diff --git a/airtbench/container.py b/airtbench/container.py
index a151f07..38bebe6 100644
--- a/airtbench/container.py
+++ b/airtbench/container.py
@@ -13,7 +13,12 @@ def build_container(
     force_rebuild: bool = False,
     memory_limit: str = "4g",
 ) -> str:
-    docker_client = docker.DockerClient()
+    try:
+        docker_client = docker.DockerClient()
+    except docker.errors.DockerException as e:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            "Docker connection failed: Docker is not running or not accessible",
+        ) from e
 
     docker_file = Path(docker_file)
     if not docker_file.exists():
diff --git a/airtbench/main.py b/airtbench/main.py
index d7e6f30..0f2f047 100644
--- a/airtbench/main.py
+++ b/airtbench/main.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import dreadnode as dn
 import litellm
 import rigging as rg
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from loguru import logger
 
 from airtbench.container import build_container
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@
 class AIRTBenchArgs:
     model: str
     """Model to use for inference"""
-    platform_api_key: str
+    platform_api_key: str | None = None
     """Platform API key"""
     include_thoughts: bool = False
     """Include thoughts in the reasoning"""
@@ -691,6 +692,17 @@ async def main(
     dn_args: DreadnodeArgs
     | None = None,  # Has to be None even though not interior fields are required
 ) -> None:
+    # Load environment variables from .env file
+    load_dotenv()
+
+    # Set platform_api_key from environment if not provided via command line
+    if not args.platform_api_key:
+        args.platform_api_key = os.environ.get("PLATFORM_API_KEY") or os.environ.get("DREADNODE_API_TOKEN")
+
+    if not args.platform_api_key:
+        logger.error("Platform API key is required. Set it via --platform-api-key or PLATFORM_API_KEY environment variable.")
+        return
+
     dn_args = dn_args or DreadnodeArgs()
     dn.configure(
         server=dn_args.server,
@@ -709,12 +721,18 @@ async def main(
     logger.info("API key validated successfully")
 
     # Build the container
-    image = build_container(
-        "airtbench",
-        g_container_dir / "Dockerfile",
-        g_container_dir,
-        memory_limit=args.memory_limit,
-    )
+    try:
+        image = build_container(
+            "airtbench",
+            g_container_dir / "Dockerfile",
+            g_container_dir,
+            memory_limit=args.memory_limit,
+        )
+    except RuntimeError as e:
+        if "Docker connection failed" in str(e):
+            logger.error("Cannot proceed without Docker. Please start Docker and try again.")
+            return
+        raise
 
     challenges = load_challenges()