diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 294bb86..a7c35e1 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -144,12 +144,18 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Bootstrap auth and write credentials
         run: |
-          RESULT=$(curl -sf -X POST http://localhost:3100/api/v1/auth/bootstrap \
+          RESULT=$(curl -s -w "\nHTTP_STATUS:%{http_code}" -X POST http://localhost:3100/api/v1/auth/bootstrap \
             -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
             -d '{"email":"ci@test.local","password":"ci-smoke-test"}')
-          echo "Auth bootstrapped"
+          HTTP_CODE=$(echo "$RESULT" | tail -1 | sed 's/HTTP_STATUS://')
+          BODY=$(echo "$RESULT" | sed '$d')
+          echo "Bootstrap response (HTTP $HTTP_CODE): $BODY"
+          if [ "$HTTP_CODE" -ge 400 ]; then
+            echo "::error::Bootstrap failed with HTTP $HTTP_CODE"
+            exit 1
+          fi
           mkdir -p ~/.mcpctl
-          echo "$RESULT" | node -e "
+          echo "$BODY" | node -e "
             const res = JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync('/dev/stdin','utf-8'));
             const creds = {token: res.token, mcpdUrl: 'http://localhost:3100', user: 'ci@test.local'};
             require('fs').writeFileSync(require('os').homedir()+'/.mcpctl/credentials', JSON.stringify(creds));