diff --git a/transform/sample-code/extract_quickstart.py b/transform/sample-code/extract_quickstart.py
index 6d7506b..b070c7e 100644
--- a/transform/sample-code/extract_quickstart.py
+++ b/transform/sample-code/extract_quickstart.py
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
 # This isn't best practice outside of local testing on your own machine. Once
 # you've added your real key, don't share this file or check it into any
 # repositories.
-API_KEY = ""
+API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
+if API_KEY in ("YOUR_API_KEY_HERE", ""):
+    raise SystemExit("Set API_KEY to your Unstructured API key before running this script.")
 API_URL = "https://platform-api.transform.unstructured.io"
 # The local directory containing the file (or files) you want to process.
 INPUT_DIR = "/full/path/to/your/input/directory"
diff --git a/transform/sample-code/partition_quickstart.py b/transform/sample-code/partition_quickstart.py
index 29a2659..48dc873 100644
--- a/transform/sample-code/partition_quickstart.py
+++ b/transform/sample-code/partition_quickstart.py
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
 # This isn't best practice outside of local testing on your own machine. Once
 # you've added your real key, don't share this file or check it into any
 # repositories.
-API_KEY = ""
+API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
+if API_KEY in ("YOUR_API_KEY_HERE", ""):
+    raise SystemExit("Set API_KEY to your Unstructured API key before running this script.")
 API_URL = "https://platform-api.transform.unstructured.io"
 # The local directory containing the file (or files) you want to process.
 INPUT_DIR = "/full/path/to/your/input/directory"