diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bd0f8ac..2d37428 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -158,10 +158,34 @@ $ curl localhost:7777/health
 | `--port` | `DREAMDICT_PORT` | `7777` | Listen port |
 | `--host` | `DREAMDICT_HOST` | `127.0.0.1` | Listen host |
 | `--db` | `DREAMDICT_DB` | `./dict.db` | Path to SQLite database |
+| `--token` | `DREAMDICT_TOKEN` | _(none)_ | Bearer token for API auth |
 | `--log-level` | | `info` | `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error` |
 
 Flags take precedence over environment variables.
 
+### Authentication
+
+When `--token` or `DREAMDICT_TOKEN` is set, all endpoints except `/health` require a bearer token:
+
+```bash
+# Start with auth enabled
+DREAMDICT_TOKEN=mysecret go run ./cmd/server --db ./dict.db
+
+# Authenticated request
+curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer mysecret' 'localhost:7777/define?word=casa&lang=pt-PT'
+
+# Health is always public (for monitoring)
+curl localhost:7777/health
+```
+
+Requests without a valid token receive a `401` response:
+
+```json
+{"error": "unauthorized", "message": "invalid or missing bearer token"}
+```
+
+When no token is configured, auth is disabled and all endpoints are open.
+
 ## Import CLI
 
 ```bash
@@ -265,6 +289,8 @@ chown -R dreamdict:dreamdict /opt/dreamdict
 cp deploy/dreamdict.service /etc/systemd/system/
 echo 'DREAMDICT_PORT=7777' > /etc/dreamdict/dreamdict.env
 echo 'DREAMDICT_DB=/opt/dreamdict/dict.db' >> /etc/dreamdict/dreamdict.env
+echo 'DREAMDICT_TOKEN=changeme' >> /etc/dreamdict/dreamdict.env
+chmod 600 /etc/dreamdict/dreamdict.env
 systemctl daemon-reload
 systemctl enable --now dreamdict
 ```
diff --git a/cmd/server/main.go b/cmd/server/main.go
index b695858..a302264 100644
--- a/cmd/server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/server/main.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/subtle"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ func main() {
 	port := flag.Int("port", 0, "Listen port (default 7777)")
 	host := flag.String("host", "", "Listen host (default 127.0.0.1)")
 	dbPath := flag.String("db", "", "Path to dict.db")
+	token := flag.String("token", "", "Bearer token for API auth (or DREAMDICT_TOKEN env)")
 	logLevel := flag.String("log-level", "info", "Log level: debug, info, warn, error")
 	flag.Parse()
 
@@ -51,6 +53,10 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if *token == "" {
+		*token = os.Getenv("DREAMDICT_TOKEN")
+	}
+
 	var level slog.Level
 	switch *logLevel {
 	case "debug":
@@ -102,9 +108,16 @@ func main() {
 
 	serverStart = time.Now()
 	addr := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", *host, *port)
+
+	var handler http.Handler = mux
+	if *token != "" {
+		handler = authMiddleware(*token, mux)
+		slog.Info("bearer token auth enabled")
+	}
+
 	srv := &http.Server{
 		Addr:         addr,
-		Handler:      loggingMiddleware(mux),
+		Handler:      loggingMiddleware(handler),
 		ReadTimeout:  5 * time.Second,
 		WriteTimeout: 10 * time.Second,
 	}
@@ -172,6 +185,22 @@ func loggingMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	})
 }
 
+func authMiddleware(token string, next http.Handler) http.Handler {
+	expected := "Bearer " + token
+	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		// Health endpoint is exempt so monitoring works without credentials
+		if r.URL.Path == "/health" {
+			next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+			return
+		}
+		if subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(r.Header.Get("Authorization")), []byte(expected)) != 1 {
+			writeError(w, 401, "unauthorized", "invalid or missing bearer token")
+			return
+		}
+		next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	})
+}
+
 func writeJSON(w http.ResponseWriter, status int, v any) {
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
 	w.WriteHeader(status)
diff --git a/internal/loader/cetempublico.go b/internal/loader/cetempublico.go
index 82b85d6..167c8fb 100644
--- a/internal/loader/cetempublico.go
+++ b/internal/loader/cetempublico.go
@@ -40,8 +40,6 @@ func (CETEMPublicoLoader) Load(db *sql.DB, dataDir string) error {
 		slog.Warn("cetempublico: no data file found, skipping", "searched", candidates)
 		return nil
 	}
-	slog.Info("cetempublico: using file", "path", path)
-
 	tx, err := db.Begin()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cetempublico: begin tx: %w", err)
@@ -71,7 +69,6 @@ func (CETEMPublicoLoader) Load(db *sql.DB, dataDir string) error {
 
 	isLatin1 := !utf8.Valid(rawBytes)
 	if isLatin1 {
-		slog.Info("cetempublico: detected ISO-8859-1 encoding, converting")
 		rawBytes = []byte(latin1ToUTF8(rawBytes))
 	}
 
@@ -89,7 +86,7 @@ func (CETEMPublicoLoader) Load(db *sql.DB, dataDir string) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	var count, skipped, inserted int
+	var count, inserted int
 	processLine := func(line string) error {
 		// Support TSV and space-separated, with either column order:
 		//   "word\tcount", "word count", or "count\tword", "count word"
@@ -113,13 +110,11 @@ func (CETEMPublicoLoader) Load(db *sql.DB, dataDir string) error {
 		}
 
 		if word == "" || containsDigit(word) || containsSpace(word) || containsNonLatin(word) {
-			skipped++
 			return nil
 		}
 
 		freqVal, err := strconv.ParseFloat(freqStr, 64)
 		if err != nil || freqVal <= 0 {
-			skipped++
 			return nil
 		}
 
@@ -153,9 +148,6 @@ func (CETEMPublicoLoader) Load(db *sql.DB, dataDir string) error {
 			inserted++
 			count++
 		}
-		if count+skipped <= 5 {
-			slog.Info("cetempublico: sample", "word", word, "freq", freq, "total", count, "inserted", inserted)
-		}
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -179,7 +171,7 @@ func (CETEMPublicoLoader) Load(db *sql.DB, dataDir string) error {
 	if err := tx.Commit(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cetempublico: commit: %w", err)
 	}
-	slog.Info("cetempublico loaded", "updated_words", count, "inserted_new", inserted, "skipped", skipped)
+	slog.Info("cetempublico loaded", "updated_words", count, "inserted_new", inserted)
 	return nil
 }