diff --git a/ImageDescriber.Test/ProgramTests.cs b/ImageDescriber.Test/ProgramTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f165499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ImageDescriber.Test/ProgramTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2023-2026 ktsu-dev contributors
+
+namespace ktsu.ImageDescriber.Tests;
+
+using ktsu.ImageDescriber.Verbs;
+
+[TestClass]
+public class ProgramTests
+{
+	private PersistentState? originalSettings;
+
+	[TestInitialize]
+	public void Initialize()
+	{
+		originalSettings = Program.Settings;
+		Program.Settings = new PersistentState();
+	}
+
+	[TestCleanup]
+	public void Cleanup() => Program.Settings = originalSettings!;
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsNonZeroWhenARequiredOptionIsMissing() =>
+		Assert.AreEqual(1, RunQuietly("Search"));
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsNonZeroWhenOllamaIsUnavailable()
+	{
+		string directory = Directory.CreateTempSubdirectory().FullName;
+		try
+		{
+			Assert.AreEqual(1, RunQuietly("Scan", "-p", directory, "-e", "http://127.0.0.1:1"));
+		}
+		finally
+		{
+			Directory.Delete(directory, recursive: true);
+		}
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsNonZeroWhenTheImportFileIsMissing() =>
+		Assert.AreEqual(1, RunQuietly("Import", "-i", Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N") + ".csv")));
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsNonZeroWhenTheImportFileHasAnUnsupportedExtension()
+	{
+		string file = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N") + ".txt");
+		File.WriteAllText(file, string.Empty);
+		try
+		{
+			Assert.AreEqual(1, RunQuietly("Import", "-i", file));
+		}
+		finally
+		{
+			File.Delete(file);
+		}
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsNonZeroWhenTheExportFileHasAnUnsupportedExtension()
+	{
+		string hash = new('a', ImageHasher.HashLength);
+		Program.Settings.Descriptions[hash] = new ImageDescription { Hash = hash };
+
+		Assert.AreEqual(1, RunQuietly("Export", "-o", Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N") + ".txt")));
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void SearchReportsFailureForABlankQuery()
+	{
+		Search search = new();
+		RunQuietly(() => search.Run(new Search { Query = " " }));
+		Assert.IsTrue(search.Failed);
+	}
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsNonZeroWhenTheOllamaEndpointIsInvalid() =>
+		Assert.AreEqual(1, RunQuietly("Scan", "-p", Path.GetTempPath(), "-e", "ftp://example.com"));
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsNonZeroWhenThePromptedPathIsLeftEmpty() =>
+		Assert.AreEqual(1, RunQuietly("Import"));
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsZeroForVersion() =>
+		Assert.AreEqual(0, RunQuietly("--version"));
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsZeroWhenTheVerbSucceeds() =>
+		Assert.AreEqual(0, RunQuietly("Stats"));
+
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void RunReturnsZeroForHelp() =>
+		Assert.AreEqual(0, RunQuietly("--help"));
+
+	private static int RunQuietly(params string[] args)
+	{
+		int exitCode = 0;
+		RunQuietly(() => exitCode = Program.Run(args));
+		return exitCode;
+	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Runs <paramref name="action"/> with output discarded and an empty standard input, so a
+	/// verb that prompts for a missing value reads end-of-input instead of blocking.
+	/// </summary>
+	private static void RunQuietly(Action action)
+	{
+		TextReader originalIn = Console.In;
+		TextWriter originalOut = Console.Out;
+		TextWriter originalError = Console.Error;
+		try
+		{
+			Console.SetIn(new StringReader(string.Empty));
+			Console.SetOut(TextWriter.Null);
+			Console.SetError(TextWriter.Null);
+			action();
+		}
+		finally
+		{
+			Console.SetIn(originalIn);
+			Console.SetOut(originalOut);
+			Console.SetError(originalError);
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/ImageDescriber/Program.cs b/ImageDescriber/Program.cs
index 9042219..33cb975 100644
--- a/ImageDescriber/Program.cs
+++ b/ImageDescriber/Program.cs
@@ -18,13 +18,29 @@ internal static class Program
 	internal static Type[] Verbs { get; } = LoadVerbs();
 	internal static PersistentState Settings { get; set; } = new();
 
-	private static void Main(string[] args)
+	private static int Main(string[] args)
 	{
 		Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
 		Settings = PersistentState.LoadOrCreate();
 
+		return Run(args);
+	}
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Runs the verb named by <paramref name="args"/> and returns the process exit code: 1 when the
+	/// arguments do not parse or the verb reports a failure, so scripts and CI can detect either.
+	/// </summary>
+	internal static int Run(string[] args)
+	{
+		int exitCode = 0;
 		_ = Parser.Default.ParseArguments(args, Verbs)
-			.WithParsed<BaseVerb>(task => task.Run());
+			.WithParsed<BaseVerb>(task =>
+			{
+				task.Run();
+				exitCode = task.Failed ? 1 : 0;
+			})
+			.WithNotParsed(errors => exitCode = errors.IsHelp() || errors.IsVersion() ? 0 : 1);
+		return exitCode;
 	}
 
 	private static Type[] LoadVerbs() => [.. Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetTypes().Where(t => t.GetCustomAttribute<VerbAttribute>() != null)];
diff --git a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs
index 00c9f44..2332721 100644
--- a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs
+++ b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/BaseVerb.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ internal abstract class BaseVerb : ICommand
 
 	public abstract bool IsActive { get; }
 
+	/// <summary>Whether the last run failed, which makes the process exit non-zero.</summary>
+	internal bool Failed { get; set; }
+
 	internal AbsoluteDirectoryPath Path => System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(PathString).As<AbsoluteDirectoryPath>();
 
 	internal OllamaEndpoint Endpoint
@@ -49,8 +52,10 @@ internal abstract class BaseVerb<T> : BaseVerb where T : BaseVerb<T>
 
 	public override void Run()
 	{
+		Failed = false;
 		if (!ValidateArgs())
 		{
+			Failed = true;
 			return;
 		}
 
diff --git a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Export.cs b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Export.cs
index d134feb..9bb9959 100644
--- a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Export.cs
+++ b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Export.cs
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ internal override void Run(Export options)
 				break;
 			default:
 				Console.WriteLine("Error: Output file must have .json or .csv extension.");
+				Failed = true;
 				return;
 		}
 
diff --git a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Import.cs b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Import.cs
index 91e3f62..64d1f2e 100644
--- a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Import.cs
+++ b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Import.cs
@@ -51,12 +51,14 @@ internal override void Run(Import options)
 		if (!File.Exists(inputFile.WeakString))
 		{
 			Console.WriteLine($"File not found: {inputFile}");
+			Failed = true;
 			return;
 		}
 
 		List<ImageDescription>? entries = LoadEntries(inputFile);
 		if (entries is null)
 		{
+			Failed = true;
 			return;
 		}
 
diff --git a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Scan.cs b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Scan.cs
index 5436b38..085b784 100644
--- a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Scan.cs
+++ b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Scan.cs
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ internal override void Run(Scan options)
 		if (OllamaClient.NormalizeEndpoint(options.Endpoint.WeakString) is null)
 		{
 			Console.WriteLine($"Error: Invalid Ollama endpoint \"{options.Endpoint}\". Expected an http or https address such as http://localhost:11434.");
+			Failed = true;
 			return;
 		}
 
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ internal override void Run(Scan options)
 		{
 			Console.WriteLine($"Error: Ollama is not available at {options.Endpoint}");
 			Console.WriteLine("Make sure Ollama is running and the endpoint is correct.");
+			Failed = true;
 			return;
 		}
 
@@ -150,6 +152,7 @@ internal override void Run(Scan options)
 			});
 
 		PrintFailureSummary(failures);
+		Failed = failures.Count > 0;
 
 		Console.WriteLine();
 		Console.WriteLine("Scan complete.");
diff --git a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Search.cs b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Search.cs
index 8071cc2..6da34b5 100644
--- a/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Search.cs
+++ b/ImageDescriber/Verbs/Search.cs
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ internal override void Run(Search options)
 		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(options.Query))
 		{
 			Console.WriteLine("Error: Search query cannot be empty.");
+			Failed = true;
 			return;
 		}