diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5d54f00..efa3fd4 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@decodo/cli",
-  "version": "0.1.2",
+  "version": "0.1.3",
   "description": "Official CLI for the Decodo APIs",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",
diff --git a/src/cli/services/configure-commander-exit.ts b/src/cli/services/configure-commander-exit.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5cfbff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/services/configure-commander-exit.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import type { Command, CommanderError } from "commander";
+import { EXIT } from "../../platform/constants.js";
+
+function applyCommanderExit(
+  command: Command,
+  handler: (err: CommanderError) => never
+): void {
+  command.exitOverride(handler);
+  for (const subcommand of command.commands) {
+    applyCommanderExit(subcommand, handler);
+  }
+}
+
+export function configureCommanderExit(program: Command): void {
+  applyCommanderExit(program, (err: CommanderError) => {
+    process.exit(err.exitCode === 0 ? EXIT.OK : EXIT.USAGE);
+  });
+}
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 2fa95b3..7aa2b60 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import { Command } from "commander";
 import { createCommands } from "./cli/register.js";
+import { configureCommanderExit } from "./cli/services/configure-commander-exit.js";
 import { handleCliError } from "./platform/services/handle-cli-error.js";
 
 function readVersion(): string {
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     program.addCommand(command);
   }
 
+  configureCommanderExit(program);
+
   await program.parseAsync(process.argv);
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/cli/services/configure-commander-exit.test.ts b/tests/cli/services/configure-commander-exit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71d0a0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cli/services/configure-commander-exit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import { Command } from "commander";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { configureCommanderExit } from "../../../src/cli/services/configure-commander-exit.js";
+
+describe("configureCommanderExit", () => {
+  let exitCode: number | undefined;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    exitCode = undefined;
+
+    vi.spyOn(process, "exit").mockImplementation((code) => {
+      exitCode = code as number;
+      throw new Error(`process.exit:${code}`);
+    });
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("maps parse errors to exit code 2", async () => {
+    const program = new Command().option("--known", "a known flag");
+    configureCommanderExit(program);
+
+    await expect(
+      program.parseAsync(["--unknown"], { from: "user" })
+    ).rejects.toThrow("process.exit:2");
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it("maps help to exit code 0", async () => {
+    const program = new Command()
+      .name("test-cli")
+      .option("--known", "a known flag");
+    configureCommanderExit(program);
+
+    await expect(
+      program.parseAsync(["--help"], { from: "user" })
+    ).rejects.toThrow("process.exit:0");
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it("maps subcommand parse errors to exit code 2", async () => {
+    const program = new Command().addCommand(
+      new Command("search").argument("<query>", "search query")
+    );
+    configureCommanderExit(program);
+
+    await expect(
+      program.parseAsync(["search"], { from: "user" })
+    ).rejects.toThrow("process.exit:2");
+
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/index.test.ts b/tests/index.test.ts
index e90bd01..27f3849 100644
--- a/tests/index.test.ts
+++ b/tests/index.test.ts
@@ -5,28 +5,56 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
 const rootDir = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const cliPath = join(rootDir, "..", "build", "esm", "index.js");
 const packageJson = JSON.parse(
   readFileSync(join(rootDir, "..", "package.json"), "utf8")
 ) as { version: string };
 
+function runCli(args: string[]): { exitCode: number; stderr: string } {
+  try {
+    execFileSync(process.execPath, [cliPath, ...args], { encoding: "utf8" });
+    return { exitCode: 0, stderr: "" };
+  } catch (err) {
+    const execErr = err as { status?: number; stderr?: string };
+    return {
+      exitCode: execErr.status ?? 1,
+      stderr: execErr.stderr ?? "",
+    };
+  }
+}
+
 describe("cli", () => {
   it("prints the package version with --version", () => {
-    const output = execFileSync(
-      process.execPath,
-      [join(rootDir, "..", "build", "esm", "index.js"), "--version"],
-      { encoding: "utf8" }
-    ).trim();
+    const output = execFileSync(process.execPath, [cliPath, "--version"], {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+    }).trim();
 
     expect(output).toBe(packageJson.version);
   });
 
   it("shows verbose flag in root help", () => {
-    const output = execFileSync(
-      process.execPath,
-      [join(rootDir, "..", "build", "esm", "index.js"), "--help"],
-      { encoding: "utf8" }
-    );
+    const output = execFileSync(process.execPath, [cliPath, "--help"], {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+    });
 
     expect(output).toContain("-v, --verbose");
   });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["unknown flag", ["--bad-flag"], 2],
+    ["unknown command", ["nosuchcmd"], 2],
+    ["missing required arg", ["search"], 2],
+    ["invalid choice", ["search", "q", "--engine", "yahoo"], 2],
+  ])("exits with code 2 on %s", (_label, args, expectedExit) => {
+    const { exitCode } = runCli(args);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(expectedExit);
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["--version", 0],
+    ["--help", 0],
+  ])("exits with code 0 for %s", (flag, expectedExit) => {
+    const { exitCode } = runCli([flag]);
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(expectedExit);
+  });
 });