diff --git a/cli/src/index.ts b/cli/src/index.ts
index 5525755514..6dcf12edcc 100644
--- a/cli/src/index.ts
+++ b/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -775,6 +775,12 @@ program
 		// Always check for piped stdin content
 		const stdinInput = await readStdinIfPiped()
 
+		// Error if stdin was piped but empty (e.g., `echo "" | cline`)
+		if (stdinInput === "") {
+			printWarning("Empty input received from stdin. Please provide content to process.")
+			exit(1)
+		}
+
 		// If no prompt argument, check if input is piped via stdin
 		let effectivePrompt = prompt
 		if (stdinInput) {
diff --git a/cli/src/utils/piped.ts b/cli/src/utils/piped.ts
index f03adcecaa..c046a71d1d 100644
--- a/cli/src/utils/piped.ts
+++ b/cli/src/utils/piped.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ export async function readStdinIfPiped(): Promise<string | null> {
 
 		process.stdin.on("end", () => {
 			clearTimeout(timeout)
-			resolve(data.trim() || null)
+			// Return empty string (not null) when stdin was piped but empty
+			// This allows callers to distinguish between "no piped input" (null)
+			// and "empty piped input" ("") for proper error handling
+			resolve(data.trim())
 		})
 
 		process.stdin.on("error", () => {