diff --git a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/api.ts b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/api.ts
index dde22ac4d..ee57e17a1 100644
--- a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/api.ts
+++ b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/api.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ export async function yextApiRequest(
   path: string,
   config: DeployConfig,
   verbose: boolean = false,
-  data?: object
+  data?: object,
+  expectedStatusMessages: Partial<Record<number, string>> = {}
 ): Promise<YextApiResponse> {
   const url = new URL(`${API_PATH_PREFIX}${path}`, config.apiHost);
   url.searchParams.set("v", "20260819");
@@ -44,7 +45,13 @@ export async function yextApiRequest(
     requestInit.body = JSON.stringify(data);
   }
 
-  const finishLog = logApiCall(logAction, method, url, verbose);
+  const finishLog = logApiCall(
+    logAction,
+    method,
+    url,
+    verbose,
+    expectedStatusMessages
+  );
 
   try {
     const response = await fetch(url, new Request(url, requestInit));
diff --git a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/deploy.test.ts b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/deploy.test.ts
index faa4861d9..035cc5b5e 100644
--- a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/deploy.test.ts
+++ b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/deploy.test.ts
@@ -4,11 +4,25 @@ import path from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
 import prompts from "prompts";
+import ora from "ora";
 import { deploy } from "./deploy.ts";
 import type { DeployConfig } from "./config.ts";
 import type { SectionLibraryRevision } from "./sectionLibraryApi.ts";
 
 vi.mock("prompts");
+vi.mock("ora", () => ({
+  default: vi.fn((options) => {
+    const spinner = {
+      text: typeof options === "string" ? options : options.text,
+      start: vi.fn(),
+      succeed: vi.fn(),
+      fail: vi.fn(),
+      info: vi.fn(),
+    };
+    spinner.start.mockReturnValue(spinner);
+    return spinner;
+  }),
+}));
 
 const config: DeployConfig = {
   accountId: "123",
@@ -38,6 +52,7 @@ let sourceCommitHash: string;
 
 beforeEach(() => {
   vi.mocked(prompts).mockReset();
+  vi.mocked(ora).mockClear();
   vi.spyOn(console, "log").mockImplementation(() => {});
   vi.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {});
   rootDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "deploy-templates-test-"));
@@ -292,6 +307,68 @@ describe("deploy", () => {
     expect(error).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: "built-in library rejection",
+      message:
+        "Provided argument 'section_library_revision' is invalid: cannot create revision for built-in section library",
+      expectedMessage:
+        'Cannot create a revision for a built-in section library. Check the "id" field in src/library/library.json. To deploy your own library, remove the reserved "yext_" prefix and retry.',
+      verbose: false,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "built-in library rejection in verbose mode",
+      message:
+        "Provided argument 'section_library_revision' is invalid: cannot create revision for built-in section library",
+      expectedMessage:
+        'Cannot create a revision for a built-in section library. Check the "id" field in src/library/library.json. To deploy your own library, remove the reserved "yext_" prefix and retry.',
+      verbose: true,
+    },
+    {
+      name: "unrelated rejection with the same error code",
+      message: "The exact API error message.",
+      expectedMessage: "The exact API error message.",
+      verbose: false,
+    },
+  ])("handles $name during revision creation", async (testCase) => {
+    const errorLog = vi.spyOn(console, "error").mockImplementation(() => {});
+    const apiError = {
+      code: 104001,
+      type: "BAD_REQUEST",
+      message: testCase.message,
+      name: "invalidRequest",
+    };
+    vi.stubGlobal(
+      "fetch",
+      vi
+        .fn()
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(
+          new Response(successfulResponse(sectionLibrary), { status: 200 })
+        )
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(
+          new Response(successfulResponse({ sectionLibraryRevisions: [] }), {
+            status: 200,
+          })
+        )
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce(
+          new Response(JSON.stringify({ meta: { errors: [apiError] } }), {
+            status: 400,
+          })
+        )
+    );
+
+    await expect(deploy(config, testCase.verbose)).rejects.toThrow(
+      testCase.expectedMessage
+    );
+    if (testCase.verbose) {
+      expect(errorLog).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        `[debug] API Errors: ${JSON.stringify([apiError])}`
+      );
+    } else {
+      expect(errorLog).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    }
+  });
+
   it("explains how to resolve missing section library write permissions", async () => {
     vi.stubGlobal(
       "fetch",
@@ -354,6 +431,11 @@ describe("deploy", () => {
     await expect(deploy(config)).rejects.toThrow(
       /Yext API key does not have required permissions\./
     );
+    const spinner = vi.mocked(ora).mock.results[0].value;
+    expect(spinner.fail).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "Fetching Section Library... error"
+    );
+    expect(spinner.info).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
   it("uses the API message for error code 104001", async () => {
@@ -477,6 +559,9 @@ describe("deploy", () => {
 
     await deploy(config, false, { isInteractive: true });
 
+    const spinner = vi.mocked(ora).mock.results[0].value;
+    expect(spinner.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith("Section library not found");
+    expect(spinner.fail).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
       2,
       new URL(
@@ -507,6 +592,9 @@ describe("deploy", () => {
       deploy(config, false, { isInteractive: false })
     ).rejects.toThrow(/Section library "library\/123" does not exist/);
 
+    const spinner = vi.mocked(ora).mock.results[0].value;
+    expect(spinner.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith("Section library not found");
+    expect(spinner.fail).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(fetchMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(prompts).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
diff --git a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/logging.ts b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/logging.ts
index 299c29189..c0c3c2e58 100644
--- a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/logging.ts
+++ b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/logging.ts
@@ -5,14 +5,18 @@ export function logApiCall(
   text: string,
   method: string,
   url: URL,
-  verbose: boolean = false
+  verbose: boolean = false,
+  expectedStatusMessages: Partial<Record<number, string>> = {}
 ): (res?: YextApiResponse) => void {
   const spinner = text.length > 0 ? ora(text).start() : undefined;
   const finishVerboseLog = verbose ? verboseLogApiCall(method, url) : undefined;
 
   return (res?: YextApiResponse) => {
     if (spinner) {
-      if (res?.ok) {
+      const expectedMessage = res && expectedStatusMessages[res.status];
+      if (expectedMessage) {
+        spinner.info(expectedMessage);
+      } else if (res?.ok) {
         spinner.succeed(`${text} ${color("done", true)}`);
       } else {
         spinner.fail(`${text} ${color("error", false)}`);
diff --git a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/sectionLibraryApi.ts b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/sectionLibraryApi.ts
index 0687b22a4..ecc0c9814 100644
--- a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/sectionLibraryApi.ts
+++ b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/commands/internal/deploy/sectionLibraryApi.ts
@@ -93,6 +93,15 @@ export async function createSectionLibraryRevision(
   );
 
   if (!result.ok) {
+    if (
+      result.errors[0]?.message.includes(
+        "cannot create revision for built-in section library"
+      )
+    ) {
+      throw new Error(
+        'Cannot create a revision for a built-in section library. Check the "id" field in src/library/library.json. To deploy your own library, remove the reserved "yext_" prefix and retry.'
+      );
+    }
     throw sectionLibraryApiError(
       result.errors,
       "Failed to upload current commit as a Section Library Revision"
@@ -170,7 +179,9 @@ export async function getSectionLibrary(
     "GET",
     `accounts/me/sectionLibraries/${encodeURIComponent(libraryId)}`,
     config,
-    verbose
+    verbose,
+    undefined,
+    { 404: "Section library not found" }
   );
 
   if (!result.ok && result.status !== 404) {
diff --git a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/yextve.test.ts b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/yextve.test.ts
index 7ef88bc3d..c049bd277 100644
--- a/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/yextve.test.ts
+++ b/packages/visual-editor/src/cli/yextve.test.ts
@@ -300,6 +300,27 @@ describe("yextve", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("rejects a library id containing an underscore during validation", async () => {
+    const rootDir = createTempRoot();
+    fs.outputJsonSync(path.join(rootDir, "src", "library", "library.json"), {
+      schemaVersion: 1,
+      id: "foo_test",
+      displayName: "Library",
+    });
+
+    const result = await invoke(
+      ["validate", "--skip-repo-structure-check", "--skip-code-check"],
+      rootDir
+    );
+
+    expect(result.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain("src/library/library.json");
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain(
+      "id must be 2–63 characters, contain only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, start with a lowercase letter, and end with a letter or number."
+    );
+    expect(result.stdout).toContain("Validation failed. 1 error.");
+  });
+
   it("renders all skipped stages and succeeds", async () => {
     const result = await invoke([
       "validate",
diff --git a/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.test.ts b/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.test.ts
index 2bd3f96b0..c665ac119 100644
--- a/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.test.ts
+++ b/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.test.ts
@@ -71,15 +71,43 @@ describe("validateLibraryMetadata", () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it("reports an unsafe id", () => {
+  it.each([
+    "unsafe id",
+    "foo_test",
+    "safe-id\n",
+    "Safe-id",
+    "safe-Id",
+    "1safe-id",
+    "-safe-id",
+    "safe-id-",
+    "a",
+    "a".repeat(64),
+  ])("reports an unsafe id %s", (id) => {
     const rootDir = createTempRoot();
-    writeLibraryJson(rootDir, validMetadata({ id: "unsafe id" }));
+    writeLibraryJson(rootDir, validMetadata({ id }));
 
     expect(validateLibraryMetadata(rootDir).issues).toContainEqual(
-      expect.objectContaining({ rule: "field/id/safe" })
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        rule: "field/id/safe",
+        message:
+          "id must be 2–63 characters, contain only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, start with a lowercase letter, and end with a letter or number.",
+      })
     );
   });
 
+  it.each(["ab", "a0", "a-b", "a".repeat(63)])(
+    "accepts a valid id %s",
+    (id) => {
+      const rootDir = createTempRoot();
+      writeLibraryJson(rootDir, validMetadata({ id }));
+
+      expect(validateLibraryMetadata(rootDir)).toEqual({
+        issues: [],
+        metadata: validMetadata({ id }),
+      });
+    }
+  );
+
   it("aggregates independent field errors", () => {
     const rootDir = createTempRoot();
     writeLibraryJson(rootDir, {
diff --git a/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.ts b/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.ts
index 7e90e7ce1..2e2fdb800 100644
--- a/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.ts
+++ b/packages/visual-editor/src/internal/sectionLibraryValidation/stages/api/libraryMetadata.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ import fs from "fs-extra";
 import type { LibraryMetadata } from "../../../../types/sectionLibrary.ts";
 import type { ValidationIssue } from "../../types.ts";
 
-const safeIdPattern = /^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,64}$/;
+// Require the actual end of input; JavaScript $ also matches before a trailing newline.
+const safeIdPattern = /^[a-z][a-z0-9-]{0,61}[a-z0-9](?![\s\S])/;
 const descriptionMaxLength = 1024;
 
 /** validateLibraryMetadata validates that the library.json has the required fields. */
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ export const validateLibraryMetadata = (
   if (id && !safeIdPattern.test(id)) {
     addIssue(
       "field/id/safe",
-      "id must be at most 64 characters and may contain only letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens."
+      "id must be 2–63 characters, contain only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, start with a lowercase letter, and end with a letter or number."
     );
   }