diff --git a/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py b/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py
index 9581df17e..c8f396022 100644
--- a/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py
+++ b/plugins/memory/honcho/cli.py
@@ -277,14 +277,23 @@ def _resolve_api_key(cfg: dict) -> str:
 
     For self-hosted instances configured with ``baseUrl`` instead of an API
     key, returns ``"local"`` so that credential guards throughout the CLI
-    don't reject a valid configuration.
+    don't reject a valid configuration.  The ``baseUrl`` is scheme-validated
+    (http/https only) so that a typo like ``baseUrl: true`` can't silently
+    pass the guard.
     """
     host_key = ((cfg.get("hosts") or {}).get(_host_key()) or {}).get("apiKey")
     key = host_key or cfg.get("apiKey", "") or os.environ.get("HONCHO_API_KEY", "")
     if not key:
         base_url = cfg.get("baseUrl") or cfg.get("base_url") or os.environ.get("HONCHO_BASE_URL", "")
-        if base_url.strip():
-            return "local"
+        base_url = (base_url or "").strip()
+        if base_url:
+            from urllib.parse import urlparse
+            try:
+                parsed = urlparse(base_url)
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                parsed = None
+            if parsed and parsed.scheme in ("http", "https") and parsed.netloc:
+                return "local"
     return key
 
 
diff --git a/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py b/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
index a13b89c25..63e45b462 100644
--- a/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
+++ b/plugins/memory/honcho/client.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import json
 import os
 import logging
+import hashlib
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -571,8 +572,6 @@ class HonchoClientConfig:
         if len(sanitized) <= max_len:
             return sanitized
 
-        import hashlib
-
         hash_len = cls._HONCHO_SESSION_ID_HASH_LEN
         digest = hashlib.sha256(original.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()[:hash_len]
         # max_len - hash_len - 1 (for the '-' separator) chars of the sanitized
diff --git a/tests/honcho_plugin/test_cli.py b/tests/honcho_plugin/test_cli.py
index 70b015d18..229e0a6a7 100644
--- a/tests/honcho_plugin/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/honcho_plugin/test_cli.py
@@ -41,6 +41,33 @@ class TestResolveApiKey:
         monkeypatch.delenv("HONCHO_BASE_URL", raising=False)
         assert honcho_cli._resolve_api_key({}) == ""
 
+    def test_rejects_garbage_base_url_without_scheme(self, monkeypatch):
+        """A non-URL string in baseUrl (typo) must not pass the guard."""
+        import plugins.memory.honcho.cli as honcho_cli
+        monkeypatch.setattr(honcho_cli, "_host_key", lambda: "hermes")
+        monkeypatch.delenv("HONCHO_API_KEY", raising=False)
+        monkeypatch.delenv("HONCHO_BASE_URL", raising=False)
+        for garbage in ("true", "yes", "1", "localhost", "10.0.0.5"):
+            assert honcho_cli._resolve_api_key({"baseUrl": garbage}) == "", \
+                f"expected empty for garbage {garbage!r}"
+
+    def test_rejects_non_http_scheme_base_url(self, monkeypatch):
+        """Only http/https schemes are accepted; file:// / ftp:// are not."""
+        import plugins.memory.honcho.cli as honcho_cli
+        monkeypatch.setattr(honcho_cli, "_host_key", lambda: "hermes")
+        monkeypatch.delenv("HONCHO_API_KEY", raising=False)
+        monkeypatch.delenv("HONCHO_BASE_URL", raising=False)
+        for bad in ("file:///etc/passwd", "ftp://host/", "ws://host/"):
+            assert honcho_cli._resolve_api_key({"baseUrl": bad}) == "", \
+                f"expected empty for scheme of {bad!r}"
+
+    def test_accepts_https_base_url(self, monkeypatch):
+        import plugins.memory.honcho.cli as honcho_cli
+        monkeypatch.setattr(honcho_cli, "_host_key", lambda: "hermes")
+        monkeypatch.delenv("HONCHO_API_KEY", raising=False)
+        monkeypatch.delenv("HONCHO_BASE_URL", raising=False)
+        assert honcho_cli._resolve_api_key({"baseUrl": "https://honcho.example.com"}) == "local"
+
 
 class TestCmdStatus:
     def test_reports_connection_failure_when_session_setup_fails(self, monkeypatch, capsys, tmp_path):