---
title: Exit codes and output
description: What dot's exit codes mean, and where its messages and results go.
---

| Code | Meaning                                                                    |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `0`  | success: everything matches, applied, cloned                               |
| `1`  | differences found, or something failed                                     |
| `2`  | bad usage: unknown command, flag or file, or `dot.toml` missing or invalid |

`dot defaults diff` is the exception: it looks for changes, so `0` means it
found some and `1` that nothing changed (or a domain couldn't be read).

## Output

- **Messages go to stderr, results to stdout.** A command's result, such as a
  path from `dot clone` or a reference from `dot secret add`, is the only
  thing on stdout, so scripts and agents can use it.
- **Without a terminal** (agents, logs), output is plain text; `NO_COLOR`
  turns colors off too.