diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3ada0d505..b28ebf320 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 - Fix color picker dragging flooding the undo stack — fill/stroke/effect color and opacity drags now collapse into a single undo entry per interaction via debounced batching in `PropertyListRoot`
 - Fix .fig import crash on alias variables without a GUID
+- Fix external links in AI panel blocked by Tauri ACL — use opener plugin instead of shell
 
 ## 0.11.6 — 2026-04-08
 
diff --git a/src/components/chat/ProviderSettings.vue b/src/components/chat/ProviderSettings.vue
index 34718bcc7..24dd5fee2 100644
--- a/src/components/chat/ProviderSettings.vue
+++ b/src/components/chat/ProviderSettings.vue
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import ProviderSelectField from '@/components/chat/ProviderSelectField.vue'
 import { useInputUI } from '@/components/ui/input'
 import { usePopoverUI } from '@/components/ui/popover'
 import { useAIChat } from '@/composables/use-chat'
+import { openExternalLink } from '@/composables/use-external-link'
 
 const cls = usePopoverUI({ content: 'isolate z-[51] w-64 p-3' })
 
@@ -167,13 +168,13 @@ function clearUnsplashKey() {
               :class="useInputUI({ size: 'sm' }).base"
               @change="save"
             />
-            <a
-              href="https://www.pexels.com/api/"
-              target="_blank"
-              class="text-[9px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+            <button
+              type="button"
+              class="cursor-pointer text-[9px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+              @click="openExternalLink('https://www.pexels.com/api/')"
             >
               Get free Pexels API key →
-            </a>
+            </button>
           </div>
 
           <!-- Unsplash stock photos -->
@@ -201,13 +202,13 @@ function clearUnsplashKey() {
               :class="useInputUI({ size: 'sm' }).base"
               @change="save"
             />
-            <a
-              href="https://unsplash.com/oauth/applications"
-              target="_blank"
-              class="text-[9px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+            <button
+              type="button"
+              class="cursor-pointer text-[9px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+              @click="openExternalLink('https://unsplash.com/oauth/applications')"
             >
               Get free Unsplash access key →
-            </a>
+            </button>
           </div>
 
           <template v-if="!isACP">
@@ -293,14 +294,14 @@ function clearUnsplashKey() {
                 :class="useInputUI({ size: 'sm' }).base"
                 @change="save"
               />
-              <a
+              <button
                 v-if="providerDef.keyURL"
-                :href="providerDef.keyURL"
-                target="_blank"
-                class="text-[9px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+                type="button"
+                class="cursor-pointer text-[9px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+                @click="openExternalLink(providerDef.keyURL!)"
               >
                 Get API key →
-              </a>
+              </button>
             </div>
           </template>
 
diff --git a/src/components/chat/ProviderSetup.vue b/src/components/chat/ProviderSetup.vue
index dacb6edf3..937413e28 100644
--- a/src/components/chat/ProviderSetup.vue
+++ b/src/components/chat/ProviderSetup.vue
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import ProviderSelectField from '@/components/chat/ProviderSelectField.vue'
 import { useInputUI } from '@/components/ui/input'
 import { useAIChat } from '@/composables/use-chat'
 import { ACP_AGENTS } from '@open-pencil/core'
+import { openExternalLink } from '@/composables/use-external-link'
 import { useI18n } from '@open-pencil/vue'
 
 const { providerID, providerDef, setAPIKey, customBaseURL, customModelID } = useAIChat()
@@ -104,15 +105,15 @@ function save() {
       </p>
     </div>
 
-    <a
+    <button
       v-if="!isACP && providerDef.keyURL"
-      :href="providerDef.keyURL"
-      target="_blank"
+      type="button"
       data-test-id="api-key-get-link"
-      class="mt-2.5 text-[10px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+      class="mt-2.5 cursor-pointer text-[10px] text-muted underline hover:text-surface"
+      @click="openExternalLink(providerDef.keyURL!)"
     >
       {{ dialogs.getAPIKey({ provider: providerDef.name }) }}
-    </a>
+    </button>
 
     <p
       v-if="providerID === 'openrouter'"
diff --git a/src/composables/use-external-link.ts b/src/composables/use-external-link.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d06983f23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/composables/use-external-link.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { IS_TAURI } from '@open-pencil/core'
+
+export async function openExternalLink(url: string) {
+  if (IS_TAURI) {
+    const { openUrl } = await import('@tauri-apps/plugin-opener')
+    await openUrl(url)
+  } else {
+    window.open(url, '_blank')
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/global.d.ts b/src/global.d.ts
index b99ea3450..7e4b189eb 100644
--- a/src/global.d.ts
+++ b/src/global.d.ts
@@ -41,4 +41,5 @@ interface Window {
   // The assignment in EditorView.vue is type-safe; test code uses `!` assertion.
   // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
   __OPEN_PENCIL_STORE__?: any
+  __mocked_window_open?: (url?: string | URL, target?: string) => Window | null
 }
diff --git a/tests/e2e/chat-panel.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/chat-panel.spec.ts
index 7d77a6b92..d9c7ed56c 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/chat-panel.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/chat-panel.spec.ts
@@ -217,3 +217,37 @@ test('transport errors show an actionable toast', async () => {
     }),
   ).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5000 })
 })
+
+test('"Get API key" link opens external URL via window.open', async () => {
+  // Clear the key to return to provider setup
+  await page.locator('[data-test-id="provider-settings-trigger"]').click()
+  await page.locator('[data-test-id="provider-settings-clear-key"]').click()
+  await page.locator('[data-test-id="provider-settings-done"]').click()
+
+  // Now we're back in ProviderSetup — the link should be visible
+  const link = page.locator('[data-test-id="api-key-get-link"]')
+  await expect(link).toBeVisible()
+
+  // Intercept window.open to verify it's called with the right URL
+  const openedUrls: string[] = []
+  await page.exposeFunction('mockWindowOpen', (url: string) => openedUrls.push(url))
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    window.__mocked_window_open = window.open
+    window.open = (url: string | URL) => {
+      ;(window as any).mockWindowOpen(String(url))
+      return null
+    }
+  })
+
+  await link.click()
+
+  await expect(() => {
+    expect(openedUrls.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    expect(openedUrls[0]).toMatch(/^https:\/\//)
+  }).toPass({ timeout: 3000 })
+
+  // Restore
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    window.open = window.__mocked_window_open
+  })
+})