diff --git a/docs/packages/cli.mdx b/docs/packages/cli.mdx
index 8ec38c41ee..6bcbba6a5f 100644
--- a/docs/packages/cli.mdx
+++ b/docs/packages/cli.mdx
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ machine-readable `code` and, when there is a next step, a `hint`:
 Some commands add their own fields next to `error`, such as `findings` from
 `lint` or `reason` and `fix` from a refused `timeline` edit.
 
+**The project `.env`.** The `.env` in the current directory sets only the CLI's own
+settings: `HEYGEN_API_KEY`, `HYPERFRAMES_API_KEY`, `ELEVENLABS_API_KEY`, `FIGMA_TOKEN`, and the
+vision keys, models, Vertex settings and timeout, and the telemetry opt-outs `HYPERFRAMES_NO_TELEMETRY` and `DO_NOT_TRACK`. A variable already in your environment wins. Any
+other key in the file is ignored, and one line on stderr names them.
+
 **Flags, not prompts.** A missing required flag fails immediately with a usage
 example rather than waiting for input. Two commands are interactive on a TTY:
 `init` prompts for a project name and example unless you pass
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/capture/scaffolding.ts b/packages/cli/src/capture/scaffolding.ts
index f722459842..32786264ba 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/capture/scaffolding.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/capture/scaffolding.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import { captureSiteName } from "./localPage.js";
 import { existsSync, readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
-import { applyDotEnv, CAPTURE_ENV_KEYS } from "../utils/dotEnv.js";
+import { applyDotEnv, PROJECT_ENV_KEYS } from "../utils/dotEnv.js";
 import { writeNewFileSync } from "../utils/writeNewFile.js";
 import type { CatalogedAsset } from "./assetCataloger.js";
 import type { CaptureResult, DesignTokens } from "./types.js";
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export function loadEnvFile(startDir: string): void {
     for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
       const envPath = resolve(dir, ".env");
       try {
-        applyDotEnv(readFileSync(envPath, "utf-8"), process.env, CAPTURE_ENV_KEYS);
+        applyDotEnv(readFileSync(envPath, "utf-8"), process.env, PROJECT_ENV_KEYS);
         break;
       } catch {
         dir = resolve(dir, "..");
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli.dotEnv.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli.dotEnv.test.ts
index ecccb09103..f4af3198ca 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli.dotEnv.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli.dotEnv.test.ts
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ it.each(
     [
       ["capture", false, undefined, "fixture-key", undefined],
       ["capture", true, undefined, undefined, undefined],
-      ["init", false, process.execPath, "fixture-key", undefined],
-      ["init", true, process.execPath, "fixture-key", undefined],
+      ["init", false, undefined, "fixture-key", undefined],
+      ["init", true, undefined, "fixture-key", undefined],
       ["capture", false, process.execPath, "fixture-key", process.execPath],
     ] as const
   ).flatMap((test) =>
@@ -84,6 +84,6 @@ it.each(
     mockTelemetry();
     process.argv = ["node", "cli.ts", ...prefix, command];
     await import("./cli.js");
-    expect(observed).toEqual([browser, command === "capture" ? undefined : "--no-warnings", key]);
+    expect(observed).toEqual([browser, undefined, key]);
   },
 );
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
index 6772c56d79..541937460a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli.ts
@@ -65,22 +65,12 @@ if (rootVersionRequested) {
   process.exit(0);
 }
 
-// Capture treats CWD as project data too: its early loader must use the same
-// allowlist/opt-out as output ancestors, before browser selection can observe it.
-const { applyDotEnv, CAPTURE_ENV_KEYS } = await import("./utils/dotEnv.js");
+// The working directory is project data: load only the settings a project `.env` may supply,
+// before browser selection can observe the environment.
+const { loadProjectDotEnv } = await import("./utils/dotEnv.js");
 const captureEnv = argv[commandWordIndex(argv)] === "capture";
 if (!captureEnv || process.env.HYPERFRAMES_NO_CAPTURE_DOTENV !== "1") {
-  try {
-    const { readFileSync } = await import("node:fs");
-    const envPath = resolve(process.cwd(), ".env");
-    applyDotEnv(
-      readFileSync(envPath, "utf-8"),
-      process.env,
-      captureEnv ? CAPTURE_ENV_KEYS : undefined,
-    );
-  } catch {
-    /* .env not present — fine, env vars may be set another way */
-  }
+  loadProjectDotEnv(process.cwd(), process.env, (line) => console.error(line));
 }
 
 // ── Lazy imports ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.test.ts
index c49b19bc3b..571680d9e0 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { applyDotEnv } from "./dotEnv.js";
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { applyDotEnv, loadProjectDotEnv } from "./dotEnv.js";
 
 describe("applyDotEnv", () => {
   it("copies a project's keys without overwriting what is already set", () => {
@@ -84,3 +87,51 @@ describe("applyDotEnv quoted multiline values", () => {
     expect(env.AFTER).toBe("2");
   });
 });
+
+describe("loadProjectDotEnv", () => {
+  const projectWith = (content: string): string => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-dotenv-"));
+    writeFileSync(join(dir, ".env"), content);
+    return dir;
+  };
+
+  it("sets the CLI's own settings and ignores every other key, naming them once", () => {
+    const dir = projectWith(
+      "GEMINI_API_KEY=abc\nNODE_OPTIONS=--require ./x.js\nHTTPS_PROXY=http://example.test\nNODE_OPTIONS=again\n",
+    );
+    try {
+      const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {};
+      const warn = vi.fn();
+      loadProjectDotEnv(dir, env, warn);
+      expect(env).toEqual({ GEMINI_API_KEY: "abc" });
+      expect(warn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect(warn.mock.calls[0]?.[0]).toContain("NODE_OPTIONS, HTTPS_PROXY");
+      expect(warn.mock.calls[0]?.[0]).not.toContain("example.test");
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a telemetry opt-out from the project .env", () => {
+    const dir = projectWith("HYPERFRAMES_NO_TELEMETRY=1\nDO_NOT_TRACK=1\n");
+    try {
+      const env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = {};
+      loadProjectDotEnv(dir, env, vi.fn());
+      expect(env).toEqual({ HYPERFRAMES_NO_TELEMETRY: "1", DO_NOT_TRACK: "1" });
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("says nothing when every key is one the CLI reads, or there is no .env", () => {
+    const dir = projectWith("OPENROUTER_API_KEY=k\n");
+    try {
+      const warn = vi.fn();
+      loadProjectDotEnv(dir, {}, warn);
+      loadProjectDotEnv(join(dir, "missing"), {}, warn);
+      expect(warn).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.ts
index 336063f7f5..0cf4ca6c61 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/dotEnv.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
 import { FEEDBACK_EMAIL_ENV } from "./feedbackSource.js";
 
-export const CAPTURE_ENV_KEYS = [
+export const PROJECT_ENV_KEYS = [
+  "HEYGEN_API_KEY",
+  "HYPERFRAMES_API_KEY",
+  "ELEVENLABS_API_KEY",
+  "FIGMA_TOKEN",
   "OPENROUTER_API_KEY",
   "GEMINI_API_KEY",
   "GOOGLE_API_KEY",
@@ -11,6 +17,9 @@ export const CAPTURE_ENV_KEYS = [
   "HYPERFRAMES_OPENROUTER_MODEL",
   "HYPERFRAMES_GEMINI_MODEL",
   "HYPERFRAMES_VISION_TIMEOUT_MS",
+  // Telemetry opt-outs only turn sending off, and a project .env could already set them.
+  "HYPERFRAMES_NO_TELEMETRY",
+  "DO_NOT_TRACK",
 ];
 
 // A quoted value ends at its closing quote; unquoted, `#` starts a comment only after whitespace, so `pass#word` stays.
@@ -76,17 +85,34 @@ export function applyDotEnv(
   content: string,
   env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
   allowedKeys?: readonly string[],
-): void {
+): string[] {
   const allowed = allowedKeys === undefined ? undefined : new Set(allowedKeys);
+  const ignored: string[] = [];
   for (const entry of logicalLines(content).map(entryOf)) {
     if (!entry) continue;
     const [key, value] = entry;
-    if (
-      key &&
-      key.toUpperCase() !== FEEDBACK_EMAIL_ENV &&
-      (allowed === undefined || allowed.has(key)) &&
-      !(key in env)
-    )
-      env[key] = value;
+    if (!key || key.toUpperCase() === FEEDBACK_EMAIL_ENV) continue;
+    if (allowed !== undefined && !allowed.has(key)) ignored.push(key);
+    else if (!(key in env)) env[key] = value;
+  }
+  return ignored;
+}
+
+export function loadProjectDotEnv(
+  dir: string,
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
+  warn: (line: string) => void,
+): void {
+  let content: string;
+  try {
+    content = readFileSync(join(dir, ".env"), "utf-8");
+  } catch {
+    return;
+  }
+  const ignored = [...new Set(applyDotEnv(content, env, PROJECT_ENV_KEYS))];
+  if (ignored.length > 0) {
+    warn(
+      `[hyperframes] .env: ignoring ${ignored.join(", ")} (a project .env only sets the CLI's own settings)`,
+    );
   }
 }