diff --git a/deploy/deploy.yaml b/deploy/deploy.yaml
index 9866de38..797ce445 100644
--- a/deploy/deploy.yaml
+++ b/deploy/deploy.yaml
@@ -808,6 +808,7 @@ lanes:
           HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_SOURCE_NAME: HWLAB v0.3 MDTODO
           HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_PROJECT_ID: project_hwlab_v03
           HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_HWPOD_NODE_OPS_URL: http://hwlab-cloud-api.hwlab-v03.svc.cluster.local:6667/v1/hwpod-node-ops
+          HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_HWPOD_NODE_OPS_API_KEY: secretRef:hwlab-v03-master-server-admin-api-key/api-key
           HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_BOOTSTRAP_SOURCES_PATH: /etc/hwlab/project-management/sources.json
           OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_ENDPOINT: http://otel-collector.platform-infra.svc.cluster.local:4318/v1/traces
           OTEL_SERVICE_NAME: hwlab-project-management
diff --git a/internal/project-management/server.test.ts b/internal/project-management/server.test.ts
index e2757988..0969ab4c 100644
--- a/internal/project-management/server.test.ts
+++ b/internal/project-management/server.test.ts
@@ -232,6 +232,65 @@ test("project management app bootstraps HWPOD sources from a mounted JSON file",
   }
 });
 
+test("project management HWPOD source adapter authenticates node-ops requests from configured env", async () => {
+  const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "hwlab-project-management-hwpod-auth-"));
+  const defaultRoot = join(root, "default");
+  const seen = [];
+  try {
+    await mkdir(defaultRoot, { recursive: true });
+    await writeFile(join(defaultRoot, "MDTODO.md"), "# Default\n\n## R1 Default\n", "utf8");
+    const app = createProjectManagementApp({
+      env: {
+        HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_HWPOD_NODE_OPS_URL: "http://cloud-api.test/v1/hwpod-node-ops",
+        HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_HWPOD_NODE_OPS_API_KEY: "hwl_live_project_management_test.redacted"
+      },
+      store: createProjectManagementStore({ kind: "memory" }),
+      sourceRoot: defaultRoot,
+      sourceId: "default-mdtodo",
+      projectId: "project_test",
+      fetchImpl: async (url, init) => {
+        const headers = new Headers(init.headers);
+        seen.push({
+          url: String(url),
+          authorization: headers.get("authorization"),
+          sourceServiceId: headers.get("x-source-service-id")
+        });
+        return new Response(JSON.stringify({
+          ok: true,
+          status: "completed",
+          results: [{ opId: "op_01", op: "workspace.ls", ok: true, status: "completed", output: { entries: [] } }]
+        }), { status: 200, headers: { "content-type": "application/json" } });
+      }
+    });
+
+    const createResponse = await app.fetch(jsonRequest("/v1/project-management/mdtodo/sources", {
+      method: "POST",
+      body: {
+        sourceId: "hwpod-mdtodo",
+        sourceKind: "hwpod-workspace",
+        displayName: "D601 F103 MDTODO",
+        projectId: "project_test",
+        hwpodId: "d601-f103-v2",
+        nodeId: "node-d601-f103-v2",
+        workspaceRootRef: "F:/Work/ConStart",
+        mdtodoRootRef: "docs/MDTODO/"
+      }
+    }));
+    expect(createResponse.status).toBe(201);
+
+    const probe = await post(app, "/v1/project-management/mdtodo/sources/hwpod-mdtodo/probe", {});
+    expect(probe.probe.status).toBe("ok");
+    expect(seen[0]).toEqual({
+      url: "http://cloud-api.test/v1/hwpod-node-ops",
+      authorization: "Bearer hwl_live_project_management_test.redacted",
+      sourceServiceId: "hwlab-project-management"
+    });
+    await app.close();
+  } finally {
+    await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
 async function json(app, path) {
   const response = await app.fetch(new Request(`http://service${path}`, { headers: { "x-hwlab-actor-id": "usr_test" } }));
   expect(response.status).toBe(200);
diff --git a/internal/project-management/source-adapter.ts b/internal/project-management/source-adapter.ts
index 5e497e93..89eb1d7e 100644
--- a/internal/project-management/source-adapter.ts
+++ b/internal/project-management/source-adapter.ts
@@ -114,11 +114,14 @@ export function sourceProjection(source, documents) {
 
 function createHwpodNodeOpsHttpClient({ env, fetchImpl }) {
   const endpoint = String(env.HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_HWPOD_NODE_OPS_URL ?? env.HWLAB_HWPOD_NODE_OPS_URL ?? "").trim();
+  const apiKey = String(env.HWLAB_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT_HWPOD_NODE_OPS_API_KEY ?? "").trim();
   if (!endpoint || typeof fetchImpl !== "function") return null;
   return async (plan) => {
+    const headers = { "content-type": "application/json", "x-source-service-id": "hwlab-project-management" };
+    if (apiKey) headers.authorization = `Bearer ${apiKey}`;
     const response = await fetchImpl(endpoint, {
       method: "POST",
-      headers: { "content-type": "application/json", "x-source-service-id": "hwlab-project-management" },
+      headers,
       body: JSON.stringify(plan),
       signal: AbortSignal.timeout(30000)
     });