diff --git a/prover/server/bench.sh b/prover/server/scripts/bench.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from prover/server/bench.sh
rename to prover/server/scripts/bench.sh
diff --git a/prover/server/scripts/test_auth.sh b/prover/server/scripts/test_auth.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..20c6217e9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prover/server/scripts/test_auth.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Test script for API key authentication on prover server
+# This script demonstrates how to test the API key functionality
+
+echo "Testing Prover Server API Key Authentication"
+echo "============================================="
+
+# Test variables
+SERVER_URL="http://localhost:3001"
+API_KEY="test-api-key-12345"
+
+echo ""
+echo "1. Testing /health endpoint (should work without API key):"
+curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" $SERVER_URL/health
+echo ""
+
+echo ""
+echo "2. Testing /prove endpoint without API key (should return 401):"
+curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -X POST $SERVER_URL/prove -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"circuit_type": "inclusion"}'
+echo ""
+
+echo ""
+echo "3. Testing /prove endpoint with X-API-Key header (should work if server has API key):"
+curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -X POST $SERVER_URL/prove -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "X-API-Key: $API_KEY" -d '{"circuit_type": "inclusion"}'
+echo ""
+
+echo ""
+echo "4. Testing /prove endpoint with Authorization Bearer header (should work if server has API key):"
+curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -X POST $SERVER_URL/prove -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" -d '{"circuit_type": "inclusion"}'
+echo ""
+
+echo ""
+echo "To run this test:"
+echo "1. Set PROVER_API_KEY environment variable: export PROVER_API_KEY=test-api-key-12345"
+echo "2. Start the prover server
+echo "3. Run this script: bash test_auth.sh"
+echo ""
+echo "Expected results:"
+echo "- /health: 200 (always accessible)"
+echo "- /prove without key: 401 (if API key is set)"
+echo "- /prove with key: 400 or other (depends on valid circuit data)"
diff --git a/prover/server/server/auth.go b/prover/server/server/auth.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e23b3c428
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prover/server/server/auth.go
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+package server
+
+import (
+	"crypto/subtle"
+	"light/light-prover/logging"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+type authMiddleware struct {
+	next   http.Handler
+	apiKey string
+}
+
+func NewAPIKeyMiddleware(apiKey string) func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
+	return func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+		return &authMiddleware{
+			next:   next,
+			apiKey: apiKey,
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (m *authMiddleware) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if !m.isAuthenticated(r) {
+		logging.Logger().Warn().
+			Str("remote_addr", r.RemoteAddr).
+			Str("path", r.URL.Path).
+			Str("method", r.Method).
+			Msg("Unauthorized API request - missing or invalid API key")
+		
+		unauthorizedError := &Error{
+			StatusCode: http.StatusUnauthorized,
+			Code:       "unauthorized",
+			Message:    "Invalid or missing API key. Please provide a valid API key in the Authorization header as 'Bearer <api-key>' or in the X-API-Key header.",
+		}
+		unauthorizedError.send(w)
+		return
+	}
+
+	m.next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+}
+
+func (m *authMiddleware) isAuthenticated(r *http.Request) bool {
+	if m.apiKey == "" {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	providedKey := m.extractAPIKey(r)
+	if providedKey == "" {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(m.apiKey), []byte(providedKey)) == 1
+}
+
+func (m *authMiddleware) extractAPIKey(r *http.Request) string {
+	if apiKey := r.Header.Get("X-API-Key"); apiKey != "" {
+		return apiKey
+	}
+
+	if authHeader := r.Header.Get("Authorization"); authHeader != "" {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(authHeader, "Bearer ") {
+			return strings.TrimPrefix(authHeader, "Bearer ")
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ""
+}
+
+func getAPIKeyFromEnv() string {
+	return os.Getenv("PROVER_API_KEY")
+}
+
+func requiresAuthentication(path string) bool {
+	publicPaths := []string{
+		"/health",
+	}
+
+	for _, publicPath := range publicPaths {
+		if path == publicPath {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
+
+func conditionalAuthMiddleware(apiKey string) func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
+	return func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			if requiresAuthentication(r.URL.Path) {
+				authHandler := NewAPIKeyMiddleware(apiKey)(next)
+				authHandler.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+			} else {
+				next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/prover/server/server/server.go b/prover/server/server/server.go
index b12ebdc6dd..ed6d43dd56 100644
--- a/prover/server/server/server.go
+++ b/prover/server/server/server.go
@@ -453,6 +453,12 @@ func RunWithQueue(config *Config, redisQueue *RedisQueue, circuits []string, run
 }
 
 func RunEnhanced(config *EnhancedConfig, redisQueue *RedisQueue, circuits []string, runMode prover.RunMode, provingSystemsV1 []*prover.ProvingSystemV1, provingSystemsV2 []*prover.ProvingSystemV2) RunningJob {
+	apiKey := getAPIKeyFromEnv()
+	if apiKey != "" {
+		logging.Logger().Info().Msg("API key authentication enabled for prover server")
+	} else {
+		logging.Logger().Warn().Msg("No API key configured - server will accept all requests. Set PROVER_API_KEY environment variable to enable authentication.")
+	}
 	metricsMux := http.NewServeMux()
 	metricsServer := &http.Server{Addr: config.MetricsAddress, Handler: metricsMux}
 	metricsJob := spawnServerJob(metricsServer, "metrics server")
@@ -531,6 +537,7 @@ func RunEnhanced(config *EnhancedConfig, redisQueue *RedisQueue, circuits []stri
 			"X-Requested-With",
 			"Content-Type",
 			"Authorization",
+			"X-API-Key",
 			"X-Async",
 			"X-Sync",
 		}),
@@ -538,7 +545,8 @@ func RunEnhanced(config *EnhancedConfig, redisQueue *RedisQueue, circuits []stri
 		handlers.AllowedMethods([]string{"GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE", "OPTIONS"}),
 	)
 
-	proverServer := &http.Server{Addr: config.ProverAddress, Handler: corsHandler(proverMux)}
+	authHandler := conditionalAuthMiddleware(apiKey)
+	proverServer := &http.Server{Addr: config.ProverAddress, Handler: corsHandler(authHandler(proverMux))}
 	proverJob := spawnServerJob(proverServer, "prover server")
 
 	if redisQueue != nil {