From 7b03a605031f686915b9e03e55d5a6969352a702 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Affaan Mustafa <affaan@dcube.ai>
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:06:53 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix: require bounded loop-status exit-code watch

---
 commands/loop-status.md           | 2 ++
 scripts/loop-status.js            | 4 ++++
 tests/scripts/loop-status.test.js | 7 +++++++
 3 files changed, 13 insertions(+)

diff --git a/commands/loop-status.md b/commands/loop-status.md
index 0d0e9945..03987cd2 100644
--- a/commands/loop-status.md
+++ b/commands/loop-status.md
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ tool calls that have no matching `tool_result`.
 - `ecc loop-status --exit-code` exits `2` when stale loop or tool signals are
   found, or `1` when transcripts cannot be scanned.
 - `ecc loop-status --watch` refreshes status until interrupted.
+- `ecc loop-status --watch --watch-count 3 --exit-code` refreshes a bounded
+  number of times, then exits with the highest status seen.
 - `ecc loop-status --watch --watch-count 3` emits a bounded watch stream for
   scripts and handoffs.
 
diff --git a/scripts/loop-status.js b/scripts/loop-status.js
index a21e708a..a52dc0ff 100644
--- a/scripts/loop-status.js
+++ b/scripts/loop-status.js
@@ -116,6 +116,10 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
     }
   }
 
+  if (options.exitCode && options.watch && options.watchCount === null) {
+    throw new Error('--exit-code with --watch requires --watch-count so the process can exit');
+  }
+
   return options;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/scripts/loop-status.test.js b/tests/scripts/loop-status.test.js
index f3eab5fa..e91de7db 100644
--- a/tests/scripts/loop-status.test.js
+++ b/tests/scripts/loop-status.test.js
@@ -444,6 +444,13 @@ function runTests() {
     assert.strictEqual(payload.errors.length, 1);
   })) passed++; else failed++;
 
+  if (test('exit-code mode rejects unbounded watch mode', () => {
+    const result = run(['--watch', '--exit-code']);
+
+    assert.strictEqual(result.code, 1);
+    assert.match(result.stderr, /--exit-code with --watch requires --watch-count/);
+  })) passed++; else failed++;
+
   if (test('getStatusExitCode prioritizes attention signals over scan errors', () => {
     const payload = {
       errors: [{ message: 'unreadable' }],