diff --git a/docs/guides/cli.md b/docs/guides/cli.md
index 395409dd1e..6091dbdb88 100644
--- a/docs/guides/cli.md
+++ b/docs/guides/cli.md
@@ -9,16 +9,29 @@ spectral lint petstore.yaml
 Other options include:
 
 ``` text
-  -e, --encoding=encoding      text encoding to use
-  -f, --format=json|stylish    formatter to use for outputting results
-  -h, --help                   show CLI help
-  -o, --output=output          output to a file instead of stdout
-  -q, --quiet                  no logging - output only
-  -r, --ruleset=ruleset        path to a ruleset file (supports remote files)
-  -s, --skip-rule=skip-rule    ignore certain rules if they are causing trouble
-  -v, --verbose                increase verbosity
+  --version                    Show version number                                          [boolean]
+  --help                       Show help                                                    [boolean]
+  --encoding, -e               text encoding to use                        [string] [default: "utf8"]
+  --format, -f                 formatter to use for outputting results  [string] [default: "stylish"]
+  --output, -o                 output to a file instead of stdout                            [string]
+  --ruleset, -r                path/URL to a ruleset file                                    [string]
+  --skip-rule, -s              ignore certain rules if they are causing trouble              [string]
+  --fail-severity, -F          results of this level or above will trigger a failure exit code
+                                [string] [choices: "error", "warn", "info", "hint"] [default: "hint"]
+  --display-only-failures, -D  only output results equal to or greater than --fail-severity
+                                                                           [boolean] [default: false]
+  --verbose, -v                increase verbosity                                           [boolean]
+  --quiet, -q                  no logging - output only                                     [boolean]
 ```
 
 > Note: The Spectral CLI supports both YAML and JSON.
 
 Currently, Spectral CLI supports validation of OpenAPI v2/v3 documents via our built-in ruleset, or you can create [custom rulesets](../getting-started/rulesets.md) to work with any JSON/YAML documents.
+
+## Error Results
+
+Spectral has a few different error severities: `error`, `warn`, `info` and `hint`, and they are in "order" from highest to lowest. Be default all results will be shown regardless of severity, and the presence of any results will cause a failure status code of 1.
+
+The default behavior is can be modified with the `--fail-severity=` option. Setting fail severity to `--fail-severity=warn` would return a status code of 1 for any warning results or higher, so that would also include error. Using `--fail-severity=error` will only show errors.
+
+Changing the fail severity will not effect output. To change what results Spectral CLI prints to the screen, add the `--display-only-fail-severity-results` switch (or just `-D` for short). This will strip out any results which are below the fail severity.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index d0d045fe9a..00195f57dc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
     "build.binary": "pkg . --targets linux,macos --out-path ./binaries",
     "build.oas-functions": "rollup -c",
     "build": "tsc -p ./tsconfig.build.json",
+    "cli": "node -r ts-node/register -r tsconfig-paths/register src/cli/index.ts",
+    "cli:debug": "node -r ts-node/register -r tsconfig-paths/register --inspect-brk src/cli/index.ts",
     "compile-rulesets": "node ./scripts/compile-rulesets.js",
     "inline-version": "./scripts/inline-version.js",
     "lint.fix": "yarn lint --fix",
diff --git a/src/cli/commands/lint.ts b/src/cli/commands/lint.ts
index 4ad2c6e280..5e53c2905f 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/lint.ts
+++ b/src/cli/commands/lint.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ import { Dictionary } from '@stoplight/types';
 import { CommandModule, showHelp } from 'yargs';
 
 import { pick } from 'lodash';
-import { ILintConfig, OutputFormat } from '../../types/config';
+import { getDiagnosticSeverity } from '../../rulesets/severity';
+import { IRuleResult } from '../../types';
+import { FailSeverity, ILintConfig, OutputFormat } from '../../types/config';
 import { lint } from '../services/linter';
 import { formatOutput, writeOutput } from '../services/output';
 
@@ -58,6 +60,19 @@ const lintCommand: CommandModule = {
           type: 'string',
           coerce: toArray,
         },
+        'fail-severity': {
+          alias: 'F',
+          description: 'results of this level or above will trigger a failure exit code',
+          choices: ['error', 'warn', 'info', 'hint'],
+          default: 'hint', // BREAKING: raise this to warn in 5.0
+          type: 'string',
+        },
+        'display-only-failures': {
+          alias: 'D',
+          description: 'only output results equal to or greater than --fail-severity',
+          type: 'boolean',
+          default: false,
+        },
         verbose: {
           alias: 'v',
           description: 'increase verbosity',
@@ -71,8 +86,19 @@ const lintCommand: CommandModule = {
       }),
 
   handler: args => {
-    const { document, ruleset, format, output, encoding, ...config } = (args as unknown) as ILintConfig & {
+    const {
+      document,
+      failSeverity,
+      displayOnlyFailures,
+      ruleset,
+      format,
+      output,
+      encoding,
+      ...config
+    } = (args as unknown) as ILintConfig & {
       document: string;
+      failSeverity: FailSeverity;
+      displayOnlyFailures: boolean;
     };
 
     return lint(
@@ -80,11 +106,17 @@ const lintCommand: CommandModule = {
       { format, output, encoding, ...pick(config, ['ruleset', 'skipRule', 'verbose', 'quiet']) },
       ruleset,
     )
+      .then(results => {
+        if (displayOnlyFailures) {
+          return filterResultsBySeverity(results, failSeverity);
+        }
+        return results;
+      })
       .then(results => {
         if (results.length) {
-          process.exitCode = 1;
+          process.exitCode = severeEnoughToFail(results, failSeverity) ? 1 : 0;
         } else if (!config.quiet) {
-          console.log('No errors or warnings found!');
+          console.log(`No results with a severity of '${failSeverity}' or higher found!`);
         }
         const formattedOutput = formatOutput(results, format);
         return writeOutput(formattedOutput, output);
@@ -93,9 +125,19 @@ const lintCommand: CommandModule = {
   },
 };
 
-function fail(err: Error) {
+const fail = (err: Error) => {
   console.error(err);
   process.exitCode = 2;
-}
+};
+
+const filterResultsBySeverity = (results: IRuleResult[], failSeverity: FailSeverity): IRuleResult[] => {
+  const diagnosticSeverity = getDiagnosticSeverity(failSeverity);
+  return results.filter(r => r.severity <= diagnosticSeverity);
+};
+
+const severeEnoughToFail = (results: IRuleResult[], failSeverity: FailSeverity): boolean => {
+  const diagnosticSeverity = getDiagnosticSeverity(failSeverity);
+  return !!results.find(r => r.severity <= diagnosticSeverity);
+};
 
 export default lintCommand;
diff --git a/src/fs/reader.ts b/src/fs/reader.ts
index d63aeddc50..a2ff17cc0d 100644
--- a/src/fs/reader.ts
+++ b/src/fs/reader.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export interface IReadOptions {
 export async function readFile(name: string, opts: IReadOptions) {
   if (isURL(name)) {
     let response;
-    let timeout: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
+    let timeout: NodeJS.Timeout | number | null = null;
     try {
       if (opts.timeout) {
         const controller = new AbortController();
diff --git a/src/rulesets/mergers/functions.ts b/src/rulesets/mergers/functions.ts
index 466cced12e..6dbcfdcc36 100644
--- a/src/rulesets/mergers/functions.ts
+++ b/src/rulesets/mergers/functions.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export function mergeFunctions(
     if (typeof rule === 'object') {
       const ruleThen = Array.isArray(rule.then) ? rule.then : [rule.then];
       for (const then of ruleThen) {
-        // note: if function relies on global function, it will take the most recent defined one
+        // if function relies on global function, it will take the most recent defined one
         if (then.function in map) {
           then.function = map[then.function];
         }
diff --git a/src/rulesets/oas/functions/__tests__/oasOp2xxResponse.test.ts b/src/rulesets/oas/functions/__tests__/oasOp2xxResponse.test.ts
index 4e5a3e8cb7..38d7154ae4 100644
--- a/src/rulesets/oas/functions/__tests__/oasOp2xxResponse.test.ts
+++ b/src/rulesets/oas/functions/__tests__/oasOp2xxResponse.test.ts
@@ -102,4 +102,20 @@ describe('oasOp2xxResponse', () => {
       },
     ]);
   });
+
+  test('does not complain when no responses property', async () => {
+    const results = await s.run({
+      paths: {
+        '/test': {
+          get: {
+            operationId: '123',
+          },
+          post: {
+            operationId: '123',
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    expect(results).toEqual([]);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/rulesets/oas/functions/oasOp2xxResponse.ts b/src/rulesets/oas/functions/oasOp2xxResponse.ts
index bfe4fd4845..5d8ae7ca87 100644
--- a/src/rulesets/oas/functions/oasOp2xxResponse.ts
+++ b/src/rulesets/oas/functions/oasOp2xxResponse.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
 import { IFunction, IFunctionResult, Rule } from '../../../types';
 
 export const oasOp2xxResponse: IFunction<Rule> = targetVal => {
-  const results: IFunctionResult[] = [];
+  if (!targetVal) {
+    return;
+  }
 
+  const results: IFunctionResult[] = [];
   const responses = Object.keys(targetVal);
-
   if (responses.filter(response => Number(response) >= 200 && Number(response) < 300).length === 0) {
     results.push({
       message: 'operations must define at least one 2xx response',
     });
   }
-
   return results;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/types/config.ts b/src/types/config.ts
index 8f9a02a7b6..55a9010a6b 100644
--- a/src/types/config.ts
+++ b/src/types/config.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+import { HumanReadableDiagnosticSeverity } from './rule';
+
+export type FailSeverity = HumanReadableDiagnosticSeverity;
+
 export enum OutputFormat {
   JSON = 'json',
   STYLISH = 'stylish',
diff --git a/test-harness/helpers.ts b/test-harness/helpers.ts
index b75561e638..e6c8a8c927 100644
--- a/test-harness/helpers.ts
+++ b/test-harness/helpers.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 export function parseScenarioFile(data: string) {
-  const regex = /====(test|document|command|stdout|stderr)====\r?\n/gi;
+  const regex = /====(test|document|command|status|stdout|stderr)====\r?\n/gi;
   const split = data.split(regex);
 
   const testIndex = split.findIndex(t => t === 'test');
   const documentIndex = split.findIndex(t => t === 'document');
   const commandIndex = split.findIndex(t => t === 'command');
+  const statusIndex = split.findIndex(t => t === 'status');
   const stdoutIndex = split.findIndex(t => t === 'stdout');
   const stderrIndex = split.findIndex(t => t === 'stderr');
 
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ export function parseScenarioFile(data: string) {
     test: split[1 + testIndex],
     document: split[1 + documentIndex],
     command: split[1 + commandIndex],
+    status: split[1 + statusIndex],
     stdout: split[1 + stdoutIndex],
     stderr: split[1 + stderrIndex],
   };
diff --git a/test-harness/index.ts b/test-harness/index.ts
index 3c8baf84e9..9b4a70c5e2 100644
--- a/test-harness/index.ts
+++ b/test-harness/index.ts
@@ -21,13 +21,12 @@ function replaceVars(string: string, replacements: Replacement[]) {
   return replacements.reduce((str, replace) => str.replace(replace.from, replace.to), string);
 }
 
-describe('cli e2e tests', () => {
-  const files = process.env.TESTS
-    ? String(process.env.TESTS).split(',')
-    : glob.readdirSync('**/*.scenario', { cwd: path.join(__dirname, './scenarios') });
+describe('cli acceptance tests', () => {
+  const cwd = path.join(__dirname, './scenarios');
+  const files = process.env.TESTS ? String(process.env.TESTS).split(',') : glob.readdirSync('**/*.scenario', { cwd });
 
   files.forEach((file: string) => {
-    const data = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, './scenarios/', file), { encoding: 'utf8' });
+    const data = fs.readFileSync(path.join(cwd, file), { encoding: 'utf8' });
     const scenario = parseScenarioFile(data);
     const replacements: Replacement[] = [];
 
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ describe('cli e2e tests', () => {
       }
     });
 
-    test(`${file}${os.EOL}${scenario.test}`, () => {
+    test(`./test-harness/scenarios/${file}${os.EOL}${scenario.test}`, () => {
       // TODO split on " " is going to break quoted args
       const args = scenario.command.split(' ').map(t => {
         const arg = t.trim();
@@ -76,10 +75,12 @@ describe('cli e2e tests', () => {
         windowsVerbatimArguments: false,
       });
 
+      const expectedStatus = replaceVars(scenario.status.trim(), replacements);
+      const expectedStdout = replaceVars(scenario.stdout.trim(), replacements);
+      const expectedStderr = replaceVars(scenario.stderr.trim(), replacements);
+      const status = commandHandle.status;
       const stderr = commandHandle.stderr.trim();
       const stdout = commandHandle.stdout.trim();
-      const expectedStderr = replaceVars(scenario.stderr.trim(), replacements);
-      const expectedStdout = replaceVars(scenario.stdout.trim(), replacements);
 
       if (expectedStderr) {
         expect(stderr).toEqual(expectedStderr);
@@ -90,6 +91,10 @@ describe('cli e2e tests', () => {
       if (stdout) {
         expect(stdout).toEqual(expectedStdout);
       }
+
+      if (expectedStatus !== '') {
+        expect(`status:${status}`).toEqual(`status:${expectedStatus}`);
+      }
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/test-harness/scenarios/help-no-document.scenario b/test-harness/scenarios/help-no-document.scenario
index 57635fc605..0cfb32858a 100644
--- a/test-harness/scenarios/help-no-document.scenario
+++ b/test-harness/scenarios/help-no-document.scenario
@@ -11,12 +11,14 @@ Positionals:
   document  Location of a JSON/YAML document. Can be either a file or a fetchable resource on the web.  [string] [required]
 
 Options:
-  --version        Show version number  [boolean]
-  --help           Show help  [boolean]
-  --encoding, -e   text encoding to use  [string] [default: "utf8"]
-  --format, -f     formatter to use for outputting results  [string] [default: "stylish"]
-  --output, -o     output to a file instead of stdout  [string]
-  --ruleset, -r    path/URL to a ruleset file  [string]
-  --skip-rule, -s  ignore certain rules if they are causing trouble  [string]
-  --verbose, -v    increase verbosity  [boolean]
-  --quiet, -q      no logging - output only  [boolean]
\ No newline at end of file
+  --version                    Show version number  [boolean]
+  --help                       Show help  [boolean]
+  --encoding, -e               text encoding to use  [string] [default: "utf8"]
+  --format, -f                 formatter to use for outputting results  [string] [default: "stylish"]
+  --output, -o                 output to a file instead of stdout  [string]
+  --ruleset, -r                path/URL to a ruleset file  [string]
+  --skip-rule, -s              ignore certain rules if they are causing trouble  [string]
+  --fail-severity, -F          results of this level or above will trigger a failure exit code  [string] [choices: "error", "warn", "info", "hint"] [default: "hint"]
+  --display-only-failures, -D  only output results equal to or greater than --fail-severity  [boolean] [default: false]
+  --verbose, -v                increase verbosity  [boolean]
+  --quiet, -q                  no logging - output only  [boolean]
diff --git a/test-harness/scenarios/parameter-description-links.oas3.scenario b/test-harness/scenarios/parameter-description-links.oas3.scenario
index 93ee4b2139..b237b452c1 100644
--- a/test-harness/scenarios/parameter-description-links.oas3.scenario
+++ b/test-harness/scenarios/parameter-description-links.oas3.scenario
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ components:
 lint --ruleset ./test-harness/scenarios/rulesets/parameter-description.oas3.yaml {document}
 ====stdout====
 OpenAPI 3.x detected
-No errors or warnings found!
\ No newline at end of file
+No results with a severity of 'hint' or higher found!
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test-harness/scenarios/severity/display-errors.oas3.scenario b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/display-errors.oas3.scenario
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..adc59f208d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/display-errors.oas3.scenario
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+====test====
+Request only errors be shown, but no errors exist
+====document====
+openapi: '3.0.0'
+info:
+  version: 1.0.0
+  title: Swagger Petstore
+  license:
+    name: MIT
+paths:
+  /pets/{petId}:
+    get:
+      summary: Info for a specific pet
+      operationId: showPetById
+      tags:
+        - pets
+      parameters:
+        - name: petId
+          in: path
+          required: true
+          description: The id of the pet to retrieve
+          schema:
+            type: string
+      responses:
+        '200':
+          description: Expected response to a valid request
+          content:
+            application/json:
+              schema:
+                required:
+                  - id
+                  - name
+                properties:
+                  id:
+                    type: integer
+                    format: int64
+                  name:
+                    type: string
+                  tag:
+                    type: string
+====command====
+lint {document} --fail-severity=error -D
+====status====
+0
+====stdout====
+OpenAPI 3.x detected
+No results with a severity of 'error' or higher found!
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test-harness/scenarios/severity/display-warnings.oas3.scenario b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/display-warnings.oas3.scenario
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..49216f855e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/display-warnings.oas3.scenario
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+====test====
+Fail severity is set to error but only warnings exist, 
+so status should be success and output should show warnings
+====document====
+openapi: '3.0.0'
+info:
+  version: 1.0.0
+  title: Swagger Petstore
+  license:
+    name: MIT
+paths:
+  /pets/{petId}:
+    get:
+      summary: Info for a specific pet
+      operationId: showPetById
+      tags:
+        - pets
+      parameters:
+        - name: petId
+          in: path
+          required: true
+          description: The id of the pet to retrieve
+          schema:
+            type: string
+      responses:
+        '200':
+          description: Expected response to a valid request
+          content:
+            application/json:
+              schema:
+                required:
+                  - id
+                  - name
+                properties:
+                  id:
+                    type: integer
+                    format: int64
+                  name:
+                    type: string
+                  tag:
+                    type: string
+====command====
+lint {document} --fail-severity=error
+====status====
+0
+====stdout====
+OpenAPI 3.x detected
+
+{document}
+ 1:1  warning  api-servers            OpenAPI `servers` must be present and non-empty array.
+ 2:6  warning  info-contact           Info object should contain `contact` object.
+ 2:6  warning  info-description       OpenAPI object info `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+ 9:9  warning  operation-description  Operation `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+
+✖ 4 problems (0 errors, 4 warnings, 0 infos)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test-harness/scenarios/severity/fail-on-error-no-error.scenario b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/fail-on-error-no-error.scenario
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0125748dca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/fail-on-error-no-error.scenario
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+====test====
+Will only fail if there is an error, and there is not. Can still see all warnings.
+====document====
+openapi: 3.0.0
+info:
+  version: 1.0.0
+  title: Unique Operations
+paths:
+  /test:
+    get:
+      operationId: foo
+      responses:
+        200:
+          description: ok
+    post:
+      operationId: bar
+      responses:
+        200:
+          description: ok
+====command====
+lint {document} --fail-severity=error
+====status====
+0
+====stdout====
+OpenAPI 3.x detected
+
+{document}
+  1:1   warning  api-servers            OpenAPI `servers` must be present and non-empty array.
+  2:6   warning  info-contact           Info object should contain `contact` object.
+  2:6   warning  info-description       OpenAPI object info `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+  7:9   warning  operation-description  Operation `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+  7:9   warning  operation-tags         Operation should have non-empty `tags` array.
+ 12:10  warning  operation-description  Operation `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+ 12:10  warning  operation-tags         Operation should have non-empty `tags` array.
+
+✖ 7 problems (0 errors, 7 warnings, 0 infos)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test-harness/scenarios/severity/fail-on-error.oas3.scenario b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/fail-on-error.oas3.scenario
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..01b0f164a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-harness/scenarios/severity/fail-on-error.oas3.scenario
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+====test====
+Will fail and return 1 as exit code because errors exist
+====document====
+openapi: 3.0.0
+info:
+  version: 1.0.0
+  title: Clashing Operations
+paths:
+  /test:
+    get:
+      operationId: foo
+      responses:
+        200:
+          description: ok
+    post:
+      operationId: foo
+      responses:
+        200:
+          description: ok
+====command====
+lint {document} --fail-severity=error
+====status====
+1
+====stdout====
+OpenAPI 3.x detected
+
+{document}
+  1:1   warning  api-servers                   OpenAPI `servers` must be present and non-empty array.
+  2:6   warning  info-contact                  Info object should contain `contact` object.
+  2:6   warning  info-description              OpenAPI object info `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+  7:9   warning  operation-description         Operation `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+  7:9   warning  operation-tags                Operation should have non-empty `tags` array.
+  8:20    error  operation-operationId-unique  Every operation must have a unique `operationId`.
+ 12:10  warning  operation-description         Operation `description` must be present and non-empty string.
+ 12:10  warning  operation-tags                Operation should have non-empty `tags` array.
+ 13:20    error  operation-operationId-unique  Every operation must have a unique `operationId`.
+
+✖ 9 problems (2 errors, 7 warnings, 0 infos)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test-harness/scenarios/valid-no-errors.oas2.scenario b/test-harness/scenarios/valid-no-errors.oas2.scenario
index 131fd549fd..ba2e8f9538 100644
--- a/test-harness/scenarios/valid-no-errors.oas2.scenario
+++ b/test-harness/scenarios/valid-no-errors.oas2.scenario
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ paths: {}
 lint {document}
 ====stdout====
 OpenAPI 2.0 (Swagger) detected
-No errors or warnings found!
\ No newline at end of file
+No results with a severity of 'hint' or higher found!
\ No newline at end of file