diff --git a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
index f2e569c609..b0e1a5121b 100644
--- a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 ### Notable Changes
 
 ### CLI
+* Ctrl+C in an interactive prompt now prints `cancelled` and exits 130 instead of `Error: user aborted` / `Error: ^C` and exit 1. Applies to all `huh`-based prompts (e.g. `databricks aitools`, `databricks apps init`) and the bubbletea-based prompts in `libs/cmdio`.
 
 ### Bundles
 * The error reported when a direct-only resource (catalogs, external locations, vector search endpoints) is used with the terraform engine now also suggests setting `bundle.engine: direct` in `databricks.yml`, in addition to the `DATABRICKS_BUNDLE_ENGINE` environment variable ([#5295](https://github.com/databricks/cli/pull/5295)).
diff --git a/cmd/root/root.go b/cmd/root/root.go
index 6b6de2a9ba..3e4c87c8d7 100644
--- a/cmd/root/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root/root.go
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"runtime"
 	"runtime/debug"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/charmbracelet/huh"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/internal/build"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/libs/auth"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/libs/cmdctx"
@@ -22,6 +24,32 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
+// ExitInterrupted is the exit code main.go uses when the user cancelled an
+// interactive prompt with Ctrl+C. Matches the POSIX 128+SIGINT convention so
+// shell scripts can distinguish a user cancel from a genuine command failure.
+const ExitInterrupted = 130
+
+// IsInterrupted reports whether err indicates the user cancelled an
+// interactive prompt with Ctrl+C. Covers both cmdio's TUI prompts and the
+// huh library used by aitools. main.go reads this to pick an exit code.
+func IsInterrupted(err error) bool {
+	return errors.Is(err, cmdio.ErrInterrupted) || errors.Is(err, huh.ErrUserAborted)
+}
+
+// ExitCodeFor maps the result of Execute to a process exit code.
+// 0 = success, ExitInterrupted (130) = user Ctrl+C, 1 = any other error.
+// Single source of truth shared between Execute's telemetry and main.go.
+func ExitCodeFor(err error) int {
+	switch {
+	case err == nil:
+		return 0
+	case IsInterrupted(err):
+		return ExitInterrupted
+	default:
+		return 1
+	}
+}
+
 func New(ctx context.Context) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:     "databricks",
@@ -144,7 +172,14 @@ Stack Trace:
 
 	// Run the command
 	cmd, err = cmd.ExecuteContextC(ctx)
-	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, ErrAlreadyPrinted) {
+	interrupted := IsInterrupted(err)
+	switch {
+	case err == nil, errors.Is(err, ErrAlreadyPrinted):
+		// ErrAlreadyPrinted wins over interrupted: a subcommand that
+		// printed its own cancel message should not be overridden.
+	case interrupted:
+		fmt.Fprintln(cmd.ErrOrStderr(), "cancelled")
+	default:
 		if cmdctx.HasConfigUsed(cmd.Context()) {
 			cfg := cmdctx.ConfigUsed(cmd.Context())
 			err = auth.EnrichAuthError(cmd.Context(), cfg, err)
@@ -152,30 +187,27 @@ Stack Trace:
 		fmt.Fprintf(cmd.ErrOrStderr(), "Error: %s\n", err.Error())
 	}
 
+	exitCode := ExitCodeFor(err)
+
 	// Log exit status and error
 	// We only log if logger initialization succeeded and is stored in command
 	// context
 	if logger, ok := log.FromContext(cmd.Context()); ok {
-		if err == nil {
-			logger.Info("completed execution",
-				slog.String("exit_code", "0"))
-		} else if errors.Is(err, ErrAlreadyPrinted) {
-			logger.Debug("failed execution",
-				slog.String("exit_code", "1"),
-			)
-		} else {
+		switch {
+		case err == nil:
+			logger.Info("completed execution", slog.String("exit_code", strconv.Itoa(exitCode)))
+		case interrupted:
+			logger.Info("cancelled execution", slog.String("exit_code", strconv.Itoa(exitCode)))
+		case errors.Is(err, ErrAlreadyPrinted):
+			logger.Debug("failed execution", slog.String("exit_code", strconv.Itoa(exitCode)))
+		default:
 			logger.Info("failed execution",
-				slog.String("exit_code", "1"),
+				slog.String("exit_code", strconv.Itoa(exitCode)),
 				slog.String("error", err.Error()),
 			)
 		}
 	}
 
-	exitCode := 0
-	if err != nil {
-		exitCode = 1
-	}
-
 	commandStr := commandString(cmd)
 	ctx = cmd.Context()
 
diff --git a/cmd/root/root_test.go b/cmd/root/root_test.go
index 44a0707398..bb97e0a552 100644
--- a/cmd/root/root_test.go
+++ b/cmd/root/root_test.go
@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@ package root
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/charmbracelet/huh"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/libs/cmdctx"
+	"github.com/databricks/cli/libs/cmdio"
 	"github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-go/apierr"
 	"github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-go/config"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -77,6 +81,77 @@ func TestExecuteNoEnrichmentWithoutConfigUsed(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NotContains(t, output, "Next steps:")
 }
 
+func TestIsInterrupted(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		err  error
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"nil", nil, false},
+		{"random error", errors.New("boom"), false},
+		{"cmdio interrupt", cmdio.ErrInterrupted, true},
+		{"huh aborted", huh.ErrUserAborted, true},
+		{"wrapped cmdio interrupt", fmt.Errorf("prompt: %w", cmdio.ErrInterrupted), true},
+		{"wrapped huh aborted", fmt.Errorf("form: %w", huh.ErrUserAborted), true},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.want, IsInterrupted(tc.err))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExecuteInterruptPrintsCancelled(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		err  error
+	}{
+		{"cmdio interrupt", cmdio.ErrInterrupted},
+		{"huh aborted", huh.ErrUserAborted},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			stderr := &bytes.Buffer{}
+			cmd := &cobra.Command{
+				Use:           "test",
+				SilenceUsage:  true,
+				SilenceErrors: true,
+				RunE:          func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error { return tc.err },
+			}
+			cmd.SetErr(stderr)
+
+			err := Execute(t.Context(), cmd)
+			require.Error(t, err)
+			assert.True(t, IsInterrupted(err))
+
+			output := stderr.String()
+			assert.Equal(t, "cancelled\n", output)
+			assert.NotContains(t, output, "Error:")
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExitCodeFor(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		err  error
+		want int
+	}{
+		{"nil", nil, 0},
+		{"random error", errors.New("boom"), 1},
+		{"already printed", ErrAlreadyPrinted, 1},
+		{"cmdio interrupt", cmdio.ErrInterrupted, ExitInterrupted},
+		{"huh aborted", huh.ErrUserAborted, ExitInterrupted},
+		{"wrapped cmdio interrupt", fmt.Errorf("prompt: %w", cmdio.ErrInterrupted), ExitInterrupted},
+		{"wrapped huh aborted", fmt.Errorf("form: %w", huh.ErrUserAborted), ExitInterrupted},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.want, ExitCodeFor(tc.err))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestExecuteErrAlreadyPrintedNotEnriched(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := t.Context()
 	stderr := &bytes.Buffer{}
diff --git a/libs/cmdio/io.go b/libs/cmdio/io.go
index a25062fcd3..054ad16c58 100644
--- a/libs/cmdio/io.go
+++ b/libs/cmdio/io.go
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/libs/flags"
 )
 
-// errCtrlC is returned when the user cancels a TUI prompt with Ctrl+C. The
-// "^C" string matches the historical wire format; goldens depend on it.
-var errCtrlC = errors.New("^C")
+// ErrInterrupted is returned when the user cancels a TUI prompt with Ctrl+C.
+// The "^C" string matches the historical wire format; goldens depend on it.
+// Callers above the cobra layer (cmd/root) recognise this sentinel to print
+// "cancelled" and exit with code 130 instead of an error stack.
+var ErrInterrupted = errors.New("^C")
 
 // runTUI runs a tea.Program through cmdIO's tea program slot so spinners and
 // pagers can't fight a prompt for the terminal. Blocks until the model quits.
@@ -21,7 +23,7 @@ func (c *cmdIO) runTUI(m tea.Model) (tea.Model, error) {
 	p := tea.NewProgram(m,
 		tea.WithInput(c.in),
 		tea.WithOutput(c.err),
-		// Ctrl+C is delivered as a key event so the model can return errCtrlC.
+		// Ctrl+C is delivered as a key event so the model can return ErrInterrupted.
 		tea.WithoutSignalHandler(),
 	)
 	c.acquireTeaProgram(p)
diff --git a/libs/cmdio/prompt.go b/libs/cmdio/prompt.go
index 8c8ca1a3a3..ca6faf4282 100644
--- a/libs/cmdio/prompt.go
+++ b/libs/cmdio/prompt.go
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ func (c *cmdIO) runPromptModel(m *promptModel) (string, error) {
 	pm := final.(*promptModel)
 	switch {
 	case pm.cancelled:
-		return "", errCtrlC
+		return "", ErrInterrupted
 	case pm.deleted:
 		return "", io.EOF
 	}
diff --git a/libs/cmdio/select.go b/libs/cmdio/select.go
index 2d481139ba..b861eb93bc 100644
--- a/libs/cmdio/select.go
+++ b/libs/cmdio/select.go
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ func (c *cmdIO) runSelectModel(m *selectModel) (int, error) {
 	}
 	sm := final.(*selectModel)
 	if sm.cancelled {
-		return 0, errCtrlC
+		return 0, ErrInterrupted
 	}
 	return sm.originalIndex(), nil
 }
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index e81dde6946..ccb886f8d9 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -15,7 +15,5 @@ import (
 func main() {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	err := root.Execute(ctx, cmd.New(ctx))
-	if err != nil {
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
+	os.Exit(root.ExitCodeFor(err))
 }