cmd)
     local exit_codes = { 0 }
     local ok, job_or_err = pcall(vim.system, cmd, { text = true }, function(result)
+      Utils.debug("command result:", result)
       local code = result.code
       local stderr = result.stderr or ""
       local stdout = result.stdout and vim.split(result.stdout, "\n") or {}
       if vim.tbl_contains(exit_codes, code) then
-        key = stdout[1]
-        E.cache[cache_key] = key
+        value = stdout[1]
+        E.cache[cache_key] = value
         vim.g.avante_login = true
       else
         Utils.error("Failed to get API key: (error code" .. code .. ")\n" .. stderr, { once = true, title = "Avante" })
@@ -145,15 +145,15 @@ E.parse_envvar = function(Opts)
       return
     end
   else
-    key = os.getenv(api_key_name)
+    value = os.getenv(api_key_name)
   end
 
-  if key ~= nil then
-    E.cache[cache_key] = key
+  if value ~= nil then
+    E.cache[cache_key] = value
     vim.g.avante_login = true
   end
 
-  return key
+  return value
 end
 
 --- initialize the environment variable for current neovim session.
@@ -161,17 +161,17 @@ end
 ---@param opts {refresh: boolean, provider: AvanteProviderFunctor}
 ---@private
 E.setup = function(opts)
-  if opts.provider["local"] then
+  local var = opts.provider.api_key_name
+
+  if var == nil or var == "" then
     vim.g.avante_login = true
     return
   end
 
-  local var = opts.provider.api_key_name
-
   opts.provider.setup()
 
   -- check if var is a all caps string
-  if var == M.AVANTE_INTERNAL_KEY or type(var) == "table" or var:match("^cmd:(.*)") then return end
+  if type(var) == "table" or var:match("^cmd:(.*)") then return end
 
   local refresh = opts.refresh or false
 
@@ -248,16 +248,21 @@ end
 
 E.REQUEST_LOGIN_PATTERN = "AvanteRequestLogin"
 
----@param provider Provider
-E.is_local = function(provider)
-  local cur = M.get_config(provider)
-  return cur["local"] ~= nil and cur["local"] or false
+---@param provider AvanteDefaultBaseProvider
+E.require_api_key = function(provider)
+  if provider["local"] ~= nil then
+    if provider["local"] then
+      vim.deprecate('"local" = true', "api_key_name = ''", "0.1.0", "avante.nvim")
+    else
+      vim.deprecate('"local" = false', "api_key_name", "0.1.0", "avante.nvim")
+    end
+    return not provider["local"]
+  end
+  return provider.api_key_name ~= nil and provider.api_key_name ~= ""
 end
 
 M.env = E
 
-M.AVANTE_INTERNAL_KEY = "__avante_env_internal"
-
 M = setmetatable(M, {
   ---@param t avante.Providers
   ---@param k Provider
@@ -272,7 +277,6 @@ M = setmetatable(M, {
         local BaseOpts = M.get_config(Opts.__inherited_from)
         local ok, module = pcall(require, "avante.providers." .. Opts.__inherited_from)
         if not ok then error("Failed to load provider: " .. Opts.__inherited_from) end
-        Opts._shellenv = module.api_key_name ~= M.AVANTE_INTERNAL_KEY and module.api_key_name or nil
         t[k] = vim.tbl_deep_extend("keep", Opts, BaseOpts, module)
       else
         t[k] = Opts
@@ -280,7 +284,6 @@ M = setmetatable(M, {
     else
       local ok, module = pcall(require, "avante.providers." .. k)
       if not ok then error("Failed to load provider: " .. k) end
-      Opts._shellenv = module.api_key_name ~= M.AVANTE_INTERNAL_KEY and module.api_key_name or nil
       t[k] = vim.tbl_deep_extend("keep", Opts, module)
     end
 
@@ -294,8 +297,9 @@ M = setmetatable(M, {
     if t[k].has == nil then t[k].has = function() return E.parse_envvar(t[k]) ~= nil end end
 
     if t[k].setup == nil then
+      local base = M.parse_config(t[k])
       t[k].setup = function()
-        if not E.is_local(k) then t[k].parse_api_key() end
+        if E.require_api_key(base) then t[k].parse_api_key() end
         require("avante.tokenizers").setup(t[k].tokenizer_id)
       end
     end
diff --git a/lua/avante/providers/openai.lua b/lua/avante/providers/openai.lua
index bb8be7a..5011d0b 100644
--- a/lua/avante/providers/openai.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/providers/openai.lua
@@ -125,7 +125,8 @@ M.parse_curl_args = function(provider, code_opts)
   local headers = {
     ["Content-Type"] = "application/json",
   }
-  if not P.env.is_local("openai") then headers["Authorization"] = "Bearer " .. provider.parse_api_key() end
+
+  if P.env.require_api_key(base) then headers["Authorization"] = "Bearer " .. provider.parse_api_key() end
 
   -- NOTE: When using "o1" set the supported parameters only
   local stream = true
diff --git a/lua/avante/providers/vertex.lua b/lua/avante/providers/vertex.lua
index 67a4b2b..d843309 100644
--- a/lua/avante/providers/vertex.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/providers/vertex.lua
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ M.parse_response = Gemini.parse_response
 
 local function execute_command(command)
   local handle = io.popen(command)
+  if not handle then error("Failed to execute command: " .. command) end
   local result = handle:read("*a")
   handle:close()
   return result:match("^%s*(.-)%s*$")