diff --git a/start.bat b/start.bat
index 593f284..d53c2c8 100644
--- a/start.bat
+++ b/start.bat
@@ -60,6 +60,25 @@ if "%AUTH_TOKEN%"=="" (
 )
 goto :EOF
 
+:: Function to check if the $APP_KEY is set and generate a new one if not
+:check_and_generate_app_key
+:: Check if $APP_KEY is already set
+set "APP_KEY="
+for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%i in ('findstr /r /c:"APP_KEY=" configs\core\.env') do (
+    set "APP_KEY=%%i"
+)
+:: If not set, generate a new key automatically
+if "%APP_KEY%"=="" (
+    echo No application key set. A new key will be generated automatically.
+
+    for /f "delims=" %%i in ('powershell -Command "$RandomBytes = New-Object byte[] 32; [Security.Cryptography.RNGCryptoServiceProvider]::Create().GetBytes($RandomBytes); $Base64String = [Convert]::ToBase64String($RandomBytes); Write-Output $Base64String"') do (
+        set APP_KEY=%%i
+    )
+
+    powershell -Command "(Get-Content 'configs\core\.env') | ForEach-Object {$_ -replace '\bAPP_KEY=.*', 'APP_KEY=base64:!APP_KEY!'} | Set-Content 'configs\core\.env'"
+)
+goto :EOF
+
 :: Function to generate a daemon password and set it in the .env file
 :generate_daemon_password
 :: Generate a new daemon password
@@ -175,6 +194,7 @@ git submodule update --init
 call :check_has_app_url
 call :check_has_basic_token
 call :check_has_daemon_password
+call :check_and_generate_app_key
 
 :: Build the daemon container
 docker compose build daemon
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index cd9105d..ef321ce 100755
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -61,6 +61,20 @@ check_has_basic_token() {
   fi
 }
 
+check_and_generate_app_key() {
+  APP_KEY=$(awk '$1 ~ /^APP_KEY/' configs/core/.env | cut -d "=" -f 2)
+  if [ -z "$APP_KEY" ]; then
+    echo "No application key set. A new key will be generated automatically."
+
+    if [ "$PLATFORM_OS" = "macOS" ]; then
+      APP_KEY=$(dd if=/dev/urandom bs=32 count=1 status=none | base64)
+      sed -i '' -e "s/^APP_KEY=/APP_KEY=base64:$APP_KEY/g" configs/daemon/.env
+    else
+      sed -i "s/^APP_KEY=/APP_KEY=base64:$APP_KEY/g" configs/daemon/.env
+    fi
+  fi
+}
+
 generate_daemon_password() {
   # Generate a new key pass for the daemon and set to .env file
   WALLET_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
@@ -158,6 +172,7 @@ git submodule update --init
 check_has_app_url
 check_has_basic_token
 check_has_daemon_password
+check_and_generate_app_key
 
 docker compose build daemon
 get_daemon_address