diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 482c321..e1c3ea1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ RUSTLIBS = --extern getopt=build/o/libgetopt.rlib \
 CFLAGS += -I$(SYSEXITS)
 
 .PHONY: all
-all: dj false fop hru intcmp mm npc pschdir rpn scrut str strcmp swab true
+all: dj false fop hru intcmp mm npc pschdir retval rpn scrut str strcmp swab true
 
 # keep build/include until bindgen(1) has stdin support
 # https://github.com/rust-lang/rust-bindgen/issues/2703
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@ pschdir: build/bin/pschdir
 build/bin/pschdir: src/pschdir.c build
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ src/pschdir.c
 
+.PHONY: retval
+retval: build/bin/retval
+build/bin/retval: src/retval.rs build rustlibs
+	$(RUSTC) $(RUSTFLAGS) $(RUSTLIBS) -o $@ src/retval.rs
+
 .PHONY: rpn
 rpn: build/bin/rpn
 build/bin/rpn: src/rpn.rs build rustlibs
diff --git a/src/retval.rs b/src/retval.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3aa3ce4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/retval.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2024 DTB <trinity@trinity.moe>
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+ * the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free
+ * Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any
+ * later version.
+ * 
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+ * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more
+ * details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
+ */
+
+use std::{ env::args, process::ExitCode };
+
+extern crate sysexits;
+use sysexits::EX_USAGE;
+
+fn usage(s: &str) -> ExitCode {
+	eprintln!("Usage: {} status", s);
+	ExitCode::from(EX_USAGE)
+}
+
+fn main() -> ExitCode {
+	let argv = args().collect::<Vec<String>>();
+
+	match argv.len() {
+		2 => match argv[1].parse::<u8>() {
+				Ok(e) => ExitCode::from(e),
+				_ => usage(&argv[0])
+			},
+		_ => usage(&argv[0])
+	}
+}