diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index be3c73ef0..18d762b25 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -8,13 +8,16 @@ require (
 	github.com/bwmarrin/discordgo v0.29.0
 	github.com/caarlos0/env/v11 v11.3.1
 	github.com/chzyer/readline v1.5.1
+	github.com/gdamore/tcell/v2 v2.13.8
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
 	github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.5.3
+	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
 	github.com/larksuite/oapi-sdk-go/v3 v3.5.3
 	github.com/mdp/qrterminal/v3 v3.2.1
 	github.com/mymmrac/telego v1.6.0
 	github.com/open-dingtalk/dingtalk-stream-sdk-go v0.9.1
 	github.com/openai/openai-go/v3 v3.22.0
+	github.com/rivo/tview v0.42.0
 	github.com/slack-go/slack v0.17.3
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.2
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1
@@ -34,9 +37,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1 // indirect
 	github.com/elliotchance/orderedmap/v3 v3.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/gdamore/encoding v1.0.1 // indirect
-	github.com/gdamore/tcell/v2 v2.13.8 // indirect
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
-	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 // indirect
 	github.com/lucasb-eyer/go-colorful v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
@@ -44,7 +45,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/petermattis/goid v0.0.0-20260113132338-7c7de50cc741 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec // indirect
-	github.com/rivo/tview v0.42.0 // indirect
 	github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.4.7 // indirect
 	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.34.0 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.10 // indirect
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index ba2adc9ae..ffcb809a3 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
 	"github.com/caarlos0/env/v11"
@@ -590,9 +589,28 @@ type ClawHubRegistryConfig struct {
 func LoadConfig(path string) (*Config, error) {
 	cfg := DefaultConfig()
 
+	// Load .env file from config directory (secrets, API keys, etc.)
+	// This runs before reading config.json so .env works even on fresh installs.
+	envFile := filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(path), ".env")
+	if err := godotenv.Load(envFile); err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			log.Printf("[INFO] No .env file found at %s; skipping .env loading", envFile)
+		} else {
+			log.Printf("[WARN] Failed to load .env file from %s: %v", envFile, err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			// No config file — still apply env vars + overrides to default config
+			if err := env.Parse(cfg); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			loadProviderEnvOverrides(cfg)
+			if cfg.HasProvidersConfig() {
+				cfg.ModelList = ConvertProvidersToModelList(cfg)
+			}
 			return cfg, nil
 		}
 		return nil, err
@@ -616,12 +634,6 @@ func LoadConfig(path string) (*Config, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// Load .env file from config directory (secrets, API keys, etc.)
-	envFile := filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(path), ".env")
-	if err := godotenv.Load(envFile); err != nil {
-		log.Printf("[INFO] No .env file loaded from %s: %v", envFile, err)
-	}
-
 	if err := env.Parse(cfg); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -816,6 +828,12 @@ func loadProviderEnvOverrides(cfg *Config) {
 		{"SHENGSUANYUN", &cfg.Providers.ShengSuanYun.APIKey, &cfg.Providers.ShengSuanYun.APIBase},
 		{"DEEPSEEK", &cfg.Providers.DeepSeek.APIKey, &cfg.Providers.DeepSeek.APIBase},
 		{"MISTRAL", &cfg.Providers.Mistral.APIKey, &cfg.Providers.Mistral.APIBase},
+		{"VLLM", &cfg.Providers.VLLM.APIKey, &cfg.Providers.VLLM.APIBase},
+		{"CEREBRAS", &cfg.Providers.Cerebras.APIKey, &cfg.Providers.Cerebras.APIBase},
+		{"VOLCENGINE", &cfg.Providers.VolcEngine.APIKey, &cfg.Providers.VolcEngine.APIBase},
+		{"QWEN", &cfg.Providers.Qwen.APIKey, &cfg.Providers.Qwen.APIBase},
+		// Note: GitHubCopilot and Antigravity use different auth patterns (ConnectMode/AuthMethod),
+		// not standard APIKey/APIBase, so they are not included here.
 	}
 	for _, p := range providers {
 		if v := os.Getenv("PICOCLAW_PROVIDERS_" + p.name + "_API_KEY"); v != "" {
@@ -826,20 +844,3 @@ func loadProviderEnvOverrides(cfg *Config) {
 		}
 	}
 }
-
-// SanitizeForLog masks sensitive API key values for safe logging.
-func SanitizeForLog(s string) string {
-	prefixes := []string{"sk-", "xoxb-", "xoxp-", "gsk_", "AIza"}
-	for _, p := range prefixes {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(s, p) {
-			if len(s) > len(p)+4 {
-				return s[:len(p)+4] + "****"
-			}
-			return p + "****"
-		}
-	}
-	if len(s) > 8 {
-		return s[:8] + "****"
-	}
-	return "****"
-}
diff --git a/pkg/tools/web.go b/pkg/tools/web.go
index 63eb470f4..7130df94e 100644
--- a/pkg/tools/web.go
+++ b/pkg/tools/web.go
@@ -748,7 +748,11 @@ func (p *ExaSearchProvider) Search(ctx context.Context, query string, count int)
 	}
 
 	var sb strings.Builder
-	for i, r := range result.Results {
+	maxResults := count
+	if maxResults > len(result.Results) {
+		maxResults = len(result.Results)
+	}
+	for i, r := range result.Results[:maxResults] {
 		sb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("%d. %s\n   URL: %s\n", i+1, r.Title, r.URL))
 		if r.Text != "" {
 			snippet := r.Text