Exit Codes

Exit Codes

clido uses the following exit codes:

Code	Name	When
0	Success	The agent completed the task successfully
1	Error	A runtime error occurred (provider error, tool failure, unexpected panic)
2	Config / usage error	Bad flag, unknown provider, missing required config, invalid config file
3	Soft limit	The agent was stopped due to --max-turns or --max-budget-usd being reached
130	Interrupted	The user pressed Ctrl+C

Code 0 — Success

The agent ran to completion and returned a response. The task may or may not have been completed to the user’s satisfaction — this is the LLM’s judgment, not clido’s.

clido "list files"
echo $?  # 0

Code 1 — Error

A non-recoverable error occurred. Examples:

• The provider API returned a persistent error (rate limit exhausted, authentication failure, server error)
• A required file could not be read
• An unexpected internal error (bug in clido)

Error details are printed to stderr.

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=invalid clido "test"
echo $?  # 1

Code 2 — Config / Usage error

A configuration or command-line usage problem. Examples:

• Unknown flag passed
• --provider set to an unrecognised value
• Referenced profile does not exist in config.toml
• Config file is malformed TOML
• Required input not provided to a workflow

clido --unknown-flag "test"
echo $?  # 2

Code 3 — Soft limit

The agent was stopped because a resource limit was reached. The agent’s partial output (if any) is still printed. This is not an error — it is an expected outcome when the task is larger than the configured limits.

clido --max-turns 1 "do a huge task"
echo $?  # 3

In JSON output mode, the exit_status field will be "max_turns" or "max_budget".

Code 130 — Interrupted

The user pressed Ctrl+C (SIGINT). The agent loop is cancelled and clido exits immediately.

clido "long running task"
# press Ctrl+C
echo $?  # 130

Checking exit codes in scripts

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e

clido --max-budget-usd 0.50 --output-format json "refactor module" > result.json
EXIT=$?

case $EXIT in
  0) echo "Success" ;;
  1) echo "Error — check stderr" >&2; exit 1 ;;
  2) echo "Config error" >&2; exit 2 ;;
  3) echo "Budget or turn limit reached — partial result in result.json" ;;
  130) echo "Interrupted" >&2; exit 130 ;;
esac