diff --git a/.changeset/allow-public-expert-without-api-key.md b/.changeset/allow-public-expert-without-api-key.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fb238b60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/allow-public-expert-without-api-key.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@perstack/runtime": patch
+"@perstack/installer": patch
+"perstack": patch
+---
+
+Allow resolving public experts without PERSTACK_API_KEY. Public experts on the Perstack API do not require authentication.
diff --git a/packages/installer/src/expert-resolver.ts b/packages/installer/src/expert-resolver.ts
index b51539d1..9815eba0 100644
--- a/packages/installer/src/expert-resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/installer/src/expert-resolver.ts
@@ -158,13 +158,9 @@ export async function resolveAllExperts(
   if (toResolve.size === 0) {
     return experts
   }
-  const apiKey = env.PERSTACK_API_KEY
-  if (!apiKey) {
-    throw new PerstackError("PERSTACK_API_KEY is required to resolve remote delegates")
-  }
   const client = createApiClient({
     baseUrl: config.perstackApiBaseUrl ?? defaultPerstackApiBaseUrl,
-    apiKey,
+    apiKey: env.PERSTACK_API_KEY ?? "",
   })
   while (toResolve.size > 0) {
     const delegateKey = toResolve.values().next().value
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.test.ts b/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.test.ts
index 609b5023..d97875f6 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.test.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.test.ts
@@ -116,12 +116,11 @@ describe("@perstack/runtime: resolveExpertToRun", () => {
     expect(experts["remote-expert"]).toBeUndefined()
   })
 
-  it("throws error when API key is not provided for published expert", async () => {
+  it("fetches public expert from API without API key", async () => {
     const experts: Record<string, Expert> = {}
-    await expect(
-      resolveExpertToRun("published-expert", experts, {
-        perstackApiBaseUrl: "https://api.test.com",
-      }),
-    ).rejects.toThrow('PERSTACK_API_KEY is required to resolve published expert "published-expert"')
+    const result = await resolveExpertToRun("published-expert", experts, {
+      perstackApiBaseUrl: "https://api.test.com",
+    })
+    expect(result.key).toBe("published-expert")
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.ts b/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.ts
index e8f0eff6..dcd6e329 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/helpers/resolve-expert.ts
@@ -12,14 +12,9 @@ export async function resolveExpertToRun(
   if (experts[expertKey]) {
     return experts[expertKey]
   }
-  if (!clientOptions.perstackApiKey) {
-    throw new PerstackError(
-      `PERSTACK_API_KEY is required to resolve published expert "${expertKey}"`,
-    )
-  }
   const client = createApiClient({
     baseUrl: clientOptions.perstackApiBaseUrl,
-    apiKey: clientOptions.perstackApiKey,
+    apiKey: clientOptions.perstackApiKey ?? "",
   })
   const result = await client.experts.get(expertKey)
   if (!result.ok) {