diff --git a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/agent_tui.py b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/agent_tui.py
index 7cbac7c32..c9564a49b 100644
--- a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/agent_tui.py
+++ b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/agent_tui.py
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ from textual.widgets import (
     TextArea,
 )
 
+from crewai_cli.create_agent import _strip_jsonc
+
 
 try:
     from textual.suggester import Suggester
@@ -115,12 +117,6 @@ def _safe_render(text: str) -> str:
     return _rich_escape(text)
 
 
-def _strip_jsonc(text: str) -> str:
-    text = re.sub(r"(?<!:)//.*?$", "", text, flags=re.MULTILINE)
-    text = re.sub(r"/\*.*?\*/", "", text, flags=re.DOTALL)
-    return re.sub(r",\s*([}\]])", r"\1", text)
-
-
 def _load_agents(agents_dir: Path) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
     """Load all agent definitions from agents/ directory."""
     agents: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
diff --git a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/benchmark.py b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/benchmark.py
index 9025a42cb..0f1f7493a 100644
--- a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/benchmark.py
+++ b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/benchmark.py
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ from typing import Any
 
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 
+from crewai_cli.create_agent import _strip_jsonc as _strip_jsonc_comments
+
 
 class BenchmarkCase(BaseModel):
     """A single benchmark test case."""
@@ -109,13 +111,6 @@ def load_benchmark_cases(path: str | Path) -> LoadedCases:
     return LoadedCases(cases, threshold)
 
 
-def _strip_jsonc_comments(text: str) -> str:
-    """Strip // and /* */ comments and trailing commas from JSONC text."""
-    result = re.sub(r"(?<!:)//.*?$", "", text, flags=re.MULTILINE)
-    result = re.sub(r"/\*.*?\*/", "", result, flags=re.DOTALL)
-    result = re.sub(r",\s*([}\]])", r"\1", result)
-    return result
-
 
 def _check_expected(expected: str, actual: str) -> tuple[bool, float]:
     """Check if expected output is found in actual (case-insensitive substring match).
diff --git a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/cli.py b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/cli.py
index edce5610b..10cf002f3 100644
--- a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/cli.py
+++ b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/cli.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from crewai_core.token_manager import TokenManager
 from crewai_cli.add_crew_to_flow import add_crew_to_flow
 from crewai_cli.authentication.main import AuthenticationCommand
 from crewai_cli.config import Settings
-from crewai_cli.create_agent import create_agent
+from crewai_cli.create_agent import _strip_jsonc, create_agent
 from crewai_cli.create_crew import create_crew
 from crewai_cli.create_flow import create_flow
 from crewai_cli.crew_chat import run_chat
@@ -613,10 +613,7 @@ def _read_config(*keys: str) -> Any:
         return None
     try:
         raw = config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-        import re
-
-        clean = re.sub(r"(?<!:)//.*?$", "", raw, flags=re.MULTILINE)
-        clean = re.sub(r"/\*.*?\*/", "", clean, flags=re.DOTALL)
+        clean = _strip_jsonc(raw)
         data = json.loads(clean)
         for k in keys:
             if not isinstance(data, dict):
@@ -819,10 +816,11 @@ def _test_new_agents(
 
     def _make_progress_cb(agent_name: str):
         def _cb(event: dict) -> None:
-            prefixed = dict(event)
-            if "model" in prefixed:
-                prefixed["model"] = f"{agent_name}/{prefixed['model']}"
-            progress.on_progress(prefixed)
+            if progress is not None:
+                prefixed = dict(event)
+                if "model" in prefixed:
+                    prefixed["model"] = f"{agent_name}/{prefixed['model']}"
+                progress.on_progress(prefixed)
 
         return _cb
 
diff --git a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/create_agent.py b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/create_agent.py
index 88e9a0236..65e4e929c 100644
--- a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/create_agent.py
+++ b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/create_agent.py
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ def _prompt_agent_name() -> str:
         )
 
 
-def _strip_comments(text: str) -> str:
+def _strip_jsonc(text: str) -> str:
     """Strip // and /* */ comments from JSONC text, then fix trailing commas."""
     result = re.sub(r"(?<!:)//.*?$", "", text, flags=re.MULTILINE)
     result = re.sub(r"/\*.*?\*/", "", result, flags=re.DOTALL)
@@ -828,7 +828,7 @@ def _add_agent_to_config(base: Path, agent_name: str) -> None:
 
     try:
         raw = config_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-        clean = _strip_comments(raw)
+        clean = _strip_jsonc(raw)
         config = json.loads(clean)
 
         rooms = config.get("rooms", {})