diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 8b4b88a..c996acf 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ const Args = struct {
     syncthing_url: ?[]const u8 = null,
 };
 
-pub fn main() !void {
+pub fn main() !u8 {
     var gpa = std.heap.GeneralPurposeAllocator(.{}).init;
     defer _ = gpa.deinit();
     const allocator = gpa.allocator();
@@ -32,9 +32,19 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const arena = arena_alloc.allocator();
 
         var poller = try EventPoller.init(arena, config);
-        const events = poller.poll() catch |err| {
-            std.log.err("Error polling events: {s}", .{@errorName(err)});
-            continue;
+        const events = poller.poll() catch |err| switch (err) {
+            error.Unauthorized => {
+                std.log.err("Not authorized to use syncthing. Please set ST_EVENTS_AUTH environment variable and try again", .{});
+                return 2;
+            },
+            error.MaxRetriesExceeded => {
+                std.log.err("Maximum retries exceeded - exiting", .{});
+                return 1;
+            },
+            else => {
+                std.log.err("Error polling events: {s}", .{@errorName(err)});
+                continue;
+            },
         };
 
         for (events) |event| {
@@ -46,6 +56,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
             }
         }
     }
+    return 0;
 }
 
 fn parseArgs(allocator: std.mem.Allocator) !Args {
diff --git a/src/root.zig b/src/root.zig
index a0832c1..7c81bed 100644
--- a/src/root.zig
+++ b/src/root.zig
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ pub const EventPoller = struct {
         const aa = arena.allocator();
         try client.initDefaultProxies(aa);
 
-        var retry_count: usize = self.config.max_retries;
+        var retry_count: usize = 0;
         while (retry_count < self.config.max_retries) : (retry_count += 1) {
             var url_buf: [1024]u8 = undefined;
             var since_buf: [100]u8 = undefined;
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ pub const EventPoller = struct {
                 return err;
             };
 
+            if (response.status == .forbidden) return error.Unauthorized;
             if (response.status != .ok) {
                 std.log.err("HTTP status code: {}", .{response.status});
                 if (retry_count + 1 < self.config.max_retries) {