diff --git a/.changeset/violet-emus-wait.md b/.changeset/violet-emus-wait.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a373d4db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/violet-emus-wait.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@cipherstash/cli": minor
+---
+
+Fixed issue where the wizard was checking CipherStash auth based on path and now leverages the auth npm package.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/auth/login.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/auth/login.ts
index 50189d99..0833ac4a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/auth/login.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/auth/login.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,6 @@ import auth from '@cipherstash/auth'
 import * as p from '@clack/prompts'
 const { beginDeviceCodeFlow, bindClientDevice } = auth
 
-// TODO(CIP-2996): @cipherstash/auth@0.35.0 (latest on npm as of 2026-04-17)
-// writes the device-code token to a profile dir that later auth reads do not
-// find, so subsequent CLI invocations fail to resolve credentials. The fix is
-// upstream — bump this catalog pin once a newer @cipherstash/auth that
-// aligns the write + read paths ships. Do not paper over it in the CLI:
-// divergent profile-dir logic across tools is exactly what caused the
-// regression in the first place.
-
 // TODO: pull from the CTS API
 export const regions = [
   { value: 'us-east-1.aws', label: 'us-east-1 (Virginia, USA)' },
@@ -53,7 +45,7 @@ export async function login(region: string, _referrer: string | undefined) {
 
   s.start('Waiting for authorization...')
   const auth = await pending.pollForToken()
-  s.stop('Authenticated! Token saved to ~/.cipherstash/auth.json')
+  s.stop('Authenticated!')
 
   p.log.info(
     `Token expires at: ${new Date(auth.expiresAt * 1000).toISOString()}`,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/lib/prerequisites.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/lib/prerequisites.ts
index 1f15e384..17742b7b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/lib/prerequisites.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/lib/prerequisites.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { existsSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { resolve } from 'node:path'
-import { homedir } from 'node:os'
+import auth from '@cipherstash/auth'
 
 interface PrerequisiteResult {
   ok: boolean
@@ -12,18 +12,17 @@ interface PrerequisiteResult {
  * 1. CipherStash authentication exists
  * 2. stash.config.ts exists in the project
  */
-export function checkPrerequisites(cwd: string): PrerequisiteResult {
+export async function checkPrerequisites(
+  cwd: string,
+): Promise<PrerequisiteResult> {
   const missing: string[] = []
 
-  // Check CipherStash auth
-  const authPath = resolve(homedir(), '.cipherstash', 'auth.json')
-  if (!existsSync(authPath)) {
+  if (!(await hasCredentials())) {
     missing.push(
       'Not authenticated with CipherStash. Run: npx @cipherstash/cli auth login',
     )
   }
 
-  // Check stash.config.ts
   if (!findStashConfig(cwd)) {
     missing.push(
       'No stash.config.ts found. Run: npx @cipherstash/cli db install',
@@ -33,6 +32,23 @@ export function checkPrerequisites(cwd: string): PrerequisiteResult {
   return { ok: missing.length === 0, missing }
 }
 
+// Ask @cipherstash/auth to resolve credentials via its own profile logic
+// rather than probing a hardcoded path — the on-disk layout has shifted
+// between auth versions and duplicating it in the CLI is what caused
+// CIP-2996 in the first place.
+async function hasCredentials(): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    await auth.AutoStrategy.detect().getToken()
+    return true
+  } catch (error) {
+    const code = (error as { code?: string } | null)?.code
+    if (code === 'NOT_AUTHENTICATED' || code === 'MISSING_WORKSPACE_CRN') {
+      return false
+    }
+    throw error
+  }
+}
+
 /** Walk up from cwd to find stash.config.ts. */
 function findStashConfig(startDir: string): string | undefined {
   let dir = resolve(startDir)
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/run.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/run.ts
index a29ba08a..3c52a6a5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/run.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/wizard/run.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ export async function run(options: RunOptions) {
   )
 
   // Phase 1: Prerequisites
-  const prereqs = checkPrerequisites(options.cwd)
+  const prereqs = await checkPrerequisites(options.cwd)
   if (!prereqs.ok) {
     trackPrerequisiteMissing(prereqs.missing)
     p.log.error('Missing prerequisites:')