diff --git a/backend/src/meta_agent/community/retrieve.py b/backend/src/meta_agent/community/retrieve.py
index 10c9c8a..686513a 100644
--- a/backend/src/meta_agent/community/retrieve.py
+++ b/backend/src/meta_agent/community/retrieve.py
@@ -43,9 +43,7 @@
     VectorStoreSearchResult,
 )
 
-cognitive_services_endpoint = os.environ.get(
-    "GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT", ""
-)
+cognitive_services_endpoint = os.environ["GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT"]
 token_provider = get_bearer_token_provider(
     DefaultAzureCredential(), cognitive_services_endpoint
 )
diff --git a/backend/src/meta_agent/global_search/retrieve.py b/backend/src/meta_agent/global_search/retrieve.py
index 024d483..a01f6a6 100644
--- a/backend/src/meta_agent/global_search/retrieve.py
+++ b/backend/src/meta_agent/global_search/retrieve.py
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@
     GlobalSearchLLMCallback,
 )
 
-cognitive_services_endpoint = os.environ.get(
-    "GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT", ""
-)
+cognitive_services_endpoint = os.environ["GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT"]
 token_provider = get_bearer_token_provider(
     DefaultAzureCredential(), cognitive_services_endpoint
 )
diff --git a/docs/DEPLOYMENT-GUIDE.md b/docs/DEPLOYMENT-GUIDE.md
index 505ff8e..31e7944 100644
--- a/docs/DEPLOYMENT-GUIDE.md
+++ b/docs/DEPLOYMENT-GUIDE.md
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ In the `deploy.parameters.json` file, provide values for the following required
 `GRAPHRAG_EMBEDDING_DEPLOYMENT_NAME` |                                    | Yes | Deployment name of the Azure OpenAI embedding model.
 `APIM_NAME`                          |                                    | No  | Hostname of the API. Must be a globally unique name. The API will be accessible at `https://<APIM_NAME>.azure-api.net`. If not provided a unique name will be generated.
 `RESOURCE_BASE_NAME`                 |                                    | No  | Suffix to apply to all azure resource names. If not provided a unique suffix will be generated.
-`AISEARCH_ENDPOINT_SUFFIX`           |                                    | No  | Suffix to apply to AI search endpoint. Will default to `search.windows.net` for Azure commercial cloud but should be defined for deployments in other Azure clouds.
-`REPORTERS`                          |                                    | No  | The type of logging to enable. If not provided, logging will be saved to a file in Azure Storage and to the console in AKS
-`GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT` |                                  | No  | Endpoint for cognitive services identity authorization. Will default to `https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default` for azure commercial cloud but should be defined for deployments in other Azure clouds.
+`AISEARCH_ENDPOINT_SUFFIX`           |                                    | No  | Suffix to apply to AI search endpoint. Will default to `search.windows.net` for Azure Commercial cloud but should be overriden for deployments in other Azure clouds.
+`REPORTERS`                          |                                    | No  | The type of logging to enable. If not provided, logging will be saved to a file in Azure Storage and to the console in AKS.
+`GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT` |                                  | No  | Endpoint for cognitive services identity authorization. Will default to `https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default` for Azure Commercial cloud but should be defined for deployments in other Azure clouds.
 
 ## 5. Deploy the solution accelerator
 ```
diff --git a/infra/deploy.sh b/infra/deploy.sh
index afa81b2..94fc3d9 100755
--- a/infra/deploy.sh
+++ b/infra/deploy.sh
@@ -153,6 +153,10 @@ populateOptionalParams () {
         REPORTERS="blob,console"
         printf "\tsetting REPORTERS=blob,console\n"
     fi
+    if [ -z "$GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT" ]; then
+        GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT="https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default"
+        printf "\tsetting GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT=$GRAPHRAG_COGNITIVE_SERVICES_ENDPOINT\n"
+    fi
     printf "Done.\n"
 }