Exit Code Zero: The Hidden Failure Mode Every AI Pipeline Inherits

Jeetendra Gangele discovered a critical flaw in an autonomous coding pipeline where AI-generated code reviews were falsely marked as approved due to the system misinterpreting exit codes and empty review inputs. The issue arose because the AI tool's exit code indicated success regardless of review outcome, and the review input was empty since the diff was taken after committing the change. This failure mode undermines the reliability of AI-assisted code review processes.