diff --git a/src/components/SpotMap.tsx b/src/components/SpotMap.tsx
index 9a062c4..bf9abcc 100644
--- a/src/components/SpotMap.tsx
+++ b/src/components/SpotMap.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,20 @@ import { sanitizeUrl } from '@/lib/sanitizeUrl';
  * an `href`/`src`. See .agents/skills/nostr-security.
  */
 
+/**
+ * Escape a value for safe interpolation into an innerHTML template literal.
+ * Weather/air-quality fields come from an external API, so they're untrusted —
+ * a compromised or malicious upstream could otherwise inject HTML/JS.
+ */
+function escapeHtml(value: unknown): string {
+  return String(value ?? '')
+    .replace(/&/g, '&')
+    .replace(/</g, '&lt;')
+    .replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
+    .replace(/"/g, '&quot;')
+    .replace(/'/g, '&#039;');
+}
+
 /** A popup detail row: an emoji/icon prefix + untrusted text set via textContent. */
 function popupRow(prefix: string, text: string): HTMLElement {
   const row = document.createElement('div');
@@ -516,17 +530,17 @@ function createPopupContent(
     currentWeather.className = 'flex items-center justify-between mb-2';
     currentWeather.innerHTML = `
       <div class="flex items-center gap-2">
-        <span class="text-2xl">${weatherData.weather.weatherIcon}</span>
+        <span class="text-2xl">${escapeHtml(weatherData.weather.weatherIcon)}</span>
         <div>
-          <div class="font-semibold">${weatherData.weather.temperature}°C</div>
-          <div class="text-xs text-gray-500">${weatherData.weather.weatherDescription}</div>
+          <div class="font-semibold">${escapeHtml(weatherData.weather.temperature)}°C</div>
+          <div class="text-xs text-gray-500">${escapeHtml(weatherData.weather.weatherDescription)}</div>
         </div>
       </div>
       <div class="text-right">
-        <div class="text-xs font-semibold" style="color: ${weatherData.skateability.color}">
-          ${weatherData.skateability.label}
+        <div class="text-xs font-semibold" style="color: ${escapeHtml(weatherData.skateability.color)}">
+          ${escapeHtml(weatherData.skateability.label)}
         </div>
-        <div class="text-xs text-gray-500">${weatherData.skateability.score}/100</div>
+        <div class="text-xs text-gray-500">${escapeHtml(weatherData.skateability.score)}/100</div>
       </div>
     `;
     weatherSection.appendChild(currentWeather);
@@ -535,9 +549,9 @@ function createPopupContent(
     const details = document.createElement('div');
     details.className = 'text-xs space-y-1 text-gray-600';
     details.innerHTML = `
-      <div>💨 Wind: ${weatherData.weather.windSpeed} km/h ${weatherData.weather.windDirectionLabel}</div>
-      <div>💧 Humidity: ${weatherData.weather.humidity}%</div>
-      ${weatherData.airQuality ? `<div>🌫️ Air Quality: ${weatherData.airQuality.aqiLabel} (${weatherData.airQuality.aqi})</div>` : ''}
+      <div>💨 Wind: ${escapeHtml(weatherData.weather.windSpeed)} km/h ${escapeHtml(weatherData.weather.windDirectionLabel)}</div>
+      <div>💧 Humidity: ${escapeHtml(weatherData.weather.humidity)}%</div>
+      ${weatherData.airQuality ? `<div>🌫️ Air Quality: ${escapeHtml(weatherData.airQuality.aqiLabel)} (${escapeHtml(weatherData.airQuality.aqi)})</div>` : ''}
     `;
     weatherSection.appendChild(details);
 
@@ -560,10 +574,10 @@ function createPopupContent(
         const date = new Date(day.date);
         const dayName = date.toLocaleDateString('en-US', { weekday: 'short' });
         dayDiv.innerHTML = `
-          <div class="font-semibold text-gray-700">${dayName}</div>
-          <div class="text-lg my-1">${day.weatherIcon}</div>
-          <div class="text-gray-600">${day.maxTemp}°/${day.minTemp}°</div>
-          ${day.precipitationProbability > 0 ? `<div class="text-blue-600">${day.precipitationProbability}% 🌧️</div>` : ''}
+          <div class="font-semibold text-gray-700">${escapeHtml(dayName)}</div>
+          <div class="text-lg my-1">${escapeHtml(day.weatherIcon)}</div>
+          <div class="text-gray-600">${escapeHtml(day.maxTemp)}°/${escapeHtml(day.minTemp)}°</div>
+          ${day.precipitationProbability > 0 ? `<div class="text-blue-600">${escapeHtml(day.precipitationProbability)}% 🌧️</div>` : ''}
         `;
         forecastGrid.appendChild(dayDiv);
       });
diff --git a/src/lib/sasquatchBrain.ts b/src/lib/sasquatchBrain.ts
index 485457a..3ce45f0 100644
--- a/src/lib/sasquatchBrain.ts
+++ b/src/lib/sasquatchBrain.ts
@@ -4,8 +4,13 @@
  * surface can reuse the same model list + fallback behaviour.
  */
 
-// ─── OpenRouter free models — no credits, no NIP-98, works for everyone ───────
-const OPENROUTER_API_KEY = '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';
+// ─── OpenRouter free models ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// SECURITY: never hardcode an API key here. A key committed to source is shipped
+// in the production JS bundle and can be extracted + abused by anyone. Instead,
+// OpenRouter is OPT-IN via an optional build-time env var. When it's not set
+// (the default), we skip OpenRouter entirely and use the keyless Pollinations
+// backup below — so Sasquatch still works for everyone with zero secrets shipped.
+const OPENROUTER_API_KEY: string | undefined = import.meta.env.VITE_OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
 const OPENROUTER_URL = 'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions';
 
 // Try multiple free models in order — if one is rate-limited, fall back.
@@ -35,6 +40,8 @@ const POLLINATIONS_MODELS = ['openai', 'mistral'];
 
 /** Try OpenRouter's free models, respecting 429 backoff. Returns text or ''. */
 async function tryOpenRouter(messages: ChatTurn[], maxTokens: number): Promise<string> {
+  // No key configured → skip OpenRouter entirely (keyless backup handles it).
+  if (!OPENROUTER_API_KEY) return '';
   for (const model of FREE_MODELS) {
     for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 2; attempt++) {
       try {
@@ -105,9 +112,10 @@ async function tryPollinations(messages: ChatTurn[], maxTokens: number): Promise
 /**
  * Call the AI with multi-provider fallback + rate-limit backoff.
  *
- * Order: OpenRouter free models (with 429 retry) → keyless Pollinations backup.
- * Throws only if BOTH providers fail, so the caller can fall back to local
- * knowledge (static FAQ / glossary).
+ * Order: OpenRouter free models (only if VITE_OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set, with
+ * 429 retry) → keyless Pollinations backup. Throws only if all available
+ * providers fail, so the caller can fall back to local knowledge
+ * (static FAQ / glossary).
  */
 export async function callSasquatchAI(messages: ChatTurn[], maxTokens = 400): Promise<string> {
   const primary = await tryOpenRouter(messages, maxTokens);