> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sonarsource.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-cli/using-sonarqube-cli/exit-codes.md).
# Exit codes
A reference for the exit codes the SonarQube CLI returns, so you can integrate it into scripts, CI/CD jobs, and Git hooks.
The SonarQube CLI uses exit codes to signal what happened. Use them in scripts and your CI/CD environment to gate pipelines, fail builds, or run conditional checks.
| Code | Meaning |
| ----- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `0` | Success. The command completed and (where applicable) found nothing to report. `sonar remediate` also exits `0` when the [Remediation Agent](/agent-centric-development-cycle/in-your-long-living-branches-the-code-maintenance-loop/remediation-agent.md) is not eligible or not enabled for your organization (the CLI prints an informational message instead). |
| `1` | Command failure. Network error, authentication failure, server error, or any other unhandled problem. |
| `2` | Invalid options. You passed conflicting or unknown flags, or you omitted a required argument. |
| `51` | Findings or quality gate failure. `sonar analyze secrets` reports secrets, `sonar analyze` / `sonar analyze agentic` reports issues on the analyzed change set, or `sonar quality-gate status` reports a failed quality gate. |
| `130` | Interrupted. You pressed `Ctrl+C` while the CLI was running. |
> **Note:** Exit code 3 is not listed in this page's exit codes table. If you're seeing it, you're likely running `sonar-scanner` (SonarScanner CLI) rather than `sonar` (SonarQube CLI). These are separate products. See the SonarScanner CLI docs for [SonarQube Server](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/analyzing-source-code/scanners/sonarscanner/) or [SonarQube Cloud](/sonarqube-cloud/analyzing-source-code/scanners/sonarscanner-cli.md).
## How to use these in scripts
### Treat findings as a failure
Because secrets and analysis findings exit with `51`, fail a CI step automatically:
```bash
sonar analyze secrets src/
# Step fails if secrets are present (exit 51), passes otherwise.
```
### Distinguish "no findings" from "command broke"
If you want to keep going on findings but stop on real errors, branch on the exit code:
```bash
sonar analyze --staged
case $? in
0) echo "Clean, no new issues." ;;
51) echo "Issues found, but analysis succeeded." ;;
*) echo "Analysis failed (exit $?)."; exit 1 ;;
esac
```
### Gate a CI step on quality gate status
`sonar quality-gate status` exits `51` when the quality gate fails, so a pipeline step fails automatically. When you omit `--branch` and `--pull-request`, the command auto-detects a pull request for the current git branch when SonarQube has analyzed exactly one matching pull request; otherwise it reports the project's default branch. Pass `--branch` or `--pull-request` when the pipeline must check a specific scope. For a file or directory path, exit `51` means that path has failing conditions; exit `0` also covers a `[ยท Not applicable]` result (no conditions apply to the path). A path that cannot be resolved in the project tree exits `2`.
```bash
sonar quality-gate status -p my-project
# Step fails when the quality gate does not pass (exit 51), passes otherwise.
```
### Tolerate `Ctrl+C` cleanly
In long-running pipelines, treat `130` as a user-initiated cancel and avoid retrying:
```bash
sonar analyze
rc=$?
if [ "$rc" -eq 130 ]; then
echo "Cancelled."; exit 130
fi
```
## Related pages
* [Commands reference](/sonarqube-cli/using-sonarqube-cli/commands.md)
* [Environment variables](/sonarqube-cli/using-sonarqube-cli/environment-variables.md)
* [Output formats](/sonarqube-cli/using-sonarqube-cli/output-formats.md)
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