diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8aac812dbee..334b6824117 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ from a2a.utils.constants import TransportProtocol
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 base_url = "http://localhost:4000/a2a/my-agent"  # LiteLLM proxy + agent name
-headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer $LITELLM_API_KEY"}    # LiteLLM Virtual Key
+headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer sk-<your-litellm-api-key>"}    # LiteLLM Virtual Key
 
 async with httpx.AsyncClient(headers=headers, timeout=60.0) as http_client:
     resolver = A2ACardResolver(httpx_client=http_client, base_url=base_url)
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ curl -X POST 'http://0.0.0.0:4000/v1/chat/completions' \
     "LiteLLM": {
       "url": "http://localhost:4000/mcp/",
       "headers": {
-        "x-litellm-api-key": "Bearer $LITELLM_API_KEY"
+        "x-litellm-api-key": "Bearer sk-<your-litellm-api-key>"
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/logging_callback_manager.py b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/logging_callback_manager.py
index 4b2710b7242..595ee1506c3 100644
--- a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/logging_callback_manager.py
+++ b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/logging_callback_manager.py
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ class LoggingCallbackManager:
                 callback_type: generic_api
                 endpoint: https://webhook-test.com/30343bc33591bc5e6dc44217ceae3e0a
                 headers:
-                Authorization: Bearer $LITELLM_API_KEY
+                Authorization: Bearer sk-<your-litellm-api-key>
         """
         callback_config: Final = litellm.callback_settings.get(callback)
 
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
index f84ef57df59..57a6abda8c0 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py
@@ -1300,7 +1300,7 @@ async def _user_api_key_auth_builder(
             route=route,
             request=request,
         )
-        # if user wants to pass LiteLLM_Master_Key as a custom header, example pass litellm keys as X-LiteLLM-Key: Bearer $LITELLM_API_KEY
+        # if user wants to pass LiteLLM_Master_Key as a custom header, example pass litellm keys as X-LiteLLM-Key: Bearer sk-<your-litellm-api-key>
         custom_litellm_key_header_name: Final = general_settings.get("litellm_key_header_name")
         if custom_litellm_key_header_name is not None:
             api_key = get_api_key_from_custom_header(
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupUsagePanel.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupUsagePanel.tsx
index fafea569012..206ef8d1174 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupUsagePanel.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/components/routing_groups/RoutingGroupUsagePanel.tsx
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const buildPythonSnippet = (group: RoutingGroup, baseUrl: string): string =>
   `from openai import OpenAI
 
 client = OpenAI(
-    api_key="$LITELLM_API_KEY",
+    api_key="sk-<your-litellm-api-key>",
     base_url="${baseUrl}",
 )