diff --git a/eval_protocol/cli_commands/create_rft.py b/eval_protocol/cli_commands/create_rft.py
index 1f903d4b..5828b3ea 100644
--- a/eval_protocol/cli_commands/create_rft.py
+++ b/eval_protocol/cli_commands/create_rft.py
@@ -487,16 +487,23 @@ def create_rft_command(args) -> int:
                 return 1
 
     # Build training config/body
-    # Ensure base model is explicitly provided for clarity
-    if not getattr(args, "base_model", None):
-        print(
-            "Error: --base-model is required. Please specify the base model resource id (e.g., accounts/{account}/models/<model_id>)."
-        )
+    # Exactly one of base-model or warm-start-from must be provided
+    base_model_raw = getattr(args, "base_model", None)
+    warm_start_from_raw = getattr(args, "warm_start_from", None)
+    # Treat empty/whitespace strings as not provided
+    base_model = base_model_raw.strip() if isinstance(base_model_raw, str) else base_model_raw
+    warm_start_from = warm_start_from_raw.strip() if isinstance(warm_start_from_raw, str) else warm_start_from_raw
+    has_base_model = bool(base_model)
+    has_warm_start = bool(warm_start_from)
+    if (not has_base_model and not has_warm_start) or (has_base_model and has_warm_start):
+        print("Error: exactly one of --base-model or --warm-start-from must be specified.")
         return 1
 
-    training_config: Dict[str, Any] = {"baseModel": args.base_model}
-    if getattr(args, "warm_start_from", None):
-        training_config["warmStartFrom"] = args.warm_start_from
+    training_config: Dict[str, Any] = {}
+    if has_base_model:
+        training_config["baseModel"] = base_model
+    if has_warm_start:
+        training_config["warmStartFrom"] = warm_start_from
 
     # Optional hyperparameters
     for key, arg_name in [