fix(AC-331): print errors to console in non-JSON CLI mode

autocontext/pyproject.toml

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "autoctx"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 description = "autocontext control plane for iterative strategy evolution."
 readme = "README.md"
 license = { text = "Apache-2.0" }

autocontext/src/autocontext/cli.py

@@ -302,10 +302,14 @@ def run(
         except KeyboardInterrupt:
             if json_output:
                 _write_json_stderr("run interrupted")
+            else:
+                console.print("[yellow]Run interrupted.[/yellow]")
             raise typer.Exit(code=1) from None
         except Exception as exc:
             if json_output:
                 _write_json_stderr(str(exc))
+            else:
+                console.print(f"[red]Error: {exc}[/red]")
             raise typer.Exit(code=1) from exc
         if json_output:
             _write_json_stdout(dataclasses.asdict(task_summary))
@@ -352,10 +356,14 @@ def _loop_target() -> None:
         except KeyboardInterrupt:
             if json_output:
                 _write_json_stderr("run interrupted")
+            else:
+                console.print("[yellow]Run interrupted.[/yellow]")
             raise typer.Exit(code=1) from None
         except Exception as exc:
             if json_output:
                 _write_json_stderr(str(exc))
+            else:
+                console.print(f"[red]Error: {exc}[/red]")
             raise typer.Exit(code=1) from exc
         if json_output:
             _write_json_stdout(dataclasses.asdict(summary))
@@ -390,10 +398,14 @@ def resume(
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
         if json_output:
             _write_json_stderr("resume interrupted")
+        else:
+            console.print("[yellow]Resume interrupted.[/yellow]")
         raise typer.Exit(code=1) from None
     except Exception as exc:
         if json_output:
             _write_json_stderr(str(exc))
+        else:
+            console.print(f"[red]Error: {exc}[/red]")
         raise typer.Exit(code=1) from exc
     if json_output:
         _write_json_stdout(dataclasses.asdict(summary))

autocontext/tests/test_cli_error_output.py

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+"""Tests for AC-331: CLI exits should print errors in non-JSON mode.
+
+Verifies that autoctx run prints exceptions to stderr instead of
+exiting silently when --json is not passed.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+from typer.testing import CliRunner
+
+from autocontext.cli import app
+
+runner = CliRunner()
+
+
+class TestCliErrorOutput:
+    def test_run_error_printed_in_non_json_mode(self) -> None:
+        """AC-331: Non-JSON mode should print the error, not exit silently."""
+        with (
+            patch.dict("autocontext.cli.SCENARIO_REGISTRY", {"test_scenario": object}, clear=True),
+            patch(
+                "autocontext.scenarios.families.detect_family",
+                return_value=None,
+            ),
+            patch("autocontext.cli._apply_preset_env"),
+            patch("autocontext.cli.load_settings", return_value=MagicMock()),
+            patch("autocontext.cli._runner", side_effect=RuntimeError("Something broke")),
+        ):
+            result = runner.invoke(app, ["run", "--scenario", "test_scenario", "--gens", "1"])
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 1
+        # The error message should appear somewhere in the output
+        combined = (result.stdout or "") + (result.stderr or "") + (result.output or "")
+        assert "Something broke" in combined, (
+            f"Error message not printed. stdout={result.stdout!r}, stderr={result.stderr!r}"
+        )
+
+    def test_run_interrupt_printed_in_non_json_mode(self) -> None:
+        """Keyboard interrupts should also produce visible output."""
+        with (
+            patch.dict("autocontext.cli.SCENARIO_REGISTRY", {"test_scenario": object}, clear=True),
+            patch(
+                "autocontext.scenarios.families.detect_family",
+                return_value=None,
+            ),
+            patch("autocontext.cli._apply_preset_env"),
+            patch("autocontext.cli.load_settings", return_value=MagicMock()),
+            patch("autocontext.cli._runner", side_effect=KeyboardInterrupt()),
+        ):
+            result = runner.invoke(app, ["run", "--scenario", "test_scenario", "--gens", "1"])
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 1
+        combined = (result.stdout or "") + (result.stderr or "") + (result.output or "")
+        assert "interrupt" in combined.lower(), (
+            f"Interrupt message not printed. stdout={result.stdout!r}"
+        )
+
+    def test_json_mode_still_writes_to_stderr(self) -> None:
+        """JSON mode should continue writing errors to stderr."""
+        with (
+            patch.dict("autocontext.cli.SCENARIO_REGISTRY", {"test_scenario": object}, clear=True),
+            patch(
+                "autocontext.scenarios.families.detect_family",
+                return_value=None,
+            ),
+            patch("autocontext.cli._apply_preset_env"),
+            patch("autocontext.cli.load_settings", return_value=MagicMock()),
+            patch("autocontext.cli._runner", side_effect=RuntimeError("JSON error")),
+        ):
+            result = runner.invoke(app, ["run", "--scenario", "test_scenario", "--gens", "1", "--json"])
+
+        assert result.exit_code == 1
+        combined = (result.stdout or "") + (result.stderr or "") + (result.output or "")
+        assert "JSON error" in combined

ts/package.json

@@ -1,14 +1,23 @@
 {
   "name": "autoctx",
-  "version": "0.2.0",
+  "version": "0.2.1",
   "description": "autocontext — always-on agent evaluation harness",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "types": "dist/index.d.ts",
   "files": [
+    "README.md",
     "dist",
     "migrations"
   ],
+  "keywords": [
+    "agents",
+    "autocontext",
+    "evaluation",
+    "harness",
+    "llm",
+    "mcp"
+  ],
   "bin": {
     "autoctx": "dist/cli/index.js"
   },