diff --git a/modules/interact/login.go b/modules/interact/login.go
index b59d24b9..d0c0d2e2 100644
--- a/modules/interact/login.go
+++ b/modules/interact/login.go
@@ -200,25 +200,9 @@ func CreateLogin(ctx context.Context) error {
 			}
 			printTitleAndContent("Selected ssh-key:", sshKey)
 
-			// ssh certificate
-			if strings.Contains(sshKey, "principals") {
-				sshCertPrincipal = regexp.MustCompile(`.*?principals: (.*?)[,|\s]`).FindStringSubmatch(sshKey)[1]
-				if strings.Contains(sshKey, "(ssh-agent)") {
-					sshAgent = true
-					sshKey = ""
-				} else {
-					sshKey = regexp.MustCompile(`\((.*?)\)$`).FindStringSubmatch(sshKey)[1]
-					sshKey = strings.TrimSuffix(sshKey, "-cert.pub")
-				}
-			} else {
-				sshKeyFingerprint = regexp.MustCompile(`(SHA256:.*?)\s`).FindStringSubmatch(sshKey)[1]
-				if strings.Contains(sshKey, "(ssh-agent)") {
-					sshAgent = true
-					sshKey = ""
-				} else {
-					sshKey = regexp.MustCompile(`\((.*?)\)$`).FindStringSubmatch(sshKey)[1]
-					sshKey = strings.TrimSuffix(sshKey, ".pub")
-				}
+			sshKey, sshCertPrincipal, sshKeyFingerprint, sshAgent, err = parseSSHPubkeySelection(sshKey)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -274,6 +258,40 @@ func CreateLogin(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return task.CreateLogin(ctx, name, token, user, passwd, otp, scopes, sshKey, giteaURL, sshCertPrincipal, sshKeyFingerprint, insecure, sshAgent, versionCheck, helper)
 }
 
+func parseSSHPubkeySelection(display string) (sshKey, sshCertPrincipal, sshKeyFingerprint string, sshAgent bool, err error) {
+	if strings.Contains(display, "principals") {
+		if sshCertPrincipal, err = regexpSubmatch(regexp.MustCompile(`.*?principals: (.*?)[,|\s]`), display); err != nil {
+			return "", "", "", false, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse SSH certificate principal from %q: %w", display, err)
+		}
+		if strings.HasSuffix(display, "(ssh-agent)") {
+			return "", sshCertPrincipal, "", true, nil
+		}
+		if sshKey, err = regexpSubmatch(regexp.MustCompile(`\((.*?)\)$`), display); err != nil {
+			return "", "", "", false, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse SSH certificate path from %q: %w", display, err)
+		}
+		return strings.TrimSuffix(sshKey, "-cert.pub"), sshCertPrincipal, "", false, nil
+	}
+
+	if sshKeyFingerprint, err = regexpSubmatch(regexp.MustCompile(`(SHA256:.*?)\s`), display); err != nil {
+		return "", "", "", false, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse SSH key fingerprint from %q: %w", display, err)
+	}
+	if strings.HasSuffix(display, "(ssh-agent)") {
+		return "", "", sshKeyFingerprint, true, nil
+	}
+	if sshKey, err = regexpSubmatch(regexp.MustCompile(`\((.*?)\)$`), display); err != nil {
+		return "", "", "", false, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse SSH key path from %q: %w", display, err)
+	}
+	return strings.TrimSuffix(sshKey, ".pub"), "", sshKeyFingerprint, false, nil
+}
+
+func regexpSubmatch(re *regexp.Regexp, s string) (string, error) {
+	match := re.FindStringSubmatch(s)
+	if len(match) < 2 {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("no match")
+	}
+	return match[1], nil
+}
+
 var tokenScopeOpts = []string{
 	string(gitea.AccessTokenScopeAll),
 	string(gitea.AccessTokenScopeRepo),
diff --git a/modules/interact/login_test.go b/modules/interact/login_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e763ce4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/interact/login_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package interact
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestParseSSHPubkeySelection(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name               string
+		display            string
+		wantSSHKey         string
+		wantCertPrincipal  string
+		wantKeyFingerprint string
+		wantSSHAgent       bool
+		wantErr            bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:               "local ed25519 key",
+			display:            "SHA256:abc ssh-ed25519 comment (/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub)",
+			wantSSHKey:         "/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519",
+			wantKeyFingerprint: "SHA256:abc",
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "agent ed25519 key",
+			display:            "SHA256:abc ssh-ed25519 comment (ssh-agent)",
+			wantKeyFingerprint: "SHA256:abc",
+			wantSSHAgent:       true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "local certificate",
+			display:           "SHA256:abc ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com comment - principals: user1,user2 (/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert.pub)",
+			wantSSHKey:        "/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519",
+			wantCertPrincipal: "user1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "agent certificate",
+			display:           "SHA256:abc ssh-ed25519-cert-v01@openssh.com comment - principals: user1 (ssh-agent)",
+			wantCertPrincipal: "user1",
+			wantSSHAgent:      true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "unexpected display",
+			display: "ssh-ed25519 comment",
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			sshKey, certPrincipal, keyFingerprint, sshAgent, err := parseSSHPubkeySelection(tt.display)
+			if tt.wantErr {
+				require.Error(t, err)
+				return
+			}
+
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantSSHKey, sshKey)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantCertPrincipal, certPrincipal)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantKeyFingerprint, keyFingerprint)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantSSHAgent, sshAgent)
+		})
+	}
+}