From 90b214b57ce4a321fb0bf7fc75c368eb233d80c1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2026 20:02:50 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix(cli): fail unknown list targets

---
 CHANGELOG.md                          |  1 +
 src/cli/list-command.ts               |  2 +-
 tests/cli-list-classification.test.ts | 20 ++++++++++++-------
 tests/cli-list-json.test.ts           | 28 ++++++++++++++++-----------
 4 files changed, 32 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ecbd3a4..8c40867 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 - Add `mcporter record` and `mcporter replay` helpers for capturing and replaying MCP JSON-RPC traffic, with server filters and daemon-safe manual env setup. (PR #192, thanks @LDMB123)
 - Prevent direct daemon starts from rebinding over an already-running healthy daemon, avoiding orphaned keep-alive processes during foreground or launch races. (PR #195, thanks @zm2231)
+- Return a non-zero exit code for explicit `mcporter list <unknown-server>` failures while preserving aggregate list health checks by default. (Issue #203, thanks @theo674)
 - Reconcile keep-alive daemon metadata with the responding process and serialize daemon startup across parallel clients, preventing duplicate orphaned daemons. (Issue #191, thanks @dtmsyi)
 - Keep daemon-managed stdio servers warm across repeated `mcporter list` requests instead of treating non-interactive tool listing as a throwaway process. (Issue #188, thanks @robertoronderosjr)
 
diff --git a/src/cli/list-command.ts b/src/cli/list-command.ts
index 77610d4..825a03c 100644
--- a/src/cli/list-command.ts
+++ b/src/cli/list-command.ts
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ export async function handleList(
 
   const resolved = resolveServerDefinition(runtime, target, { quiet: flags.quiet });
   if (!resolved) {
-    maybeSetListExitCode([{ status: 'error' }], flags);
+    process.exitCode = 1;
     return;
   }
   target = resolved.name;
diff --git a/tests/cli-list-classification.test.ts b/tests/cli-list-classification.test.ts
index bbd4bc9..58e1b8a 100644
--- a/tests/cli-list-classification.test.ts
+++ b/tests/cli-list-classification.test.ts
@@ -330,6 +330,8 @@ describe('CLI list classification and routing', () => {
 
   it('suggests a server name when the typo is large', async () => {
     const { handleList } = await cliModulePromise;
+    const previousExitCode = process.exitCode;
+    process.exitCode = undefined;
     const definition = linearDefinition;
     const listTools = vi.fn();
     const runtime = {
@@ -343,13 +345,17 @@ describe('CLI list classification and routing', () => {
     const errorSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
     const logSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {});
 
-    await handleList(runtime, ['zzz']);
+    try {
+      await handleList(runtime, ['zzz']);
 
-    const errorLines = errorSpy.mock.calls.map((call) => call.join(' '));
-    expect(errorLines.some((line) => line.includes('Did you mean linear?'))).toBe(true);
-    expect(listTools).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-
-    errorSpy.mockRestore();
-    logSpy.mockRestore();
+      const errorLines = errorSpy.mock.calls.map((call) => call.join(' '));
+      expect(errorLines.some((line) => line.includes('Did you mean linear?'))).toBe(true);
+      expect(listTools).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(process.exitCode).toBe(1);
+    } finally {
+      errorSpy.mockRestore();
+      logSpy.mockRestore();
+      process.exitCode = previousExitCode;
+    }
   });
 });
diff --git a/tests/cli-list-json.test.ts b/tests/cli-list-json.test.ts
index 9678f48..10d4dde 100644
--- a/tests/cli-list-json.test.ts
+++ b/tests/cli-list-json.test.ts
@@ -37,20 +37,26 @@ function createRuntime(): Runtime {
 describe('handleList JSON output', () => {
   it('emits aggregated status counts', async () => {
     const runtime = createRuntime();
+    const previousExitCode = process.exitCode;
+    process.exitCode = undefined;
     const logSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {});
 
-    await runHandleList(runtime, ['--json']);
+    try {
+      await runHandleList(runtime, ['--json']);
 
-    const payload = JSON.parse(logSpy.mock.calls.at(-1)?.[0] ?? '{}');
-    expect(payload.mode).toBe('list');
-    expect(payload.counts.auth).toBe(1);
-    const healthyEntry = payload.servers.find((entry: { name: string }) => entry.name === 'healthy');
-    expect(healthyEntry.status).toBe('ok');
-    const authEntry = payload.servers.find((entry: { name: string }) => entry.name === 'auth-server');
-    expect(authEntry.status).toBe('auth');
-    expect(authEntry.issue.kind).toBe('auth');
-
-    logSpy.mockRestore();
+      const payload = JSON.parse(logSpy.mock.calls.at(-1)?.[0] ?? '{}');
+      expect(payload.mode).toBe('list');
+      expect(payload.counts.auth).toBe(1);
+      const healthyEntry = payload.servers.find((entry: { name: string }) => entry.name === 'healthy');
+      expect(healthyEntry.status).toBe('ok');
+      const authEntry = payload.servers.find((entry: { name: string }) => entry.name === 'auth-server');
+      expect(authEntry.status).toBe('auth');
+      expect(authEntry.issue.kind).toBe('auth');
+      expect(process.exitCode).toBeUndefined();
+    } finally {
+      logSpy.mockRestore();
+      process.exitCode = previousExitCode;
+    }
   });
 
   it('sets a non-zero exit code for unhealthy multi-server checks when requested', async () => {