diff --git a/packages/ai/src/auth/oauth/aimlapi.ts b/packages/ai/src/auth/oauth/aimlapi.ts
index 3a97838de12..a41665514a8 100644
--- a/packages/ai/src/auth/oauth/aimlapi.ts
+++ b/packages/ai/src/auth/oauth/aimlapi.ts
@@ -119,24 +119,29 @@ async function loginAimlapi(interaction: ProviderAuthInteraction): Promise<OAuth
 	interaction.notify({ type: "progress", message: "Checking your AI/ML API account..." });
 	const account = await checkAccount(email, interaction.signal);
 
-	let sessionToken: string;
 	if (account.action === "sign-up") {
+		// A freshly created passwordless account is inactive until its first top-up
+		// (AI/ML API mints API keys only for active accounts), so there is no key to
+		// hand back here yet — create the account and send the user to fund it.
 		interaction.notify({ type: "progress", message: "Creating your AI/ML API account..." });
-		sessionToken = await exchangeForToken("/v1/auth/account/passwordless", { email }, interaction.signal);
-	} else {
-		if (account.provider) {
-			throw new Error(
-				`This email signs in via ${account.provider} on AI/ML API — sign in at https://aimlapi.com/app and create an API key manually instead.`,
-			);
-		}
-		await sendSignInCode(email, interaction.signal);
-		interaction.notify({ type: "info", message: `A 6-digit code was sent to ${email}.` });
-		const rawCode = await interaction.prompt({ type: "text", message: "Enter the 6-digit code" });
-		const code = rawCode.trim();
-		if (!code) throw new Error("Code is required");
-		sessionToken = await exchangeForToken("/v1/auth/sign-in/code/verify", { email, code }, interaction.signal);
+		await exchangeForToken("/v1/auth/account/passwordless", { email }, interaction.signal);
+		throw new Error(
+			`Account created for ${email}. Add credit at https://aimlapi.com/app, then run /login again to sign in.`,
+		);
 	}
 
+	if (account.provider) {
+		throw new Error(
+			`This email signs in via ${account.provider} on AI/ML API — sign in at https://aimlapi.com/app and create an API key manually instead.`,
+		);
+	}
+	await sendSignInCode(email, interaction.signal);
+	interaction.notify({ type: "info", message: `A 6-digit code was sent to ${email}.` });
+	const rawCode = await interaction.prompt({ type: "text", message: "Enter the 6-digit code" });
+	const code = rawCode.trim();
+	if (!code) throw new Error("Code is required");
+	const sessionToken = await exchangeForToken("/v1/auth/sign-in/code/verify", { email, code }, interaction.signal);
+
 	interaction.notify({ type: "progress", message: "Creating an AI/ML API key for pi..." });
 	const key = await createKey(sessionToken, interaction.signal);
 
diff --git a/packages/ai/test/aimlapi-oauth.test.ts b/packages/ai/test/aimlapi-oauth.test.ts
index 3bc0eb4e48a..9e26ccc5868 100644
--- a/packages/ai/test/aimlapi-oauth.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ai/test/aimlapi-oauth.test.ts
@@ -73,28 +73,25 @@ describe.sequential("AI/ML API OAuth", () => {
 		expect(keyAuthHeader).toBe("Bearer session-token");
 	});
 
-	it("creates a new account without requesting a code when the account does not exist", async () => {
+	it("creates a new account but does not attempt to mint a key — a fresh account is inactive until its first top-up", async () => {
 		const calls: string[] = [];
-		vi.stubGlobal(
-			"fetch",
-			vi.fn(async (input: string | URL | Request) => {
-				const url = input instanceof Request ? input.url : String(input);
-				calls.push(url);
-				if (url === ACCOUNT_URL) return jsonResponse({ action: "sign-up" });
-				if (url === PASSWORDLESS_URL) return jsonResponse({ token: "new-session-token", exp: 9999999999 });
-				if (url === KEYS_URL) return jsonResponse({ key: "aiml-new-key", id: "key-2" });
-				throw new Error(`Unexpected request: ${url}`);
-			}),
-		);
-
-		const credential = await aimlapiOAuth.login({
-			signal: neverAbortedSignal,
-			prompt: async () => "new-user@example.com",
-			notify: () => {},
+		const fetchMock = vi.fn(async (input: string | URL | Request) => {
+			const url = input instanceof Request ? input.url : String(input);
+			calls.push(url);
+			if (url === ACCOUNT_URL) return jsonResponse({ action: "sign-up" });
+			if (url === PASSWORDLESS_URL) return jsonResponse({ token: "new-session-token", exp: 9999999999 });
+			throw new Error(`Unexpected request: ${url}`);
 		});
+		vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetchMock);
 
-		expect(credential).toMatchObject({ access: "aiml-new-key" });
-		expect(calls).toEqual([ACCOUNT_URL, PASSWORDLESS_URL, KEYS_URL]);
+		await expect(
+			aimlapiOAuth.login({
+				signal: neverAbortedSignal,
+				prompt: async () => "new-user@example.com",
+				notify: () => {},
+			}),
+		).rejects.toThrow(/Account created for new-user@example.com.*run \/login again/);
+		expect(calls).toEqual([ACCOUNT_URL, PASSWORDLESS_URL]);
 	});
 
 	it("rejects an account linked to a third-party sign-in provider", async () => {