diff --git a/internal/metadata/tmdb/client.go b/internal/metadata/tmdb/client.go
index 89ef8a6f..e0508a25 100644
--- a/internal/metadata/tmdb/client.go
+++ b/internal/metadata/tmdb/client.go
@@ -17,16 +17,12 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	defaultBaseURL             = "https://api.themoviedb.org/3"
+	projectAPIKey              = "4ef0d7355d9ffb5151e987764708ce96"
 	maxRetries                 = 3
 	maxResponseBody            = 1 << 20 // 1 MB
 	maxCollectionPresetResults = 500
 )
 
-// ErrMissingAPIKey is returned by client methods when the client was
-// constructed without an API key. Callers should source the key from
-// configuration rather than relying on a built-in default.
-var ErrMissingAPIKey = fmt.Errorf("tmdb: api key is required")
-
 // Client is an HTTP client for the TMDB collection preset API surface.
 type Client struct {
 	httpClient *http.Client
@@ -36,14 +32,16 @@ type Client struct {
 }
 
 // NewClient creates a TMDB API client with the given API key and rate limit
-// (requests per second). The apiKey must be sourced from configuration; a
-// client constructed with an empty key returns ErrMissingAPIKey from every
-// API call so misconfiguration surfaces immediately rather than silently
-// using a shared built-in key.
+// (requests per second). If apiKey is empty, Silo's public project API key is
+// used.
 func NewClient(apiKey string, rateLimit int) *Client {
+	apiKey = strings.TrimSpace(apiKey)
+	if apiKey == "" {
+		apiKey = projectAPIKey
+	}
 	return &Client{
 		httpClient: &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second},
-		apiKey:     strings.TrimSpace(apiKey),
+		apiKey:     apiKey,
 		baseURL:    defaultBaseURL,
 		limiter:    rate.NewLimiter(rate.Limit(rateLimit), rateLimit),
 	}
@@ -57,9 +55,6 @@ func (c *Client) SetBaseURL(url string) {
 // doGet executes a GET request against the TMDB API with rate limiting,
 // exponential backoff on 5xx/429, and JSON decoding into dest.
 func (c *Client) doGet(ctx context.Context, path string, dest any) error {
-	if c.apiKey == "" {
-		return ErrMissingAPIKey
-	}
 	if err := c.limiter.Wait(ctx); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/metadata/tmdb/client_test.go b/internal/metadata/tmdb/client_test.go
index 288dbc9d..4cfbb864 100644
--- a/internal/metadata/tmdb/client_test.go
+++ b/internal/metadata/tmdb/client_test.go
@@ -2,17 +2,26 @@ package tmdb
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"errors"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"testing"
 )
 
-func TestNewClientRequiresAPIKey(t *testing.T) {
+func TestNewClientUsesProjectAPIKeyWhenEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if got := r.URL.Query().Get("api_key"); got != projectAPIKey {
+			t.Fatalf("api_key query = %q, want project API key", got)
+		}
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"page":1,"total_pages":1,"total_results":0,"results":[]}`))
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
 	client := NewClient("", 1000)
-	_, err := client.GetCollectionPreset(context.Background(), "trending", "all", "day", 10)
-	if !errors.Is(err, ErrMissingAPIKey) {
-		t.Fatalf("err = %v, want ErrMissingAPIKey", err)
+	client.SetBaseURL(server.URL)
+
+	if _, err := client.GetCollectionPreset(context.Background(), "trending", "all", "day", 10); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("GetCollectionPreset returned error: %v", err)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/web/src/components/AppSidebar.tsx b/web/src/components/AppSidebar.tsx
index 928cab98..59c4ab13 100644
--- a/web/src/components/AppSidebar.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/AppSidebar.tsx
@@ -495,6 +495,23 @@ export default function AppSidebar({ onNavigate, collapsed = false }: AppSidebar
                 <SidebarLabel show={showLabels}>Recommendations</SidebarLabel>
               </ViewTransitionLink>
             </li>
+            <li>
+              <ViewTransitionLink
+                to="/requests"
+                onClick={onNavigate}
+                className={navLinkClass("/requests")}
+                aria-current={isActive("/requests") ? "page" : undefined}
+              >
+                {isActive("/requests") && (
+                  <span
+                    className="absolute top-1/2 left-0 h-[18px] w-[3px] -translate-y-1/2 rounded-r-sm"
+                    style={{ background: "var(--primary)" }}
+                  />
+                )}
+                <Send className="h-[18px] w-[18px] shrink-0" />
+                <SidebarLabel show={showLabels}>Requests</SidebarLabel>
+              </ViewTransitionLink>
+            </li>
             <li>
               <ViewTransitionLink
                 to="/calendar"
@@ -587,23 +604,6 @@ export default function AppSidebar({ onNavigate, collapsed = false }: AppSidebar
                 <SidebarLabel show={showLabels}>Collections</SidebarLabel>
               </ViewTransitionLink>
             </li>
-            <li>
-              <ViewTransitionLink
-                to="/requests"
-                onClick={onNavigate}
-                className={navLinkClass("/requests")}
-                aria-current={isActive("/requests") ? "page" : undefined}
-              >
-                {isActive("/requests") && (
-                  <span
-                    className="absolute top-1/2 left-0 h-[18px] w-[3px] -translate-y-1/2 rounded-r-sm"
-                    style={{ background: "var(--primary)" }}
-                  />
-                )}
-                <Send className="h-[18px] w-[18px] shrink-0" />
-                <SidebarLabel show={showLabels}>Requests</SidebarLabel>
-              </ViewTransitionLink>
-            </li>
             <li>
               <ViewTransitionLink
                 to={buildPersonalCatalogHref("history")}