diff --git a/controlplane/src/bin/get-config.ts b/controlplane/src/bin/get-config.ts
index b7a62ea504..9d02544f65 100644
--- a/controlplane/src/bin/get-config.ts
+++ b/controlplane/src/bin/get-config.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ const getConfig = () => {
     apiUrl: process.env.KC_API_URL || 'http://localhost:8080',
 
     apiKey: process.env.API_KEY || ApiKeyGenerator.generate(),
+    apiKeyWasGenerated: !process.env.API_KEY,
 
     userEmail: process.env.USER_EMAIL || 'foo@wundergraph.com',
     userPassword: process.env.USER_PASSWORD || 'wunder@123',
diff --git a/controlplane/src/bin/seed.ts b/controlplane/src/bin/seed.ts
index 94a68be2c3..2f53474ee8 100644
--- a/controlplane/src/bin/seed.ts
+++ b/controlplane/src/bin/seed.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const {
   clientId,
   apiUrl,
   apiKey,
+  apiKeyWasGenerated,
   userEmail,
   userPassword,
   userFirstName,
@@ -131,7 +132,11 @@ try {
     timeout: 1,
   });
 
-  console.log(`API Key: ${apiKey}`);
+  if (apiKeyWasGenerated) {
+    console.log(`API Key: ${apiKey}`);
+  } else {
+    console.log('API Key: using the value provided via the API_KEY environment variable');
+  }
   console.log('Done');
 
   // eslint-disable-next-line unicorn/no-process-exit