---
title: Exit codes
description: What lawbook's exit codes 0, 1, and 2 mean.
sidebar:
  order: 9
---

| Code | Meaning                                                                                                   |
| ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `0`  | Success. For `check`, every rule passed, was skipped, or had only `warn` or baselined findings; for `test`, every fixture landed on its side. |
| `1`  | A requested check failed. `check` returns it when a rule with `level: error` (the default) has a finding the baseline does not hide; `test` returns it when a fixture lands on the wrong side of its threshold. Findings under a `level: warn` rule leave the code at `0`. |
| `2`  | Lawbook could not do what was asked: bad usage, a missing or invalid config, an unreadable file, an invalid pattern, an unknown `--only` id, a missing or invalid `--baseline` file, `--changed` or `--since` outside a git repository or with a ref git cannot resolve, `--changed-lines` without `--changed` or `--since`, a directory that cannot be written, a run over `llm.maxRequests`, or a provider that could not be reached, refused the credentials, or gave no verdict. |

Code `1` prints the findings on stdout and nothing on stderr, so a CI log
shows the report once. Code `2` for usage, config, or client setup problems
comes with a one-line `error:` message on stderr and no report. Code `2` for
a provider error during a `standard` rule still prints the report: the rule
shows as `ERROR` with the files that could not be judged and their reasons,
the other rules' results stand, and stderr stays empty. See
[LLM rules](/lawbook/llm-rules#provider-errors).