diff --git a/.changeset/cli-retry-exit-code.md b/.changeset/cli-retry-exit-code.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..87c43609
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/cli-retry-exit-code.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@stats-forge/github-stats-forge-cli': minor
+---
+
+feat: exit 75 rather than 1 when a card failed in a way a later run may not repeat, such as a rate limit
diff --git a/apps/docs/src/content/docs/docs/usage/cli.md b/apps/docs/src/content/docs/docs/usage/cli.md
index 849fa0b0..7045cd12 100644
--- a/apps/docs/src/content/docs/docs/usage/cli.md
+++ b/apps/docs/src/content/docs/docs/usage/cli.md
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ npx @stats-forge/github-stats-forge-cli --config card.json --generate --out stat
 `--check` in its place renders the same card and compares it with `stats.svg`, writing nothing: it
 exits 1 when the file is missing or out of date, so a job can tell whether a commit is due.
 
+A card that could not be drawn exits 1, or 75 when a later run may draw it, as after a rate limit
+or an outage. A scheduled job can keep the SVG it has and try again rather than fail:
+
+```sh
+npx @stats-forge/github-stats-forge-cli --config card.json --generate --out stats.svg || [ $? -eq 75 ]
+```
+
 ## The query string
 
 Every other way of drawing a card takes a query string: [the action](https://github.com/stats-forge/github-stats-forge-action)'s
diff --git a/packages/cli/AGENTS.md b/packages/cli/AGENTS.md
index 0cece668..2f0e79b6 100644
--- a/packages/cli/AGENTS.md
+++ b/packages/cli/AGENTS.md
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ builds and runs it against the root `.env`.
 - **`--check` is `--generate` that compares** with `--out` and writes nothing, exiting 1 on a
   difference, a missing file or a failed render; every guard on `generate` covers it.
 - **The menu stays open after a render, its cursor in place.**
+- **A failed render exits `75` when core says it is `retryable`, else `1`**: `EX_TEMPFAIL`, so a
+  scheduled job can tell a rate limit from a broken config. `--check` keeps `1` for a stale file.
 
 ## Prompts and the menu
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
index 14e76137..d8e7aeae 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,18 @@ import { DEFAULT_ENV_FILE, loadEnvFile, resolveTokens } from './tokens.ts';
 /** Room for a slow connection, well short of undici's five minutes on a stalled one. */
 const REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS = 30_000;
 
+/** `EX_TEMPFAIL` from `sysexits.h`: a failure a later run may not repeat, such as a rate limit. */
+const EXIT_RETRYABLE = 75;
+
+/** Why a card was not drawn. */
+interface Failed {
+  failed: string;
+  retryable: boolean;
+}
+
+/** @returns The exit code a failure leaves: `75` when a retry may work, else `1`. */
+const exitCodeFor = (failure: Failed): number => (failure.retryable ? EXIT_RETRYABLE : 1);
+
 /** Writes one of core's diagnostics to stderr, where everything but the result goes. */
 const toStderr = (...args: Array<unknown>): void => {
   process.stderr.write(`${formatWithOptions({}, ...args)}\n`);
@@ -45,6 +57,7 @@ Options
   -v, --version         Show the version
 
 The token can also come from PAT_1 in the environment, or be typed when asked.
+A card that could not be drawn exits 1, or 75 when a later run may draw it.
 `;
 
 /** What the command line can carry. */
@@ -92,7 +105,7 @@ const renderCard = async (
   card: CardKind,
   query: Record<string, string>,
   config: CardConfig,
-): Promise<{ content: string } | { failed: string }> => {
+): Promise<{ content: string } | Failed> => {
   const result = await withSpinner(`Rendering the ${card.id} card`, async () =>
     card.render(query, config),
   );
@@ -112,7 +125,7 @@ const renderCard = async (
       .filter(Boolean)
       .join('\n')}\n`,
   );
-  return { failed: code };
+  return { failed: code, retryable: result.retryable };
 };
 
 /** @returns Where a card is written, absolute, named after the card unless `out` says. */
@@ -129,7 +142,7 @@ const renderAndWrite = async (
   query: Record<string, string>,
   config: CardConfig,
   out: string | undefined,
-): Promise<{ written: string } | { failed: string }> => {
+): Promise<{ written: string } | Failed> => {
   const rendered = await renderCard(card, query, config);
   if ('failed' in rendered) {
     return rendered;
@@ -145,17 +158,17 @@ const renderAndWrite = async (
 /**
  * Renders a card and compares it with the file it would be written to, writing nothing.
  *
- * @returns Whether the file holds exactly this render.
+ * @returns Whether the file holds exactly this render, or why there was no render to compare.
  */
 const renderAndCompare = async (
   card: CardKind,
   query: Record<string, string>,
   config: CardConfig,
   out: string | undefined,
-): Promise<boolean> => {
+): Promise<boolean | Failed> => {
   const rendered = await renderCard(card, query, config);
   if ('failed' in rendered) {
-    return false;
+    return rendered;
   }
 
   const file = outFile(card, query, out);
@@ -280,15 +293,23 @@ const main = async (): Promise<void> => {
 
   // `--generate` renders what the file holds and stops: no menu, nothing to answer.
   if (saved && flags.check) {
-    if (!(await renderAndCompare(card, { ...saved.options, ...pasted }, config, flags.out))) {
+    const compared = await renderAndCompare(
+      card,
+      { ...saved.options, ...pasted },
+      config,
+      flags.out,
+    );
+    if (compared === false) {
       process.exitCode = 1;
+    } else if (compared !== true) {
+      process.exitCode = exitCodeFor(compared);
     }
     return;
   }
   if (saved && generate) {
     const outcome = await renderAndWrite(card, { ...saved.options, ...pasted }, config, flags.out);
     if ('failed' in outcome) {
-      process.exitCode = 1;
+      process.exitCode = exitCodeFor(outcome);
     }
     return;
   }
@@ -304,7 +325,7 @@ const main = async (): Promise<void> => {
    * list is to change one thing and look again.
    */
   let status: string | undefined;
-  let lastFailed = false;
+  let lastFailure: Failed | undefined;
 
   for (;;) {
     const action = await navigateOptions(card, menu, status);
@@ -335,17 +356,17 @@ const main = async (): Promise<void> => {
     if ('failed' in outcome) {
       // Left on the menu, since a rejected param is one edit away from working.
       status = `${outcome.failed} — fix it and generate again`;
-      lastFailed = true;
+      lastFailure = outcome;
       continue;
     }
 
     status = `wrote ${outcome.written} — edit an option and generate again`;
-    lastFailed = false;
+    lastFailure = undefined;
   }
 
   // Leaving straight after a failure still reports one.
-  if (lastFailed) {
-    process.exitCode = 1;
+  if (lastFailure) {
+    process.exitCode = exitCodeFor(lastFailure);
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/tests/index.spec.ts b/packages/cli/tests/index.spec.ts
index 94b7729f..41f67a68 100644
--- a/packages/cli/tests/index.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/tests/index.spec.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ vi.mock(import('../src/prompts.ts'), () => prompts);
 const DRAWN: ApiResult = { status: 'success', content: '<svg>the card</svg>' };
 const REFUSED: ApiResult = {
   status: 'error',
-  retryable: true,
+  retryable: false,
   error: {
     code: 'not_found',
     reason: 'gist_not_found',
@@ -57,6 +57,19 @@ const REFUSED: ApiResult = {
   },
   content: '<svg>the error</svg>',
 };
+const RATE_LIMITED: ApiResult = {
+  status: 'error',
+  retryable: true,
+  error: {
+    code: 'rate_limited',
+    reason: 'rate_limited',
+    message: 'Every token has hit the rate limit',
+    secondaryMessage: undefined,
+    text: 'Every token has hit the rate limit.',
+    param: undefined,
+  },
+  content: '<svg>the error</svg>',
+};
 
 let dir: string;
 /** A gist card saved with `id=abc&theme=ember_dark`. */
@@ -223,11 +236,22 @@ describe('the command line', () => {
     expect(result.err).toContain('Could not render the gist card.');
     expect(result.err).toContain('\n  Gist not found. Check the id.\n');
     expect(result.err).toContain('code: not_found');
-    expect(result.err).toContain('This one may work on a retry.');
+    expect(result.err).not.toContain('retry');
     expect(result.code).toBe(1);
     expect(existsSync(out)).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it('exits 75 when the failure may pass on a retry, as a rate limit may', async () => {
+    render.mockResolvedValue(RATE_LIMITED);
+    const out = join(dir, 'card.svg');
+
+    const result = await run('--config', savedGist, '--generate', '--pat', 'ghp_x', '--out', out);
+
+    expect(result.err).toContain('This one may work on a retry.');
+    expect(result.code).toBe(75);
+    expect(existsSync(out)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   describe('--check', () => {
     it('passes when the file holds exactly this render, and leaves it alone', async () => {
       render.mockResolvedValue(DRAWN);
@@ -268,6 +292,16 @@ describe('the command line', () => {
       expect(result.err).toContain('Could not render the gist card.');
       expect(result.code).toBe(1);
     });
+
+    it('exits 75 when the render may pass on a retry', async () => {
+      render.mockResolvedValue(RATE_LIMITED);
+      const out = join(dir, 'card.svg');
+      await writeFile(out, DRAWN.content);
+
+      const result = await run('--config', savedGist, '--check', '--pat', 'ghp_x', '--out', out);
+
+      expect(result.code).toBe(75);
+    });
   });
 
   it('leaves with 130, and says nothing, when a prompt is cancelled', async () => {
@@ -366,6 +400,15 @@ describe('the menu', () => {
     expect(code).toBe(1);
   });
 
+  it('leaves with 75 when the last render may pass on a retry', async () => {
+    render.mockResolvedValue(RATE_LIMITED);
+    choose('generate');
+
+    const { code } = await run('--card', 'gist', '--pat', 'ghp_x', '--out', join(dir, 'card.svg'));
+
+    expect(code).toBe(75);
+  });
+
   it('leaves with 0 when a later render worked', async () => {
     render.mockResolvedValueOnce(REFUSED).mockResolvedValueOnce(DRAWN);
     choose('generate', 'generate');