diff --git a/tests/ReadMe.md b/tests/ReadMe.md
index 60ebd01..e969145 100644
--- a/tests/ReadMe.md
+++ b/tests/ReadMe.md
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ python -m pytest tests/unit
 ### Integration Tests
 
 Integration tests validate the **end-to-end behavior** of vCache by checking how components interact (e.g., LLM inference + vector database + thresholding policy).  
-They may involve real API calls and require a valid OpenAI key.
+Tests that make real API calls require a valid OpenAI key. Pytest skips those tests when `OPENAI_API_KEY` is not set and still runs integration tests that do not require the API.
 
 #### Running Integration Tests
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/conftest.py b/tests/integration/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb32a55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import os
+
+import pytest
+
+_REQUIRES_OPENAI_MARKER: str = "requires_openai"
+
+
+def pytest_configure(config: pytest.Config) -> None:
+    """Register the ``requires_openai`` marker.
+
+    Args:
+        config: The active pytest configuration object.
+    """
+    config.addinivalue_line(
+        "markers",
+        f"{_REQUIRES_OPENAI_MARKER}: test needs a live OPENAI_API_KEY to run.",
+    )
+
+
+def pytest_collection_modifyitems(
+    config: pytest.Config, items: list[pytest.Item]
+) -> None:
+    """Skip live OpenAI tests when no API key is available.
+
+    Pull requests opened from forks do not receive repository secrets, so
+    ``OPENAI_API_KEY`` is empty in those CI runs. Tests that call the real
+    OpenAI API are skipped instead of failing with an empty ``Bearer`` header.
+
+    Args:
+        config: The active pytest configuration object.
+        items: The collected test items to inspect and mark for skipping.
+    """
+    if os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY"):
+        return
+
+    skip_marker: pytest.MarkDecorator = pytest.mark.skip(
+        reason="OPENAI_API_KEY not set; skipping live OpenAI integration test."
+    )
+    for item in items:
+        if item.get_closest_marker(_REQUIRES_OPENAI_MARKER) is not None:
+            item.add_marker(skip_marker)
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_dynamic_threshold.py b/tests/integration/test_dynamic_threshold.py
index f891d1a..85ecf49 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_dynamic_threshold.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_dynamic_threshold.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import unittest
 
+import pytest
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 
 from vcache import (
@@ -14,6 +15,8 @@
 
 load_dotenv()
 
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.requires_openai
+
 
 def create_default_config_and_policy():
     config = VCacheConfig(
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_no_cache.py b/tests/integration/test_no_cache.py
index 00e7269..a10d1b0 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_no_cache.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_no_cache.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import unittest
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock
 
+import pytest
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 
 from vcache import (
@@ -12,6 +13,8 @@
 
 load_dotenv()
 
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.requires_openai
+
 
 def create_default_config_and_policy():
     config = VCacheConfig(
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_static_threshold.py b/tests/integration/test_static_threshold.py
index 7c84d65..d454b8a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_static_threshold.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_static_threshold.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import unittest
 
+import pytest
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 
 from vcache import (
@@ -14,6 +15,8 @@
 
 load_dotenv()
 
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.requires_openai
+
 
 def create_default_config_and_policy():
     config = VCacheConfig(