diff --git a/.yarn/cache/dotenv-npm-16.0.3-4cc29121dc-afcf03f373.zip b/.yarn/cache/dotenv-npm-16.0.3-4cc29121dc-afcf03f373.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90a95535b4
Binary files /dev/null and b/.yarn/cache/dotenv-npm-16.0.3-4cc29121dc-afcf03f373.zip differ
diff --git a/libs/vscode/nx-cloud-view/src/lib/nx-cloud-service/nx-cloud-api.service.ts b/libs/vscode/nx-cloud-view/src/lib/nx-cloud-service/nx-cloud-api.service.ts
index c67c62a41f..089ccddc29 100644
--- a/libs/vscode/nx-cloud-view/src/lib/nx-cloud-service/nx-cloud-api.service.ts
+++ b/libs/vscode/nx-cloud-view/src/lib/nx-cloud-service/nx-cloud-api.service.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { getNxWorkspace } from '@nx-console/vscode/nx-workspace';
+import { getNxCloudRunnerOptions } from '@nx-console/vscode/nx-workspace';
 import request, { gql } from 'graphql-request';
 import { authentication } from 'vscode';
 import {
@@ -17,11 +17,9 @@ export class NxCloudApiService {
   async claimCloudWorkspace(
     orgId: string
   ): Promise<ConnectWorkspaceUsingTokenResponse> {
-    const workspaceConfig = (await getNxWorkspace()).workspace;
-    const nxAccessToken =
-      workspaceConfig.tasksRunnerOptions?.['default']?.options['accessToken'];
+    const nxAccessToken = (await getNxCloudRunnerOptions())?.accessToken;
 
-    const authAccessToken = await this.getAccessToken();
+    const authAccessToken = await this.getAuthAccessToken();
 
     if (!authAccessToken) {
       throw new Error('No auth access token found');
@@ -58,11 +56,9 @@ export class NxCloudApiService {
   }
 
   async getWorkspaceDetailsByToken(): Promise<GetWorkspaceDetailsByTokenResponse> {
-    const workspaceConfig = (await getNxWorkspace()).workspace;
-    const nxAcessToken =
-      workspaceConfig.tasksRunnerOptions?.['default']?.options['accessToken'];
+    const nxAccessToken = (await getNxCloudRunnerOptions())?.accessToken;
 
-    if (!nxAcessToken) {
+    if (!nxAccessToken) {
       throw new Error('No nx access token found.');
     }
 
@@ -84,7 +80,7 @@ export class NxCloudApiService {
     `;
 
     const variables = {
-      accessToken: nxAcessToken,
+      accessToken: nxAccessToken,
     };
 
     const session = await authentication.getSession('nxCloud', [], {
@@ -148,7 +144,7 @@ export class NxCloudApiService {
       workspaceId: workspaceId,
     };
 
-    const authAccessToken = await this.getAccessToken();
+    const authAccessToken = await this.getAuthAccessToken();
     const headers = authAccessToken
       ? {
           Authorization: `Bearer ${authAccessToken}`,
@@ -234,7 +230,7 @@ export class NxCloudApiService {
     return 'disconnected';
   }
 
-  private async getAccessToken() {
+  private async getAuthAccessToken() {
     return await authentication
       .getSession('nxCloud', [], { silent: true })
       .then((session) => session?.accessToken);
diff --git a/libs/vscode/nx-workspace/src/lib/get-nx-workspace.ts b/libs/vscode/nx-workspace/src/lib/get-nx-workspace.ts
index 5658234ea5..0f07e773cc 100644
--- a/libs/vscode/nx-workspace/src/lib/get-nx-workspace.ts
+++ b/libs/vscode/nx-workspace/src/lib/get-nx-workspace.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import { ProjectConfiguration } from '@nrwl/devkit';
 import { NxWorkspaceRequest } from '@nx-console/language-server/types';
 import { NxWorkspace } from '@nx-console/shared/types';
 import { sendRequest } from '@nx-console/vscode/lsp-client';
+import { parse } from 'dotenv';
+import { join } from 'path';
+import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
 
 export function getNxWorkspace(reset?: boolean): Promise<NxWorkspace> {
   return sendRequest(NxWorkspaceRequest, { reset });
@@ -20,13 +23,36 @@ export async function getNxWorkspaceProjects(reset?: boolean): Promise<{
 export async function getNxCloudRunnerOptions(): Promise<
   { accessToken: string; url?: string } | undefined
 > {
-  const nxConfig = (await getNxWorkspace()).workspace;
+  const nxWorkspace = await getNxWorkspace();
+  const workspaceConfig = nxWorkspace.workspace;
 
-  if (!nxConfig.tasksRunnerOptions) {
+  if (!workspaceConfig.tasksRunnerOptions) {
     return;
   }
-  const nxCloudTaskRunner = Object.values(nxConfig.tasksRunnerOptions).find(
-    (r) => r.runner == '@nrwl/nx-cloud'
-  );
-  return nxCloudTaskRunner?.options;
+  const nxCloudTaskRunner = Object.values(
+    workspaceConfig.tasksRunnerOptions
+  ).find((r) => r.runner == '@nrwl/nx-cloud');
+
+  if (!nxCloudTaskRunner) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  // check if nx-cloud.env exists and use that access token if it does
+  const env = getNxCloudEnv(nxWorkspace.workspacePath);
+  const accessToken = env.NX_CLOUD_AUTH_TOKEN || env.NX_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN;
+
+  if (!accessToken) {
+    return nxCloudTaskRunner.options;
+  }
+
+  return { ...nxCloudTaskRunner.options, accessToken };
+}
+
+function getNxCloudEnv(workspacePath: string): any {
+  try {
+    const envContents = readFileSync(join(workspacePath, 'nx-cloud.env'));
+    return parse(envContents);
+  } catch (e) {
+    return {};
+  }
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8ce0b9c931..67aa666677 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
     "@vscode/webview-ui-toolkit": "^1.2.0",
     "@yarnpkg/fslib": "2.6.1-rc.5",
     "@yarnpkg/libzip": "2.2.3-rc.5",
+    "dotenv": "^16.0.3",
     "fast-glob": "^3.2.11",
     "find-cache-dir": "^3.3.2",
     "graphql": "^16.6.0",
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 8aa4ab54ba..f5be6317d4 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -12119,6 +12119,13 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
+"dotenv@npm:^16.0.3":
+  version: 16.0.3
+  resolution: "dotenv@npm:16.0.3"
+  checksum: afcf03f373d7a6d62c7e9afea6328e62851d627a4e73f2e12d0a8deae1cd375892004f3021883f8aec85932cd2834b091f568ced92b4774625b321db83b827f8
+  languageName: node
+  linkType: hard
+
 "dotenv@npm:^8.0.0":
   version: 8.6.0
   resolution: "dotenv@npm:8.6.0"
@@ -20682,6 +20689,7 @@ __metadata:
     "@yarnpkg/libzip": 2.2.3-rc.5
     "@yarnpkg/pnp": ^3.1.1-rc.12
     cypress: ^10.2.0
+    dotenv: ^16.0.3
     esbuild: ^0.14.54
     esbuild-copy-files-plugin: ^1.1.0
     eslint: 8.15.0