diff --git a/.changeset/cli-template-list-api-key.md b/.changeset/cli-template-list-api-key.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a16443d3a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/cli-template-list-api-key.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@e2b/cli': patch
+---
+
+`e2b template list` and `e2b template create` now authenticate with `E2B_API_KEY` instead of requiring `E2B_ACCESS_TOKEN`. `E2B_ACCESS_TOKEN` is deprecated, so commands whose endpoints accept either credential now use the API key. This also unblocks API-key-only environments (e.g. CI/CD) that previously could not create or list templates.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/api.ts b/packages/cli/src/api.ts
index 29b39a50e1..bcbfe2393f 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/api.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/api.ts
@@ -8,40 +8,28 @@ export let apiKey = process.env.E2B_API_KEY
 export let accessToken = process.env.E2B_ACCESS_TOKEN
 export const teamId = process.env.E2B_TEAM_ID
 
-const authErrorBox = (keyName: string) => {
-  let link
-  let msg
-  switch (keyName) {
-    case 'E2B_API_KEY':
-      link = 'https://e2b.dev/dashboard?tab=keys'
-      msg = 'API key'
-      break
-    case 'E2B_ACCESS_TOKEN':
-      link = 'https://e2b.dev/dashboard?tab=personal'
-      msg = 'access token'
-      break
-  }
-  // throwing error in default in switch statement results in unreachable code,
-  // so we need to check if link and msg are defined here instead
-  if (!link || !msg) {
-    throw new Error(`Unknown key name: ${keyName}`)
-  }
-  return boxen.default(
-    `You must be logged in to use this command. Run ${asBold('e2b auth login')}.
+const authErrorBox = (keyName: 'E2B_API_KEY' | 'E2B_ACCESS_TOKEN') => {
+  const link =
+    keyName === 'E2B_API_KEY'
+      ? 'https://e2b.dev/dashboard?tab=keys'
+      : 'https://e2b.dev/dashboard?tab=personal'
+  const msg = keyName === 'E2B_API_KEY' ? 'API key' : 'access token'
+  const body = `You must be logged in to use this command. Run ${asBold(
+    'e2b auth login'
+  )}.
 
 If you are seeing this message in CI/CD you may need to set the ${asBold(
-      `${keyName}`
-    )} environment variable.
-Visit ${asPrimary(link)} to get the ${msg}.`,
-    {
-      width: 70,
-      float: 'center',
-      padding: 0.5,
-      margin: 1,
-      borderStyle: 'round',
-      borderColor: 'redBright',
-    }
-  )
+    keyName
+  )} environment variable.
+Visit ${asPrimary(link)} to get the ${msg}.`
+  return boxen.default(body, {
+    width: 70,
+    float: 'center',
+    padding: 0.5,
+    margin: 1,
+    borderStyle: 'round',
+    borderColor: 'redBright',
+  })
 }
 
 export function ensureAPIKey() {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/template/create.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/template/create.ts
index 2480b87ea5..fc64317144 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/template/create.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/template/create.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import * as boxen from 'boxen'
 import * as commander from 'commander'
 import { defaultBuildLogger, Template, TemplateClass } from 'e2b'
-import { connectionConfig, ensureAccessToken, ensureAPIKey } from 'src/api'
+import { connectionConfig, ensureAPIKey } from 'src/api'
 import {
   defaultDockerfileName,
   fallbackDockerfileName,
@@ -68,8 +68,6 @@ export const createCommand = new commander.Command('create')
       }
     ) => {
       try {
-        // Ensure we have access token
-        ensureAccessToken()
         process.stdout.write('\n')
 
         // Validate template name
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/template/list.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/template/list.ts
index c0a934ae7c..abe40ab0cf 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/template/list.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/template/list.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import * as e2b from 'e2b'
 
 import { listAliases } from '../../utils/format'
 import { sortTemplatesAliases } from 'src/utils/templateSort'
-import { client, ensureAccessToken, resolveTeamId } from 'src/api'
+import { client, ensureAPIKey, resolveTeamId } from 'src/api'
 import { teamOption } from '../../options'
 import { handleE2BRequestError } from '../../utils/errors'
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export const listCommand = new commander.Command('list')
   .action(async (opts: { team: string; format: string }) => {
     try {
       const format = opts.format || 'pretty'
-      ensureAccessToken()
+      ensureAPIKey()
       process.stdout.write('\n')
 
       const templates = await listSandboxTemplates({
diff --git a/packages/cli/tests/commands/template/create.test.ts b/packages/cli/tests/commands/template/create.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4c877d2ef8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/tests/commands/template/create.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import * as fs from 'node:fs/promises'
+import * as path from 'node:path'
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, test } from 'vitest'
+
+const apiKey = process.env.E2B_API_KEY
+const domain = process.env.E2B_DOMAIN || 'e2b.app'
+
+const cliPath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'dist', 'index.js')
+const templateName = `cli-create-api-key-test-${Date.now()}`
+
+describe('template create cli backend integration', () => {
+  let testDir: string
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    if (!apiKey) {
+      throw new Error(
+        'E2B_API_KEY must be set to run template create backend tests'
+      )
+    }
+    testDir = await fs.mkdtemp('e2b-create-test-')
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      path.join(testDir, 'e2b.Dockerfile'),
+      'FROM ubuntu:latest\n'
+    )
+  })
+
+  afterAll(async () => {
+    if (!testDir) return
+    runCli(['template', 'delete', '--yes', templateName])
+    await fs.rm(testDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  test(
+    'template create succeeds with E2B_API_KEY alone (no E2B_ACCESS_TOKEN)',
+    { timeout: 300_000 },
+    () => {
+      const result = runCli([
+        'template',
+        'create',
+        templateName,
+        '--path',
+        testDir,
+      ])
+      const output = String(result.stdout || '') + String(result.stderr || '')
+
+      expect(result.status, output).toBe(0)
+      // Success marker printed by create.ts on a finished build; the failure
+      // path prints "❌ Template build failed." instead.
+      expect(output).toContain('✅ Building sandbox template')
+      expect(output).not.toContain('❌ Template build failed')
+      // Auth never fell through to the access-token error box.
+      expect(output).not.toMatch(/You must be logged in/)
+    }
+  )
+})
+
+function runCli(args: string[]): ReturnType<typeof spawnSync> {
+  // Intentionally exclude E2B_ACCESS_TOKEN from the child env so this test
+  // verifies the API-key-only auth path end-to-end.
+  return spawnSync('node', [cliPath, ...args], {
+    env: {
+      PATH: process.env.PATH,
+      HOME: process.env.HOME,
+      E2B_DOMAIN: domain,
+      E2B_API_KEY: apiKey,
+    },
+    encoding: 'utf8',
+    timeout: 300_000,
+  })
+}