diff --git a/adapter-pinecone/pom.xml b/adapter-pinecone/pom.xml
index 73d8a5014..91ae70b94 100644
--- a/adapter-pinecone/pom.xml
+++ b/adapter-pinecone/pom.xml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
     <dependency>
         <groupId>io.pinecone</groupId>
         <artifactId>pinecone-client</artifactId>
-        <version>0.2.3</version>
+        <version>0.7.4</version>
     </dependency>
 </dependencies>
 
diff --git a/adapter-pinecone/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pinecone/PineconeSpace.java b/adapter-pinecone/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pinecone/PineconeSpace.java
index cfa6430f1..55f74281b 100644
--- a/adapter-pinecone/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pinecone/PineconeSpace.java
+++ b/adapter-pinecone/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/adapter/pinecone/PineconeSpace.java
@@ -27,13 +27,19 @@ import io.pinecone.PineconeConnectionConfig;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 public class PineconeSpace {
 
     private final static Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(PineconeSpace.class);
     private final String apiKey;
+    private final String apiKeyFile;
     private final String environment;
     private final String projectName;
     private final String name;
@@ -51,7 +57,23 @@ public class PineconeSpace {
      * @param cfg   The configuration ({@link NBConfiguration}) for this nb run
      */
     public PineconeSpace(String name, NBConfiguration cfg) {
-        this.apiKey = cfg.get("apiKey");
+        String apiKeyFromFile = null;
+        this.apiKeyFile = cfg.get("apiKeyFile");
+        if(null != this.apiKeyFile && this.apiKeyFile.length() > 0) {
+            Optional<String> apiKeyFileOpt = cfg.getOptional("apiKeyFile");
+            if(apiKeyFileOpt.isPresent()) {
+                Path path = Paths.get(apiKeyFileOpt.get());
+                try {
+                    apiKeyFromFile = Files.readAllLines(path).getFirst();
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                    String error = "Error while reading api key from file:" + path;
+                    logger.error(error, e);
+                    throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        this.apiKey = (apiKeyFromFile != null) ? apiKeyFromFile : cfg.get("apiKey");
         this.environment = cfg.get("environment");
         this.projectName = cfg.get("projectName");
         this.name = name;
@@ -59,7 +81,7 @@ public class PineconeSpace {
             .withApiKey(apiKey)
             .withEnvironment(environment)
             .withProjectName(projectName);
-        logger.info(this.name + ": Creating new Pinecone Client with api key " + apiKey + ", environment "
+        logger.info(this.name + ": Creating new Pinecone Client with api key " + maskDigits(apiKey) + ", environment "
             + environment + " and project name " + projectName);
         this.client = new PineconeClient(config);
     }
@@ -86,7 +108,10 @@ public class PineconeSpace {
 
         return ConfigModel.of(PineconeSpace.class)
             .add(
-                Param.required("apiKey",String.class)
+                Param.optional("apiKeyFile", String.class, "file to load the api key from")
+            )
+            .add(
+                Param.optional("apiKey",String.class)
                     .setDescription("the Pinecone API key to use to connect to the database")
             )
             .add(
@@ -100,4 +125,17 @@ public class PineconeSpace {
             .asReadOnly();
     }
 
+    private static String maskDigits(String unmasked) {
+        int inputLength = (null == unmasked) ? 0 : unmasked.length();
+        StringBuilder masked = new StringBuilder(inputLength);
+        for(char ch : unmasked.toCharArray()) {
+            if (Character.isDigit(ch)) {
+                masked.append("*");
+            } else {
+                masked.append(ch);
+            }
+        }
+        return masked.toString();
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/adapter-pinecone/src/main/resources/pinecone.md b/adapter-pinecone/src/main/resources/pinecone.md
index 1b56af9ad..766516c97 100644
--- a/adapter-pinecone/src/main/resources/pinecone.md
+++ b/adapter-pinecone/src/main/resources/pinecone.md
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ https://github.com/pinecone-io/pinecone-java-client
 The following parameters must be supplied to the adapter at runtime in order to successfully connect to an
 instance of the Pinecone database:
 
-* api key - In order to use the pinecone database you must have an account. Once the account is created you can request
-            an api key. This key will need to be provided any time a database connection is desired.
+* api key - In order to use the pinecone database you must have an account. Once the account is created you can [request
+            an api key](https://docs.pinecone.io/docs/quickstart#2-get-your-api-key). This key will need to be provided any time a database connection is desired.
 * environment - When an Index is created in the database the environment must be specified as well. The adapter will
                 use the default value of us-east-1 if none is provided at runtime.
 * project name - A project name must also be provided at time of index creation. This name then needs to be provided