diff --git a/internal/api/types.go b/internal/api/types.go
index d0ab6ce..d92591b 100644
--- a/internal/api/types.go
+++ b/internal/api/types.go
@@ -382,6 +382,7 @@ type AppBuild struct {
 	Status    string `json:"status"`
 	CreatedAt string `json:"createdAt"`
 	UpdatedAt string `json:"updatedAt"`
+	InitError string `json:"initError,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // BaseImagePayload represents the payload for creating a base image
diff --git a/internal/ui/commands/deploy.go b/internal/ui/commands/deploy.go
index ff2d561..3693089 100644
--- a/internal/ui/commands/deploy.go
+++ b/internal/ui/commands/deploy.go
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ func (m *DeployView) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 		if ui.IsTerminalStatus(msg.status) {
 			// Terminal status detected, trigger completion
 			return m, func() tea.Msg {
-				return buildCompleteMsg{status: msg.status}
+				return buildCompleteMsg{status: msg.status, initError: msg.initError}
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -541,15 +541,23 @@ func (m *DeployView) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 
 			if m.conf.SimpleOutput() {
 				fmt.Printf("✗ Build failed with status: %s\n", msg.status)
+				if msg.initError != "" {
+					fmt.Println()
+					fmt.Println(msg.initError)
+				}
 				return m, tea.Quit
 			}
 
 			// Print error message to scrollback in interactive mode
-			return m, tea.Sequence(
+			cmds := []tea.Cmd{
 				tea.Println(""),
 				tea.Println(ui.ErrorStyle.Render(fmt.Sprintf("✗ Build failed with status: %s", msg.status))),
-				tea.Quit,
-			)
+			}
+			if msg.initError != "" {
+				cmds = append(cmds, tea.Println(""), tea.Println(msg.initError))
+			}
+			cmds = append(cmds, tea.Quit)
+			return m, tea.Sequence(cmds...)
 		}
 
 	case confirmationResponseMsg:
@@ -858,8 +866,9 @@ type appCreatedMsg struct {
 type zipUploadedMsg struct{}
 
 type buildStatusUpdateMsg struct {
-	buildID string
-	status  string
+	buildID   string
+	status    string
+	initError string
 }
 
 type buildStatusPollErrorMsg struct {
@@ -867,11 +876,13 @@ type buildStatusPollErrorMsg struct {
 }
 
 type buildCompleteMsg struct {
-	status string
+	status    string
+	initError string
 }
 
 type logDrainCompleteMsg struct {
-	status string // Final build status to use for completion
+	status    string // Final build status to use for completion
+	initError string // User-facing error message persisted on the build
 }
 
 type buildCancelledMsg struct {
@@ -1220,8 +1231,9 @@ func (m *DeployView) pollBuildStatus() tea.Msg {
 
 	// Return status update message
 	return buildStatusUpdateMsg{
-		buildID: build.Id,
-		status:  build.Status,
+		buildID:   build.Id,
+		status:    build.Status,
+		initError: build.InitError,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/ui/commands/deploy_test.go b/internal/ui/commands/deploy_test.go
index 96258f0..c594eec 100644
--- a/internal/ui/commands/deploy_test.go
+++ b/internal/ui/commands/deploy_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package commands
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/cerebriumai/cerebrium/internal/api"
@@ -1179,3 +1180,83 @@ func TestDeployView_View(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Contains(t, view, "cancelled")
 	})
 }
+
+// TestDeployView_initErrorReachesOutput covers the initError plumbing from the
+// build status response through to the failure output. The message is only
+// carried by the poll → complete → drain messages, so a dropped field is
+// otherwise invisible.
+func TestDeployView_initErrorReachesOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	newFailingDeploy := func(t *testing.T, initError string) *DeployView {
+		t.Helper()
+
+		mockClient := apimock.NewMockClient(t)
+		mockClient.EXPECT().GetBuild(mock.Anything, "test-project", "test-project-fail-app", "build-fail").
+			Return(&api.AppBuild{
+				Id:        "build-fail",
+				Status:    "init_failure",
+				InitError: initError,
+			}, nil)
+
+		model := NewDeployView(t.Context(), DeployConfig{
+			DisplayConfig: ui.DisplayConfig{
+				IsInteractive:    false,
+				DisableAnimation: true,
+			},
+			Config: &projectconfig.ProjectConfig{
+				Deployment: projectconfig.DeploymentConfig{Name: "fail-app"},
+			},
+			ProjectID: "test-project",
+			Client:    mockClient,
+		})
+		model.state = StateBuildingApp
+		model.buildID = "build-fail"
+
+		return model
+	}
+
+	t.Run("initError is printed after the failure line", func(t *testing.T) {
+		const initError = "No capacity available for the requested compute. Try a different region."
+
+		model := newFailingDeploy(t, initError)
+
+		statusMsg, ok := model.pollBuildStatus().(buildStatusUpdateMsg)
+		require.True(t, ok, "pollBuildStatus should report a status update")
+		require.Equal(t, initError, statusMsg.initError, "initError dropped between GetBuild and the status message")
+
+		output := captureStdout(t, func() {
+			uitesting.NewTestHarness(t, model).
+				Step(uitesting.TestStep[*DeployView]{
+					Name: "build_failed_with_init_error",
+					Msg:  statusMsg,
+					ModelAssert: func(t *testing.T, m *DeployView) {
+						assert.Equal(t, StateDeployError, m.state)
+					},
+				}).
+				Run(t)
+		})
+
+		failureLine := strings.Index(output, "Build failed with status: init_failure")
+		detail := strings.Index(output, initError)
+		require.NotEqual(t, -1, failureLine, "failure line missing from output:\n%s", output)
+		require.NotEqual(t, -1, detail, "initError missing from output:\n%s", output)
+		assert.Less(t, failureLine, detail, "initError should follow the failure line")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("no initError prints only the failure line", func(t *testing.T) {
+		model := newFailingDeploy(t, "")
+
+		statusMsg, ok := model.pollBuildStatus().(buildStatusUpdateMsg)
+		require.True(t, ok, "pollBuildStatus should report a status update")
+
+		output := captureStdout(t, func() {
+			uitesting.NewTestHarness(t, model).
+				Step(uitesting.TestStep[*DeployView]{
+					Name: "build_failed_without_init_error",
+					Msg:  statusMsg,
+				}).
+				Run(t)
+		})
+
+		assert.Equal(t, "✗ Build failed with status: init_failure\n", output)
+	})
+}