diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d5b4607..36d36f5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           repository: chaoz23/srdcheck
-          ref: 27dee98cb7cb86e6ef86e34568d08954179f9a82
+          ref: 63a355b9bf7ef2051fe82bf7eca03ccfdcb6bd11
           path: srdcheck-src
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
diff --git a/SKILL.md b/SKILL.md
index 6a9cb75..37e388c 100644
--- a/SKILL.md
+++ b/SKILL.md
@@ -33,11 +33,13 @@ deterministic: same transcript, same findings, every time.
 ## Exit codes ARE the verdict
 
 `0` = clean (silence) · `1` = findings · `2` = unusable input/charter (the
-honest lane — fix the input, don't retry blind). **Every envelope — clean,
-findings, and the honest lane — prints JSON on `stdout`**, never a traceback.
-`stderr` carries only argparse usage errors, which also exit 2 but emit no
-JSON. So: exit 2 with an envelope on stdout is the honest lane; exit 2 with
-empty stdout means the call was malformed — fix it and retry. Read stdout.
+honest lane — fix the input, don't retry blind) · `3` = usage error (you
+called it wrong; fix the call and retry). **Every envelope — clean, findings,
+and the honest lane — prints JSON on `stdout`**, never a traceback. `stderr`
+carries only the exit-3 usage errors, which emit no JSON.
+
+Exit 2 and exit 3 are disjoint on purpose: 2 is a verdict you route to a
+human, 3 is a mistake you fix yourself. Read stdout for the verdict.
 
 ## Invocation
 
diff --git a/dmcheck/cli.py b/dmcheck/cli.py
index f9af6d6..9461b37 100644
--- a/dmcheck/cli.py
+++ b/dmcheck/cli.py
@@ -77,8 +77,25 @@ def _print_invalid(problems, mode="closed"):
     return result.exit_code
 
 
+class _UsageExitsThree(argparse.ArgumentParser):
+    """Usage errors exit 3, not argparse's default 2.
+
+    FAMILY.md clause 1: exit 2 is the honest lane -- a first-class
+    cannot-adjudicate verdict that a consuming agent routes to a human WITHOUT
+    retrying. A malformed invocation is the opposite: the caller should fix the
+    call and retry. Sharing one code made the two indistinguishable except by
+    whether stdout happened to carry JSON, so an agent escalated its own bad
+    calls to a human as if they were rulings. srdcheck's exit 3 is the family
+    precedent. See #15.
+    """
+
+    def error(self, message):
+        self.print_usage(sys.stderr)
+        self.exit(3, f"{self.prog}: error: {message}\n")
+
+
 def main(argv=None):
-    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog="dmcheck", description=__doc__)
+    ap = _UsageExitsThree(prog="dmcheck", description=__doc__)
     ap.add_argument("command", nargs="?", choices=["run", "run-events", "rules", "charter", "init", "watch", "lint-charter", "explain", "craft"], default="run")
     ap.add_argument("transcript", nargs="?")
     ap.add_argument("--charter", help="charter JSON (default: packaged default)")
diff --git a/scripts/assert_test_collection.py b/scripts/assert_test_collection.py
index 6fa656f..34ef677 100644
--- a/scripts/assert_test_collection.py
+++ b/scripts/assert_test_collection.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 
-EXPECTED_TESTS = 202
+EXPECTED_TESTS = 205
 ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_core.py b/tests/test_core.py
index 86a8da8..22b3fe3 100644
--- a/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/test_core.py
@@ -60,6 +60,33 @@ def test_exit_code(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.code, 1)
 
 
+class TestUsageErrorsAreDisjointFromTheHonestLane(unittest.TestCase):
+    """FAMILY.md clause 1: exit 2 is the honest lane, a cannot-adjudicate
+    verdict a consuming agent routes to a human WITHOUT retrying. A malformed
+    invocation is the opposite -- fix the call and retry. They must not share
+    an exit code, or an agent escalates its own bad calls as if they were
+    rulings. srdcheck's exit 3 is the family precedent. See #15."""
+
+    def _code(self, argv):
+        from contextlib import redirect_stderr, redirect_stdout
+        import io
+        from dmcheck.cli import main as cli_main
+        with redirect_stderr(io.StringIO()), redirect_stdout(io.StringIO()):
+            try:
+                return cli_main(argv)
+            except SystemExit as exc:          # argparse exits rather than returns
+                return exc.code
+
+    def test_unknown_flag_is_a_usage_error(self):
+        self.assertEqual(self._code(["--zzz-not-a-real-flag"]), 3)
+
+    def test_unknown_command_is_a_usage_error(self):
+        self.assertEqual(self._code(["not-a-real-command"]), 3)
+
+    def test_unreadable_input_is_still_the_honest_lane(self):
+        self.assertEqual(self._code(["run", "/nonexistent/probe.json"]), 2)
+
+
 class TestGuards(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_no_gm_declared_is_unusable(self):
         ch = load_charter(CH)
diff --git a/tool.json b/tool.json
index 753df5f..e034862 100644
--- a/tool.json
+++ b/tool.json
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     "dmcheck --schema": "machine-readable I/O contract"
   },
   "lifecycle": "Each finding has a deterministic finding_id. session_end returns the typed closed evaluation plus incomplete obligations and source coverage.",
-  "exit_codes": {"0": "clean", "1": "findings present", "2": "charter or input unusable"},
+  "exit_codes": {"0": "clean", "1": "findings present", "2": "charter or input unusable (the honest lane; route to a human, do not retry)", "3": "usage error (fix the call and retry)"},
   "result_status": ["clean", "findings", "invalid", "incomplete"],
   "schemas": ["dmcheck/charter.schema.json", "dmcheck/transcript.schema.json", "dmcheck/ledger.schema.json", "dmcheck/evaluation-result.schema.json"],
   "mcp": {