diff --git a/.changeset/smooth-showers-double.md b/.changeset/smooth-showers-double.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e928ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/smooth-showers-double.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@multiverse-io/cari": patch
+---
+
+Gracefully handle user not entering any repo URLs during init
diff --git a/src/commands/init.test.ts b/src/commands/init.test.ts
index 2fbca18..47bd740 100644
--- a/src/commands/init.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/init.test.ts
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ describe("init command", () => {
       },
     ]);
     await init();
-    expect(pathExists(`${homeDir}/.cari`)).resolves.toBe(true);
+    await expect(pathExists(`${homeDir}/.cari`)).resolves.toBe(true);
     expect(gitMock.clone).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       repoUrl,
       `${homeDir}/.cari/my-org/ai-rules`
@@ -183,4 +183,27 @@ describe("init command", () => {
       "No rules were selected to include. Please select at least one rule to include with <space> or press Ctrl-c to exit."
     );
   });
+
+  it("should exit with an error when no repositories are provided", async () => {
+    mockDirs(populatedAriHomeDir, emptyProjectDir);
+
+    // Mock empty input to simulate no repos being added
+    inputMock.mockResolvedValueOnce("");
+
+    // Suppress console.error messages because this test will throw an (expected) error
+    const consoleErrorSpy = vi
+      .spyOn(console, "error")
+      .mockImplementation(() => {});
+
+    const mockExit = vi.spyOn(process, "exit").mockImplementation((code) => {
+      throw new Error(`Process exited with code ${code}`);
+    });
+
+    // Expect the init function to throw the error from our mocked process.exit
+    await expect(init()).rejects.toThrow("Process exited with code 1");
+
+    expect(errorMessageMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "No repositories were added. Please try again and enter at least one repository URL."
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/commands/init.ts b/src/commands/init.ts
index e6a8146..36bb4bd 100644
--- a/src/commands/init.ts
+++ b/src/commands/init.ts
@@ -23,8 +23,12 @@ import { RepoRules, SelectedRules } from "../rules/types.js";
 export const init = async (): Promise<void> => {
   try {
     const repoUrls = await askUserToSelectRepos();
+    if (!repoUrls.ok) {
+      errorMessage(repoUrls.error.message);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
     await createAriHomeDirIfNotExists();
-    const allRepoDetails = repoUrls.map((repoUrl) =>
+    const allRepoDetails = repoUrls.value.map((repoUrl) =>
       extractRepoDetails(repoUrl)
     );
     for (const repoDetails of allRepoDetails) {
diff --git a/src/prompting/init-prompts.test.ts b/src/prompting/init-prompts.test.ts
index 0c0ec0f..1f20e77 100644
--- a/src/prompting/init-prompts.test.ts
+++ b/src/prompting/init-prompts.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { describe, expect, it, vi, beforeEach } from "vitest";
 import { directoryChoice, fileChoice, repoChoice } from "./common.js";
-import { getSelectRuleChoices } from "./init-prompts.js";
+import { askUserToSelectRepos, getSelectRuleChoices } from "./init-prompts.js";
+import { input } from "@inquirer/prompts";
+import { ok, error, userInputError } from "../utils/result.js";
+
+// Mock the input prompt
+vi.mock("@inquirer/prompts", () => ({
+  input: vi.fn(),
+  checkbox: vi.fn(),
+}));
 
 describe("getSelectRuleChoices", () => {
   it("should return a list of choices", () => {
@@ -95,3 +103,40 @@ describe("getSelectRuleChoices", () => {
     ]);
   });
 });
+
+describe("askUserToSelectRepos", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("should return a success result with repository URLs when valid repositories are provided", async () => {
+    const repoUrl1 = "git@github.com:my-org/my-repo.git";
+    const repoUrl2 = "git@github.com:my-other-org/my-other-repo.git";
+
+    // Mock input to first return two repo URLs and then an empty string to finish
+    vi.mocked(input).mockResolvedValueOnce(repoUrl1);
+    vi.mocked(input).mockResolvedValueOnce(repoUrl2);
+    vi.mocked(input).mockResolvedValueOnce("");
+
+    const result = await askUserToSelectRepos();
+
+    expect(result).toEqual(ok([repoUrl1, repoUrl2]));
+    expect(input).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
+  });
+
+  it("should return an error result when no repositories are provided", async () => {
+    // Mock input to immediately return an empty string (user doesn't add any repos)
+    vi.mocked(input).mockResolvedValueOnce("");
+
+    const result = await askUserToSelectRepos();
+
+    expect(result).toEqual(
+      error(
+        userInputError(
+          "No repositories were added. Please try again and enter at least one repository URL."
+        )
+      )
+    );
+    expect(input).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/prompting/init-prompts.ts b/src/prompting/init-prompts.ts
index 826a1a2..beacd61 100644
--- a/src/prompting/init-prompts.ts
+++ b/src/prompting/init-prompts.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,17 @@ import {
   normaliseSelectedRules,
 } from "../rules/rule-flattening.js";
 import { RepoRules, RuleFilePath, SelectedRules } from "../rules/types.js";
+import {
+  error,
+  ok,
+  Result,
+  userInputError,
+  UserInputError,
+} from "../utils/result.js";
 
-export const askUserToSelectRepos = async (): Promise<string[]> => {
+export const askUserToSelectRepos = async (): Promise<
+  Result<string[], UserInputError>
+> => {
   const repos: string[] = [];
   while (true) {
     const repoToAdd = await input({
@@ -24,7 +33,14 @@ export const askUserToSelectRepos = async (): Promise<string[]> => {
     }
     repos.push(repoToAdd);
   }
-  return repos;
+  if (repos.length === 0) {
+    return error(
+      userInputError(
+        "No repositories were added. Please try again and enter at least one repository URL."
+      )
+    );
+  }
+  return ok(repos);
 };
 
 export const askUserToSelectRules = async (
diff --git a/src/utils/result.ts b/src/utils/result.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b566295
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/result.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+export type Ok<T> = {
+  ok: true;
+  value: T;
+};
+
+export function ok<T>(value: T): Ok<T> {
+  return {
+    ok: true,
+    value,
+  };
+}
+
+export type Error<E> = {
+  ok: false;
+  error: E;
+};
+
+export function error<E>(error: E): Error<E> {
+  return {
+    ok: false,
+    error,
+  };
+}
+
+export type Result<T, E> = Ok<T> | Error<E>;
+
+export type UserInputError = {
+  type: "user-input";
+  message: string;
+};
+
+export function userInputError(message: string): UserInputError {
+  return {
+    type: "user-input",
+    message,
+  };
+}