diff --git a/tests/test_trajectory_compressor.py b/tests/test_trajectory_compressor.py
index 72708b8d9..dc66ef4c4 100644
--- a/tests/test_trajectory_compressor.py
+++ b/tests/test_trajectory_compressor.py
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 """Tests for trajectory_compressor.py — config, metrics, and compression logic."""
 
+import importlib
 import json
+import os
+import sys
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, patch, MagicMock
 
@@ -14,6 +17,20 @@ from trajectory_compressor import (
 )
 
 
+def test_import_loads_env_from_hermes_home(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    home = tmp_path / ".hermes"
+    home.mkdir()
+    (home / ".env").write_text("OPENROUTER_API_KEY=from-hermes-home\n", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(home))
+    monkeypatch.delenv("OPENROUTER_API_KEY", raising=False)
+
+    sys.modules.pop("trajectory_compressor", None)
+    importlib.import_module("trajectory_compressor")
+
+    assert os.getenv("OPENROUTER_API_KEY") == "from-hermes-home"
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # CompressionConfig
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/trajectory_compressor.py b/trajectory_compressor.py
index 4c0de4029..3c0e3f1b7 100644
--- a/trajectory_compressor.py
+++ b/trajectory_compressor.py
@@ -43,12 +43,15 @@ from datetime import datetime
 import fire
 from rich.progress import Progress, SpinnerColumn, TextColumn, BarColumn, TaskProgressColumn, TimeElapsedColumn, TimeRemainingColumn
 from rich.console import Console
-from hermes_constants import OPENROUTER_BASE_URL
+from hermes_constants import OPENROUTER_BASE_URL, get_hermes_home
 from agent.retry_utils import jittered_backoff
 
-# Load environment variables
-from dotenv import load_dotenv
-load_dotenv()
+# Load .env from HERMES_HOME first, then project root as a dev fallback.
+from hermes_cli.env_loader import load_hermes_dotenv
+
+_hermes_home = get_hermes_home()
+_project_env = Path(__file__).parent / ".env"
+load_hermes_dotenv(hermes_home=_hermes_home, project_env=_project_env)
 
 
 @dataclass