diff --git a/litellm/proxy/vertex_ai_endpoints/vertex_endpoints.py b/litellm/proxy/vertex_ai_endpoints/vertex_endpoints.py
index 1a0d09a88..cc0e7e208 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/vertex_ai_endpoints/vertex_endpoints.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/vertex_ai_endpoints/vertex_endpoints.py
@@ -28,14 +28,46 @@ from litellm.proxy.auth.user_api_key_auth import user_api_key_auth
 from litellm.proxy.pass_through_endpoints.pass_through_endpoints import (
     create_pass_through_route,
 )
+from litellm.secret_managers.main import get_secret_str
+from litellm.types.passthrough_endpoints.vertex_ai import *
 
 router = APIRouter()
-default_vertex_config = None
+
+default_vertex_config: VertexPassThroughCredentials = VertexPassThroughCredentials()
 
 
-def set_default_vertex_config(config):
+def _get_vertex_env_vars() -> VertexPassThroughCredentials:
+    """
+    Helper to get vertex pass through config from environment variables
+
+    The following environment variables are used:
+    - DEFAULT_VERTEXAI_PROJECT (project id)
+    - DEFAULT_VERTEXAI_LOCATION (location)
+    - DEFAULT_GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS (path to credentials file)
+    """
+    return VertexPassThroughCredentials(
+        vertex_project=get_secret_str("DEFAULT_VERTEXAI_PROJECT"),
+        vertex_location=get_secret_str("DEFAULT_VERTEXAI_LOCATION"),
+        vertex_credentials=get_secret_str("DEFAULT_GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS"),
+    )
+
+
+def set_default_vertex_config(config: Optional[dict]):
+    """Sets vertex configuration from provided config and/or environment variables
+
+    Args:
+        config (Optional[dict]): Configuration dictionary
+        Example: {
+            "vertex_project": "my-project-123",
+            "vertex_location": "us-central1",
+            "vertex_credentials": "os.environ/GOOGLE_CREDS"
+        }
+    """
     global default_vertex_config
+
+    # Initialize config dictionary if None
     if config is None:
+        default_vertex_config = _get_vertex_env_vars()
         return
 
     if not isinstance(config, dict):
@@ -46,7 +78,7 @@ def set_default_vertex_config(config):
             if isinstance(value, str) and value.startswith("os.environ/"):
                 config[key] = litellm.get_secret(value)
 
-    default_vertex_config = config
+    default_vertex_config = VertexPassThroughCredentials(**config)
 
 
 def exception_handler(e: Exception):
@@ -140,7 +172,7 @@ async def vertex_proxy_route(
     vertex_project = None
     vertex_location = None
     # Use headers from the incoming request if default_vertex_config is not set
-    if default_vertex_config is None:
+    if default_vertex_config.vertex_project is None:
         headers = dict(request.headers) or {}
         verbose_proxy_logger.debug(
             "default_vertex_config  not set, incoming request headers %s", headers
@@ -153,9 +185,9 @@ async def vertex_proxy_route(
         headers.pop("content-length", None)
         headers.pop("host", None)
     else:
-        vertex_project = default_vertex_config.get("vertex_project")
-        vertex_location = default_vertex_config.get("vertex_location")
-        vertex_credentials = default_vertex_config.get("vertex_credentials")
+        vertex_project = default_vertex_config.vertex_project
+        vertex_location = default_vertex_config.vertex_location
+        vertex_credentials = default_vertex_config.vertex_credentials
 
         base_target_url = f"https://{vertex_location}-aiplatform.googleapis.com/"
 
diff --git a/litellm/types/passthrough_endpoints/vertex_ai.py b/litellm/types/passthrough_endpoints/vertex_ai.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3933aadcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/litellm/types/passthrough_endpoints/vertex_ai.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+"""
+Used for /vertex_ai/ pass through endpoints
+"""
+
+from typing import Optional
+
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+
+class VertexPassThroughCredentials(BaseModel):
+    # Example: vertex_project = "my-project-123"
+    vertex_project: Optional[str] = None
+
+    # Example: vertex_location = "us-central1"
+    vertex_location: Optional[str] = None
+
+    # Example: vertex_credentials = "/path/to/credentials.json" or "os.environ/GOOGLE_CREDS"
+    vertex_credentials: Optional[str] = None