diff --git a/Model/lib/rng/wdkModel-config.rng b/Model/lib/rng/wdkModel-config.rng
index c452081aa..15b3e8313 100644
--- a/Model/lib/rng/wdkModel-config.rng
+++ b/Model/lib/rng/wdkModel-config.rng
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
             <optional>
                 <attribute name="secretKeyFile" />
             </optional>
+            <optional>
+                <attribute name="secretKey" />
+            </optional>
             <optional>
                 <attribute name="adminEmail" />
             </optional>
diff --git a/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfig.java b/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfig.java
index 0f03d8488..ef90706ba 100644
--- a/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfig.java
+++ b/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfig.java
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ public String getName() {
   private final Path _wdkTempDir;
 
   public ModelConfig(String modelName, String projectId, Path gusHome, boolean caching, boolean useWeights,
-      String paramRegex, Optional<Path> secretKeyFile, Path wdkTempDir, String webServiceUrl, String assetsUrl,
+      String paramRegex, Optional<Path> secretKeyFile, String secretKey, Path wdkTempDir, String webServiceUrl, String assetsUrl,
       String smtpServer, String supportEmail, List<String> adminEmails, String emailSubject,
       String emailContent, ModelConfigUserDB userDB, ModelConfigAppDB appDB,
       ModelConfigUserDatasetStore userDatasetStoreConfig, QueryMonitor queryMonitor,
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ public ModelConfig(String modelName, String projectId, Path gusHome, boolean cac
     // file locations
     _wdkTempDir = wdkTempDir;
     _secretKeyFile = secretKeyFile;
+    _secretKey = secretKey;
 
     // network locations
     _webServiceUrl = webServiceUrl;
@@ -297,6 +298,8 @@ public ModelConfigAppDB getAppDB() {
    * configured secret key file.  If the configured filename is null or the contents
    * of the file cannot be read for any reason, null is returned.
    * 
+   * Note: as of 8/12/24, you can alternatively directly set the secretKey in model-config.xml
+   * 
    * @return secret key
    */
   public String getSecretKey() {
diff --git a/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfigBuilder.java b/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfigBuilder.java
index 5e11ce676..501c81bc7 100644
--- a/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfigBuilder.java
+++ b/Model/src/main/java/org/gusdb/wdk/model/config/ModelConfigBuilder.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ public class ModelConfigBuilder {
 
   // file locations
   private String _secretKeyFile;
+  private String _secretKey;
   private String _wdkTempDir = "/tmp";
 
   // network locations
@@ -108,6 +109,7 @@ public ModelConfig build() throws WdkModelException {
 
       // file locations
       secretKeyFile,
+      _secretKey,
       wdkTempDir,
 
       // network locations
@@ -255,6 +257,14 @@ public void setSecretKeyFile(String secretKeyFile) {
     _secretKeyFile = secretKeyFile;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @param secretKeyFile
+   *          the secretKeyFile to set
+   */
+  public void setSecretKey(String secretKey) {
+    _secretKey = secretKey;
+  }
+
   /**
    * @param authenticationMethod configured authentication method
    */