diff --git a/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/config.js b/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/config.js
index 67155cd45..bc7ddf138 100644
--- a/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/config.js
+++ b/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/config.js
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
-module.exports = {
-  API_ENDPOINT: 'https://commentanalyzer.googleapis.com/v1alpha1',
-  API_KEY: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'test' ? process.env.TALK_PERSPECTIVE_API_KEY : '',
-  TOXICITY_THRESHOLD: process.env.TALK_TOXICITY_THRESHOLD || 0.8,
+const config = {
+  API_ENDPOINT: process.env.TALK_PERSPECTIVE_API_ENDPOINT || 'https://commentanalyzer.googleapis.com/v1alpha1',
+  API_KEY: process.env.TALK_PERSPECTIVE_API_KEY,
+  THRESHOLD: process.env.TALK_TOXICITY_THRESHOLD || 0.8,
+  API_TIMEOUT: process.env.TALK_PERSPECTIVE_TIMEOUT || 300,
 };
+
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'test' && !config.API_KEY) {
+  throw new Error('Please set the TALK_PERSPECTIVE_API_KEY environment variable to use the toxic-comments plugin. Visit https://www.perspectiveapi.com/ to request API access.');
+}
+
+module.exports = config;
diff --git a/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/hooks.js b/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/hooks.js
index 32f61b905..7fd138641 100644
--- a/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/hooks.js
+++ b/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/hooks.js
@@ -12,8 +12,19 @@ module.exports = {
     createComment: {
       async pre(_, {input}, _context, _info) {
 
-        // TODO: handle timeouts.
-        const scores = await getScores(input.body);
+        let scores;
+
+        // Try getting scores.
+        try {
+          scores = await getScores(input.body);
+        }
+        catch(err) {
+
+          // Warn and let mutation pass.
+          console.trace(err);
+          return;
+        }
+
         const commentIsToxic = isToxic(scores);
 
         if (input.checkToxicity && commentIsToxic) {
@@ -32,7 +43,8 @@ module.exports = {
         }
       },
       async post(_, _input, _context, _info, result) {
-        if (isToxic(result.comment.metadata.perspective)) {
+        const metadata = result.comment.metadata;
+        if (metadata.perspective && isToxic(metadata.perspective)) {
 
           // TODO: this is kind of fragile, we should refactor this to resolve
           // all these const's that we're using like 'COMMENTS', 'FLAG' to be
diff --git a/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/perspective.js b/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/perspective.js
index 0b5cd6b05..fba81b3d2 100644
--- a/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/perspective.js
+++ b/plugins/talk-plugin-toxic-comments/server/perspective.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 const fetch = require('node-fetch');
-const {API_ENDPOINT, API_KEY, TOXICITY_THRESHOLD} = require ('./config');
+const {API_ENDPOINT, API_KEY, THRESHOLD, API_TIMEOUT} = require('./config');
 
 /**
  * Get scores from the perspective api
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ async function getScores(text) {
     headers: {
       'Content-Type': 'application/json',
     },
+    timeout: API_TIMEOUT,
     body: JSON.stringify({
       comment: {
         text,
@@ -54,11 +55,31 @@ function isToxic(scoresOrProbability) {
   const probability = typeof scoresOrProbability === 'object'
     ? getProbability(scoresOrProbability)
     : scoresOrProbability;
-  return probability > TOXICITY_THRESHOLD;
+  return probability > THRESHOLD;
+}
+
+/**
+ * maskKeyInError is a decorator that calls fn and masks the
+ * API_KEY in errors before throwing.
+ * @param  {function} fn Function that returns a Promise
+ * @return {function} decorated function
+ */
+function maskKeyInError(fn) {
+  return async (...args) => {
+    try {
+      return await fn(...args);
+    }
+    catch(err) {
+      if (err.message) {
+        err.message = err.message.replace(API_KEY, '***');
+      }
+      throw err;
+    }
+  };
 }
 
 module.exports = {
-  getScores,
+  getScores: maskKeyInError(getScores),
   getProbability,
   isToxic,
 };