Evidence record EV-0036

A CLI exits 0 when a destructive command is refused

Cloudflare's cf CLI documents that in a non-interactive session a destructive command without --force prints 'Aborted.' and exits with status 0, and a public issue reproduces this for workflows delete.

Independent measurement · Observation · Retrieved 8 October 2026

Evidence class: Independent measurement. Often a single report on one version. Software changes, so check again before you rely on it. Pattern tags: exit-codes, non-interactive, false-success, confirmation.

Effect, as the source reports it

Exit status of a destructive command refused in non-interactive mode. With the change: 'Aborted.' on standard error, no deletion, exit status 0. Direction: not-applicable. Size: Exit 0 on a refused operation. Sample: One public reproduction (cf 1.0.0-beta.5); documented as current behaviour.

Agent profile

Note on models: Not an agent run: CLI behaviour in a non-interactive session (CI=true).

Conflicts of interest

None apparent. The issue was filed by a user, not by Cloudflare.

Source

cloudflare/cf#94: workflows delete exits 0 when noninteractive confirmation aborts the operation, GitHub, matthewbjones, 29 September 2026. Retrieved 8 October 2026; verification: verified-live.

The full primary source was fetched on 2026-10-08 and every number in this record was found in it. The documentation page (last updated 29 September 2026) states the behaviour and warns that "A successful exit does not mean the resource was deleted." The issue was open on the retrieval date.

Corroborating sources:

Use cf with coding agents, Cloudflare Docs, 29 September 2026.

Limitations

Beta software (1.0.0-beta); the behaviour may change before general availability.
The documentation states the behaviour plainly and warns about it under "Check for aborted deletes" ("A successful exit does not mean the resource was deleted"), so it is documented and known, not hidden; the public issue asks for a non-zero exit instead.

For designers

A refused or cancelled operation should exit non-zero, because the exit status is the main success signal an agent or script checks. If it must exit 0, the agent has to parse standard error, which is fragile.

Cite this record

Cite the original source for any number, and keep the evidence class and model set with the figure. To point at this record, use "AX evidence register, EV-0036" and this page's address, https://agentexperience.tech/evidence/ev-0036/. The record is also in /evidence.json. The register's licence will be confirmed before its source repository is published.