diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix-cov.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix-cov.test.ts
index 953cd8ead..00503f446 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix-cov.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix-cov.test.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 import type { SpawnRecord } from "../history";
 
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, mock } from "bun:test";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, mock } from "bun:test";
 import { tryCatch } from "@openrouter/spawn-shared";
 import { createMockManifest, mockClackPrompts } from "./test-helpers";
 
@@ -51,13 +51,25 @@ function makeRecord(overrides: Partial<SpawnRecord> = {}): SpawnRecord {
 // ── Tests: fixSpawn edge cases ──────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 describe("fixSpawn (additional coverage)", () => {
+  let savedApiKey: string | undefined;
+
   beforeEach(() => {
+    savedApiKey = process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = "sk-or-test-fix-key";
     clack.logError.mockReset();
     clack.logInfo.mockReset();
     clack.logSuccess.mockReset();
     clack.logStep.mockReset();
   });
 
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (savedApiKey === undefined) {
+      delete process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    } else {
+      process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = savedApiKey;
+    }
+  });
+
   it("shows error for invalid server_name in connection", async () => {
     const record = makeRecord({
       connection: {
@@ -145,12 +157,24 @@ describe("fixSpawn (additional coverage)", () => {
 // (error paths are covered in cmd-fix.test.ts; this covers the exact success message)
 
 describe("fixSpawn connection edge cases", () => {
+  let savedApiKey: string | undefined;
+
   beforeEach(() => {
+    savedApiKey = process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = "sk-or-test-fix-key";
     clack.logError.mockReset();
     clack.logSuccess.mockReset();
     clack.logStep.mockReset();
   });
 
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (savedApiKey === undefined) {
+      delete process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    } else {
+      process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = savedApiKey;
+    }
+  });
+
   it("shows success when fix script succeeds", async () => {
     const mockRunner = mock(async () => true);
     const record = makeRecord();
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix.test.ts
index e5ee162f6..d1650a63d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/__tests__/cmd-fix.test.ts
@@ -194,13 +194,25 @@ describe("buildFixScript", () => {
 // ── Tests: fixSpawn (DI for SSH runner) ─────────────────────────────────────
 
 describe("fixSpawn", () => {
+  let savedApiKey: string | undefined;
+
   beforeEach(() => {
+    savedApiKey = process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = "sk-or-test-fix-key";
     clack.logError.mockReset();
     clack.logSuccess.mockReset();
     clack.logInfo.mockReset();
     clack.logStep.mockReset();
   });
 
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (savedApiKey === undefined) {
+      delete process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    } else {
+      process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = savedApiKey;
+    }
+  });
+
   it("shows error for record without connection info", async () => {
     const record = makeRecord({
       connection: undefined,
@@ -309,6 +321,7 @@ describe("fixSpawn", () => {
 describe("cmdFix", () => {
   let testDir: string;
   let savedSpawnHome: string | undefined;
+  let savedApiKey: string | undefined;
   let processExitSpy: ReturnType<typeof spyOn>;
 
   function writeHistory(records: SpawnRecord[]) {
@@ -328,6 +341,8 @@ describe("cmdFix", () => {
     });
     savedSpawnHome = process.env.SPAWN_HOME;
     process.env.SPAWN_HOME = testDir;
+    savedApiKey = process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = "sk-or-test-fix-key";
     clack.logError.mockReset();
     clack.logSuccess.mockReset();
     clack.logInfo.mockReset();
@@ -338,6 +353,11 @@ describe("cmdFix", () => {
 
   afterEach(() => {
     process.env.SPAWN_HOME = savedSpawnHome;
+    if (savedApiKey === undefined) {
+      delete process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY;
+    } else {
+      process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = savedApiKey;
+    }
     processExitSpy.mockRestore();
     if (existsSync(testDir)) {
       rmSync(testDir, {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/fix.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/fix.ts
index d24d1e3bc..d8f3b0a04 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/fix.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/fix.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import pc from "picocolors";
 import { getActiveServers } from "../history.js";
 import { loadManifest } from "../manifest.js";
 import { validateConnectionIP, validateIdentifier, validateServerIdentifier, validateUsername } from "../security.js";
+import { loadSavedOpenRouterKey } from "../shared/oauth.js";
 import { getHistoryPath } from "../shared/paths.js";
 import { asyncTryCatch, tryCatch } from "../shared/result.js";
 import { SSH_INTERACTIVE_OPTS } from "../shared/ssh.js";
@@ -176,6 +177,21 @@ export async function fixSpawn(record: SpawnRecord, manifest: Manifest | null, o
     return;
   }
 
+  // Ensure OPENROUTER_API_KEY is available before building the fix script.
+  // The normal provisioning flow uses getOrPromptApiKey() which loads from
+  // ~/.config/spawn/openrouter.json. buildFixScript() resolves env templates
+  // from process.env, so we must populate it here to avoid injecting empty keys.
+  if (!process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY) {
+    const savedKey = loadSavedOpenRouterKey();
+    if (savedKey) {
+      process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY = savedKey;
+    } else {
+      p.log.error("No OpenRouter API key found.");
+      p.log.info("Set OPENROUTER_API_KEY in your environment, or run a new spawn to authenticate via OAuth.");
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+
   // Build the remote fix script
   const scriptResult = tryCatch(() => buildFixScript(man!, record.agent));
   if (!scriptResult.ok) {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/shared/oauth.ts b/packages/cli/src/shared/oauth.ts
index 3bdc45b59..11772f818 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/shared/oauth.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/shared/oauth.ts
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ export function hasSavedOpenRouterKey(): boolean {
 }
 
 /** Load a previously saved OpenRouter API key from ~/.config/spawn/openrouter.json. */
-function loadSavedOpenRouterKey(): string | null {
+export function loadSavedOpenRouterKey(): string | null {
   const result = tryCatch(() => {
     const configPath = getSpawnCloudConfigPath("openrouter");
     const data = parseJsonObj(readFileSync(configPath, "utf-8"));