# Exit Code 137 in CI: OOM-Killed (SIGKILL) and How to Fix It

> Exit code 137 means a process was killed by SIGKILL (128 + 9) - in CI almost always the out-of-memory killer. Causes, debugging steps, and how to fix it.

Source: https://latchkey.dev/learn/exit-codes/exit-code-137-meaning-in-ci  
Updated: 2026-06-26

Exit code 137 means SIGKILL (128 + 9) terminated the process - on memory-limited runners this is overwhelmingly the OOM killer.

When a step exits 137, the kernel forcibly killed it. The most common cause in CI is the cgroup out-of-memory killer reclaiming memory under pressure.

## What it means

SIGKILL cannot be caught or ignored. 137 = 128 + 9. On CI runners the killer is usually the OOM killer; it can also be `docker stop` past its grace period or a `kill -9`.

## Common causes

- The job exceeded the runner or container memory limit.
- A build (webpack, tsc, gradle) or test suite spiked peak RSS.
- A Docker container hit its `--memory` cap.

## How to fix it

Give the job more memory or lower peak usage (reduce parallelism, cap heap sizes). This is a mechanical, transient failure class: self-healing managed runners like Latchkey detect an OOM-kill and automatically retry the job with the right resources.

## Reading exit codes in CI

- A shell reports `128 + N` when a process is terminated by signal N: 137 is SIGKILL (usually the out-of-memory killer), 143 is SIGTERM, 130 is SIGINT.
- Exit code 137 in a container almost always means the kernel killed it for memory. Nothing in the application log will explain it.
- A pipeline reports the exit status of its LAST command unless `pipefail` is set, which is how a failing command piped to `tee` produces a green build.
- Some tools use non-zero codes for non-failure outcomes. Check the tool documentation before treating any non-zero code as an error.

## FAQ

### Exit Code 137 in CI: OOM-Killed (SIGKILL) and How to Fix It?

When a step exits 137, the kernel forcibly killed it. The most common cause in CI is the cgroup out-of-memory killer reclaiming memory under pressure.

### What it means?

SIGKILL cannot be caught or ignored. 137 = 128 + 9. On CI runners the killer is usually the OOM killer; it can also be docker stop past its grace period or a kill -9.

### How to fix it?

Give the job more memory or lower peak usage (reduce parallelism, cap heap sizes). This is a mechanical, transient failure class: self-healing managed runners like Latchkey detect an OOM-kill and automatically retry the job with the right resources.

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Latchkey runs CI/CD that repairs its own failures. Agent entry points: https://latchkey.dev/agent.txt, https://latchkey.dev/openapi.json, https://latchkey.dev/llms.txt