diff --git a/packages/app/src/cli/services/context.ts b/packages/app/src/cli/services/context.ts
index ca040e6942..6c088b74ec 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/cli/services/context.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/cli/services/context.ts
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ export async function ensureDeployContext(options: DeployContextOptions): Promis
   const {reset, force, noRelease} = options
   let developerPlatformClient = options.developerPlatformClient
   // do the link here
-  const [remoteApp] = await fetchAppAndIdentifiers(options, developerPlatformClient, true, true)
+  const [remoteApp] = await fetchAppAndIdentifiers(options, developerPlatformClient, true, !options.apiKey)
 
   developerPlatformClient = remoteApp.developerPlatformClient ?? developerPlatformClient