diff --git a/deployments/pelican/externalsecret-autostart.yaml b/deployments/pelican/externalsecret-autostart.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76b0760
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deployments/pelican/externalsecret-autostart.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
+kind: ExternalSecret
+metadata:
+  name: pelican-autostart-key
+  namespace: pelican
+spec:
+  refreshInterval: 1h
+  target:
+    name: pelican-autostart-key
+    creationPolicy: Owner
+  data:
+    - secretKey: api_key
+      remoteRef:
+        key: secret/data/Talos Cluster/pelican/panel/autostart
+        property: api_key