fix(cli): avoid auth retry for deploy exits

lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/command.py

@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ from crewai_cli.plus_api import PlusAPI
 console = Console()
 
 
+class AuthenticationRequiredError(SystemExit):
+    """Raised when a Plus API command needs the user to log in first."""
+
+
 class BaseCommand:
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         self._telemetry = Telemetry()
@@ -31,7 +35,7 @@ class PlusAPIMixin:
                 style="bold red",
             )
             console.print("Run 'crewai login' to sign up/login.", style="bold green")
-            raise SystemExit from None
+            raise AuthenticationRequiredError from None
 
     def _validate_response(self, response: httpx.Response) -> None:
         """Handle and display error messages from API responses.

lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/run_crew.py

@@ -364,20 +364,40 @@ def _chain_deploy() -> None:
     from rich.console import Console
 
     console = Console()
+
+    def print_system_exit_failure(exc: SystemExit) -> None:
+        if isinstance(exc.code, int):
+            detail = f" with exit code {exc.code}"
+        elif exc.code:
+            detail = f": {exc.code}"
+        else:
+            detail = ""
+        console.print(f"\nDeploy failed{detail}\n", style="bold red")
+
     try:
+        from crewai_cli.command import AuthenticationRequiredError
         from crewai_cli.deploy.main import DeployCommand
 
         console.print("\nStarting deployment…\n", style="bold #FF5A50")
         DeployCommand().create_crew(confirm=True, skip_validate=True)
-    except SystemExit:
+    except AuthenticationRequiredError:
         from crewai_cli.authentication.main import AuthenticationCommand
 
         console.print()
         AuthenticationCommand().login()
         try:
             DeployCommand().create_crew(confirm=True, skip_validate=True)
+        except AuthenticationRequiredError:
+            console.print(
+                "\nDeploy failed: authentication is still required.\n",
+                style="bold red",
+            )
+        except SystemExit as e:
+            print_system_exit_failure(e)
         except Exception as e:
             console.print(f"\nDeploy failed: {e}\n", style="bold red")
+    except SystemExit as e:
+        print_system_exit_failure(e)
     except Exception as e:
         console.print(f"\nDeploy failed: {e}\n", style="bold red")
 

lib/cli/tests/test_crew_run_tui.py

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ from crewai.events.types.tool_usage_events import (
     ToolUsageFinishedEvent,
     ToolUsageStartedEvent,
 )
+from crewai_cli.command import AuthenticationRequiredError
 from crewai_cli import run_crew
 from crewai_cli.crew_run_tui import CrewRunApp
 
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ def test_chain_deploy_skips_validation_after_auth_retry(monkeypatch) -> None:
             create_calls.append(kwargs)
             FakeDeployCommand.attempts += 1
             if FakeDeployCommand.attempts == 1:
-                raise SystemExit(1)
+                raise AuthenticationRequiredError
 
     class FakeAuthenticationCommand:
         def login(self) -> None:
@@ -89,6 +90,32 @@ def test_chain_deploy_skips_validation_after_auth_retry(monkeypatch) -> None:
     assert login_calls == [True]
 
 
+def test_chain_deploy_does_not_login_for_deploy_exit(monkeypatch, capsys) -> None:
+    create_calls: list[dict[str, object]] = []
+    login_calls: list[bool] = []
+
+    class FakeDeployCommand:
+        def create_crew(self, **kwargs) -> None:
+            create_calls.append(kwargs)
+            raise SystemExit(42)
+
+    class FakeAuthenticationCommand:
+        def login(self) -> None:
+            login_calls.append(True)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("crewai_cli.deploy.main.DeployCommand", FakeDeployCommand)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "crewai_cli.authentication.main.AuthenticationCommand",
+        FakeAuthenticationCommand,
+    )
+
+    run_crew._chain_deploy()
+
+    assert create_calls == [{"confirm": True, "skip_validate": True}]
+    assert login_calls == []
+    assert "Deploy failed with exit code 42" in capsys.readouterr().out
+
+
 def test_plan_step_status_updates_only_the_explicit_step() -> None:
     app = _app_with_plan()