diff --git a/hermes_cli/auth_commands.py b/hermes_cli/auth_commands.py
index 77c867d8a7..954c173cd2 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/auth_commands.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/auth_commands.py
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def _resolve_custom_provider_input(raw: str) -> str | None:
         if normalized_provider_key and normalized_provider_key == normalized:
             return normalized_provider_key
         if _normalize_custom_pool_name(display_name) == normalized:
-            return pool_key
+            return normalized_provider_key or pool_key
     return None
 
 
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_auth_commands.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_auth_commands.py
index 67bee98811..29e992d2bd 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_auth_commands.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_auth_commands.py
@@ -314,6 +314,29 @@ def test_interactive_auth_add_accepts_non_registry_configured_provider(
     assert payload["credential_pool"]["private-groq"][0]["access_token"] == "private-key"
 
 
+def test_interactive_auth_add_normalizes_display_name_to_provider_key(
+    tmp_path, monkeypatch
+):
+    hermes_home = tmp_path / "hermes"
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(hermes_home))
+    _write_auth_store(tmp_path, {"version": 1, "providers": {}})
+    _write_groq_provider_config(
+        tmp_path, provider_key="groq-cloud", name="Groq Enterprise"
+    )
+
+    from hermes_cli import auth_commands
+
+    answers = iter(["Groq Enterprise", "primary"])
+    monkeypatch.setattr(auth_commands, "line_input", lambda _prompt: next(answers))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(auth_commands, "masked_secret_prompt", lambda _prompt: "gsk-test")
+
+    auth_commands._interactive_add()
+
+    payload = json.loads((hermes_home / "auth.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    assert "custom:groq-enterprise" not in payload["credential_pool"]
+    assert payload["credential_pool"]["groq-cloud"][0]["access_token"] == "gsk-test"
+
+
 def test_auth_add_explicit_custom_provider_keeps_prefixed_pool_key(
     tmp_path, monkeypatch
 ):