diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/cli-errors.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/cli-errors.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3acb655a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/cli-errors.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'bun:test';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+
+const CLI = join(import.meta.dir, '../index.ts');
+
+function runCli(args: string[]): { code: number | null; stdout: string; stderr: string } {
+  const proc = Bun.spawnSync(['bun', 'run', CLI, ...args], { stdout: 'pipe', stderr: 'pipe' });
+  return {
+    code: proc.exitCode,
+    stdout: Buffer.from(proc.stdout).toString('utf-8'),
+    stderr: Buffer.from(proc.stderr).toString('utf-8'),
+  };
+}
+
+describe('CLI error output', () => {
+  it('exits 2 with a single structured error and no stack trace when the input file is missing', () => {
+    const { code, stdout, stderr } = runCli(['lint', 'definitely-does-not-exist-90af.md']);
+    expect(code).toBe(2);
+    expect(stdout).toBe('');
+    // Exactly one line of JSON on stderr — no second, stack-trace error.
+    const lines = stderr.trim().split('\n').filter(Boolean);
+    expect(lines.length).toBe(1);
+    const err = JSON.parse(lines[0]!);
+    expect(err.error).toBe('FILE_READ_ERROR');
+    expect(typeof err.message).toBe('string');
+    expect(err.path).toBe('definitely-does-not-exist-90af.md');
+  });
+
+  it('reports an unknown export format with a coded error envelope and exit 1', () => {
+    // Format is validated before any input is read, so the file path is unused.
+    const { code, stderr } = runCli(['export', '--format', 'bogus', 'unused.md']);
+    expect(code).toBe(1);
+    const err = JSON.parse(stderr.trim());
+    expect(err.error).toBe('INVALID_FORMAT');
+    expect(err.message).toContain('Invalid format');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/export.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/export.ts
index 1bb50d5b..7c659c16 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/export.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/export.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ export default defineCommand({
     // Validate --format against closed enum
     if (!FORMATS.includes(format as ExportFormat)) {
       console.error(JSON.stringify({
-        error: `Invalid format "${format}". Valid formats: ${FORMATS.join(', ')}`,
+        error: 'INVALID_FORMAT',
+        message: `Invalid format "${format}". Valid formats: ${FORMATS.join(', ')}`,
       }));
       process.exitCode = 1;
       return;
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
       const result = handler.execute(report.designSystem);
 
       if (!result.success) {
-        console.error(JSON.stringify({ error: result.error.message }));
+        console.error(JSON.stringify({ error: result.error.code, message: result.error.message }));
         process.exitCode = 1;
         return;
       }
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
       const result = handler.execute(report.designSystem);
 
       if (!result.success) {
-        console.error(JSON.stringify({ error: result.error.message }));
+        console.error(JSON.stringify({ error: result.error.code, message: result.error.message }));
         process.exitCode = 1;
         return;
       }
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
       const result = handler.execute(report.designSystem);
 
       if (!result.success) {
-        console.error(JSON.stringify({ error: result.error.message }));
+        console.error(JSON.stringify({ error: result.error.code, message: result.error.message }));
         process.exitCode = 1;
         return;
       }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils.ts
index 22756e4d..6542226d 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils.ts
@@ -36,8 +36,10 @@ export async function readInput(filePath: string): Promise<string> {
       message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
       path: filePath,
     }));
-    process.exitCode = 2;
-    throw error; // bubbles up, but process will exit with code 2 if uncaught
+    // Exit immediately with a dedicated I/O exit code. Throwing here instead
+    // would let the CLI framework print a second, stack-trace error on top of
+    // the JSON above and override the exit code with 1.
+    process.exit(2);
   }
 }