docs: clarify symlink command behavior

Co-authored-by: CoderDeltaLAN <CoderDeltaLAN@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: CoderDeltaLAN

docs/EXIT-CODES.md

@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ Notes:
 - `budget` uses deterministic local metrics only.
 - `budget` does not perform tokenizer-specific counting, remote tokenization, LLM calls, pricing estimates, or optimization claims.
 - `Approximate words` is not a model token count.
+- Symlinked supported instruction-file paths fail hard with exit code `2` instead of being followed or silently skipped.
 
 ### `dedupe`
 
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ Notes:
 - `dedupe` is read-only.
 - `dedupe` uses deterministic local normalization only.
 - `dedupe` detects repeated normalized lines across supported instruction files, not broad semantic duplication.
+- Symlinked supported instruction-file paths fail hard with exit code `2` instead of being followed or silently skipped.
 
 ### `conflicts`
 
@@ -94,6 +96,7 @@ Notes:
 - `conflicts` is read-only.
 - `conflicts` uses deterministic local pattern families only.
 - `conflicts` detects implemented opposite-guidance patterns, not broad semantic contradiction.
+- Symlinked supported instruction-file paths fail hard with exit code `2` instead of being followed or silently skipped.
 
 ### `explain`
 

docs/OUTPUTS.md

@@ -255,6 +255,8 @@ Current `budget` exit-code behavior:
 
 `Approximate words` is a local whitespace-based approximation, not a model token count.
 
+Budget rejects symlinked supported instruction-file paths with exit code `2` instead of producing a partial report. This is deliberate: budget totals should not follow or count external symlink targets as if they were repository-local instruction files.
+
 ## Dedupe output contract
 
 Current `dedupe` console output includes:
@@ -275,6 +277,8 @@ Current `dedupe` exit-code behavior:
 
 `dedupe` is read-only. It detects repeated normalized lines across supported instruction files. It does not perform semantic duplication analysis.
 
+Dedupe rejects symlinked supported instruction-file paths with exit code `2` instead of producing a partial report. This is deliberate: duplicate-line reports should compare repository-local instruction text and should not follow symlink targets outside the reviewed tree.
+
 ## Conflicts output contract
 
 Current `conflicts` console output includes:
@@ -295,6 +299,8 @@ Current `conflicts` exit-code behavior:
 
 `conflicts` is read-only. It detects implemented deterministic pattern families for opposite guidance. It does not perform broad semantic contradiction analysis.
 
+Conflicts rejects symlinked supported instruction-file paths with exit code `2` instead of producing a partial report. This is deliberate: conflict reports should not mix repository-local guidance with symlink targets whose review boundary may be unclear.
+
 ## Explain output contract
 
 Current `explain` console output includes either: