diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8a74053..e8baa1c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,11 +55,11 @@ Skills compose by adoption-list order (`10123`) and trigger tags carry runtime e
 
 Didactyl will support local inference, which is very privacy preserving. Remote inference does however have it's advantages, and in those cases Didactyl supports using Bitcoin Lightning and eCash inference providers.
 
-## Current Status — v0.0.84
+## Current Status — v0.0.85
 
 **Active build — this project is barely working. Experiment at your own risk.**
 
-> Last release update: v0.0.84 — Remove duplicated read-only tool payload fields and make slash output prefer content
+> Last release update: v0.0.85 — Skip llm_config republish on startup when config was recalled from Nostr
 
 - Connects to configured relays with auto-reconnect and relay state transition logging
 - Publishes configured startup events per relay as each relay becomes connected
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index bf34343..77059b6 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -813,24 +813,29 @@ static int publish_encrypted_self_config(const didactyl_config_t* cfg, const cha
     return rc;
 }
 
-static int persist_runtime_config_to_nostr(const didactyl_config_t* cfg) {
+static int persist_runtime_config_to_nostr(const didactyl_config_t* cfg, int persist_llm_config) {
     if (!cfg) return -1;
 
-    cJSON* llm = cJSON_CreateObject();
-    if (!llm) return -1;
-    cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "provider", cfg->llm.provider);
-    cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "api_key", cfg->llm.api_key);
-    cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "model", cfg->llm.model);
-    cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "base_url", cfg->llm.base_url);
-    cJSON_AddNumberToObject(llm, "max_tokens", cfg->llm.max_tokens);
-    cJSON_AddNumberToObject(llm, "temperature", cfg->llm.temperature);
+    int llm_rc = 0;
+    if (persist_llm_config) {
+        cJSON* llm = cJSON_CreateObject();
+        if (!llm) return -1;
+        cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "provider", cfg->llm.provider);
+        cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "api_key", cfg->llm.api_key);
+        cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "model", cfg->llm.model);
+        cJSON_AddStringToObject(llm, "base_url", cfg->llm.base_url);
+        cJSON_AddNumberToObject(llm, "max_tokens", cfg->llm.max_tokens);
+        cJSON_AddNumberToObject(llm, "temperature", cfg->llm.temperature);
 
-    char* llm_json = cJSON_PrintUnformatted(llm);
-    cJSON_Delete(llm);
-    if (!llm_json) return -1;
+        char* llm_json = cJSON_PrintUnformatted(llm);
+        cJSON_Delete(llm);
+        if (!llm_json) return -1;
 
-    int llm_rc = publish_encrypted_self_config(cfg, "llm_config", llm_json);
-    free(llm_json);
+        llm_rc = publish_encrypted_self_config(cfg, "llm_config", llm_json);
+        free(llm_json);
+    } else {
+        DEBUG_INFO("[didactyl] startup phase: skipping llm_config publish because it was recalled from Nostr");
+    }
 
     cJSON* agent = cJSON_CreateObject();
     if (!agent) return llm_rc;
@@ -846,15 +851,18 @@ static int persist_runtime_config_to_nostr(const didactyl_config_t* cfg) {
     return (llm_rc == 0 && agent_rc == 0) ? 0 : -1;
 }
 
-static void recover_missing_runtime_config_from_nostr(didactyl_config_t* cfg) {
+static int recover_missing_runtime_config_from_nostr(didactyl_config_t* cfg) {
     if (!cfg) {
-        return;
+        return 0;
     }
 
+    int llm_recalled_from_nostr = 0;
+
     if (!llm_config_is_complete(&cfg->llm)) {
         char* llm_plaintext = NULL;
         if (fetch_self_config_plaintext(cfg, "llm_config", &llm_plaintext) == 0 && llm_plaintext) {
             if (apply_recalled_llm_config(cfg, llm_plaintext) == 0) {
+                llm_recalled_from_nostr = 1;
                 DEBUG_INFO("[didactyl] startup phase: recovered llm_config from Nostr");
             } else {
                 DEBUG_WARN("[didactyl] startup phase: failed to apply recalled llm_config");
@@ -885,6 +893,8 @@ static void recover_missing_runtime_config_from_nostr(didactyl_config_t* cfg) {
         DEBUG_WARN("[didactyl] startup phase: agent_config recall unavailable");
     }
     free(agent_plaintext);
+
+    return llm_recalled_from_nostr;
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
@@ -1129,8 +1139,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     }
 
     startup_step_begin(2, "Recover runtime config from Nostr");
-    recover_missing_runtime_config_from_nostr(&cfg);
-    startup_step_ok(2, "Recover runtime config from Nostr", NULL);
+    int llm_recalled_from_nostr = recover_missing_runtime_config_from_nostr(&cfg);
+    startup_step_ok(2, "Recover runtime config from Nostr", llm_recalled_from_nostr ? "llm_config recalled" : NULL);
 
     startup_step_begin(3, "Validate LLM config");
     if (!llm_config_is_complete(&cfg.llm)) {
@@ -1184,7 +1194,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
         }
     }
 
-    if (persist_runtime_config_to_nostr(&cfg) != 0) {
+    if (persist_runtime_config_to_nostr(&cfg, llm_recalled_from_nostr ? 0 : 1) != 0) {
         DEBUG_WARN("[didactyl] startup phase: failed to persist encrypted runtime config to Nostr");
     } else {
         DEBUG_INFO("[didactyl] startup phase: persisted encrypted runtime config to Nostr");
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index bb542fe..3babd58 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 // Using DIDACTYL_ prefix to avoid conflicts with nostr_core_lib VERSION macros
 #define DIDACTYL_VERSION_MAJOR 0
 #define DIDACTYL_VERSION_MINOR 0
-#define DIDACTYL_VERSION_PATCH 84
-#define DIDACTYL_VERSION "v0.0.84"
+#define DIDACTYL_VERSION_PATCH 85
+#define DIDACTYL_VERSION "v0.0.85"
 
 // Agent metadata
 #define DIDACTYL_NAME "Didactyl"
diff --git a/src/tools/tool_model.c b/src/tools/tool_model.c
index 1da38b4..c5aeaca 100644
--- a/src/tools/tool_model.c
+++ b/src/tools/tool_model.c
@@ -108,6 +108,25 @@ static int assign_string_field(cJSON* item, char* dst, size_t dst_size, int* cha
     return 0;
 }
 
+static void mask_api_key_local(const char* api_key, char* out, size_t out_size) {
+    if (!out || out_size == 0) return;
+    out[0] = '\0';
+    if (!api_key || api_key[0] == '\0') {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    size_t api_len = strlen(api_key);
+    if (api_len >= 8U) {
+        snprintf(out,
+                 out_size,
+                 "%.4s...%s",
+                 api_key,
+                 api_key + api_len - 4U);
+    } else {
+        snprintf(out, out_size, "%s", "(set)");
+    }
+}
+
 char* execute_model_get(const char* args_json) {
     cJSON* args = parse_args_local(args_json);
     if (!args) return json_error_local("invalid arguments JSON");
@@ -120,10 +139,15 @@ char* execute_model_get(const char* args_json) {
 
     cJSON* out = cJSON_CreateObject();
     if (!out) return NULL;
+
+    char api_key_masked[64] = {0};
+    mask_api_key_local(cfg.api_key, api_key_masked, sizeof(api_key_masked));
+
     cJSON_AddBoolToObject(out, "success", 1);
     cJSON_AddStringToObject(out, "provider", cfg.provider);
     cJSON_AddStringToObject(out, "model", cfg.model);
     cJSON_AddStringToObject(out, "base_url", cfg.base_url);
+    cJSON_AddStringToObject(out, "api_key_masked", api_key_masked);
     cJSON_AddNumberToObject(out, "max_tokens", cfg.max_tokens);
     cJSON_AddNumberToObject(out, "temperature", cfg.temperature);