diff --git a/src/commands/commit/commit.test.ts b/src/commands/commit/commit.test.ts
index aa664898..1a5ec278 100644
--- a/src/commands/commit/commit.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/commit/commit.test.ts
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ describe('commit command', () => {
       expect(mockHandleResult).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
     })
 
-    it('exits non-zero without printing anything when there are no staged changes', async () => {
+    it('exits non-zero without printing anything to stdout when there are no staged changes', async () => {
       mockGetChanges.mockResolvedValue({ staged: [], unstaged: [], untracked: [] })
 
       const writes: string[] = []
@@ -514,6 +514,43 @@ describe('commit command', () => {
 
       expect(writes).toHaveLength(0)
     })
+
+    // CMD-15: this path used to report failures via logger.verbose, which
+    // no-ops unless --verbose is set — the exact non-interactive command
+    // the installed prepare-commit-msg hook runs would fail with zero
+    // output anywhere, stdout or stderr.
+    it('surfaces a failure reason via logger.error (not logger.verbose) even without --verbose', async () => {
+      mockGetChanges.mockResolvedValue({ staged: [], unstaged: [], untracked: [] })
+
+      await expect(handler(argv, logger)).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: 1 })
+
+      expect(logger.error).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('No staged changes detected'),
+        expect.anything()
+      )
+      expect(logger.verbose).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('No staged changes detected'),
+        expect.anything()
+      )
+    })
+
+    it('surfaces the curated missing-API-key hint instead of a bare validation error', async () => {
+      mockGetApiKeyForModel.mockReturnValue('')
+
+      await expect(handler(argv, logger)).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: 1 })
+
+      expect(logger.error).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('Missing API key'),
+        expect.anything()
+      )
+      expect(logger.error).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('OPENAI_API_KEY'),
+        expect.anything()
+      )
+      // The rich hint pre-empts generateCommitDraft entirely — no reason
+      // to run diff summarization just to fail on the same missing key.
+      expect(mockGetChanges).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
   })
 
   describe('--json', () => {
@@ -582,5 +619,20 @@ describe('commit command', () => {
       expect(typeof parsed.error).toBe('string')
       expect(parsed.error.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
     })
+
+    // CMD-15: --json keeps its own contract — a missing key must still
+    // reach the caller as a parseable stdout payload, not the human-
+    // formatted handleMissingApiKey lines (which --print-message gets).
+    it('still emits a parseable { error } payload for a missing API key, not the human-formatted hint', async () => {
+      mockGetApiKeyForModel.mockReturnValue('')
+
+      const output = await captureStdout(async () => {
+        await expect(handler(argv, logger)).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: 1 })
+      })
+
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(output)
+      expect(typeof parsed.error).toBe('string')
+      expect(parsed.error.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    })
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/commands/commit/handler.ts b/src/commands/commit/handler.ts
index 3c441114..4e3e7dbd 100644
--- a/src/commands/commit/handler.ts
+++ b/src/commands/commit/handler.ts
@@ -63,13 +63,29 @@ export const handler: CommandHandler<CommitArgv> = async (argv, logger) => {
   }
 
   if (argv.printMessage || argv.json) {
+    // Plain --print-message has no JSON contract to preserve, so give it
+    // the same curated "set OPENAI_API_KEY / run coco init" recovery copy
+    // every other command gets, instead of letting a missing key surface
+    // only as a generic validationError further down (CMD-15). --json
+    // skips this: it needs a parseable stdout payload on failure, which
+    // the validationErrors branch below already provides via emitJson.
+    if (!argv.json) {
+      const draftConfig = loadConfig<CommitOptions, CommitArgv>(argv)
+      if (draftConfig.service.authentication.type !== 'None' && !getApiKeyForModel(draftConfig)) {
+        handleMissingApiKey(logger, draftConfig, { command: 'commit' })
+      }
+    }
+
     const result = await generateCommitDraft({ git, argv, logger })
     if (!result.ok || !result.draft) {
+      // logger.verbose no-ops unless --verbose is set, which made this
+      // path exit 1 with zero output for the exact non-interactive
+      // command the installed prepare-commit-msg hook runs (CMD-15).
       for (const warning of result.warnings) {
-        logger.verbose(warning, { color: 'yellow' })
+        logger.error(warning, { color: 'yellow' })
       }
       for (const validationError of result.validationErrors) {
-        logger.verbose(validationError, { color: 'red' })
+        logger.error(validationError, { color: 'red' })
       }
       if (argv.json) {
         // Machine consumers get a parseable error payload on stdout