processExits

Prevent direct use of process.exit() for better error handling and testing.

✅ This rule is included in the node logical preset.

Calling process.exit() immediately terminates the Node.js process without allowing proper cleanup or error handling. This makes code harder to test and can lead to resource leaks or incomplete operations. Throwing errors provides better stack traces and allows proper error handling, while returning exit codes from CLI entry points maintains testability.

Examples

❌ Incorrect

process.exit(0);

process.exit(1);

if (error) {
  process.exit(1);
}

function exitHandler() {
  process.exit(1);
}

✅ Correct

throw new Error("Application failed");

function main() {
  return 1;
}

async function run() {
  throw new Error("Fatal error");
}

Options

This rule is not configurable.

When Not To Use It

If you are working with very specific Node.js system-level code that genuinely requires immediate process termination without cleanup, you might choose not to enable this rule. However, such cases are rare, and most applications benefit from proper error handling.

Alternately, if your application is not very large and/or doesn’t intend to live for a long time, proper process flow logic might not be worth it for you to implement. In that case this rule might not be for you.

Further Reading

• Node.js: process.exit()
• Node.js: Error handling

Equivalents in Other Linters

• ESLint: n/no-process-exitunicorn/no-process-exit
• Oxlint: unicorn/no-process-exit