diff --git a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/CLIProcessor.java b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/CLIProcessor.java
index ff919cf54..17c015a00 100644
--- a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/CLIProcessor.java
+++ b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/CLIProcessor.java
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@
 
 import static org.fusesource.jansi.Ansi.ansi;
 
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandService;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommand;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommandExecutor;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CollectionUtil;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.IVersionInfo;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
 
@@ -35,11 +37,10 @@
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.Deque;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -164,6 +165,13 @@ private ExitStatus parseCommand(String... args) {
     assert commandArgs != null;
     CallingContext callingContext = new CallingContext(commandArgs);
 
+    if (LOGGER.isDebugEnabled()) {
+      String commandChain = callingContext.getCalledCommands().stream()
+          .map(ICommand::getName)
+          .collect(Collectors.joining(" -> "));
+      LOGGER.debug("Processing command chain: {}", commandChain);
+    }
+
     ExitStatus status;
     // the first two arguments should be the <command> and <operation>, where <type>
     // is the object type
@@ -177,10 +185,16 @@ private ExitStatus parseCommand(String... args) {
     return status;
   }
 
+  @NonNull
   protected final List<ICommand> getTopLevelCommands() {
-    List<ICommand> retval = Collections.unmodifiableList(commands);
-    assert retval != null;
-    return retval;
+    return CollectionUtil.unmodifiableList(commands);
+  }
+
+  @NonNull
+  protected final Map<String, ICommand> getTopLevelCommandsByName() {
+    return ObjectUtils.notNull(getTopLevelCommands()
+        .stream()
+        .collect(Collectors.toUnmodifiableMap(ICommand::getName, Function.identity())));
   }
 
   private static void handleNoColor() {
@@ -200,7 +214,8 @@ public static void handleQuiet() {
   }
 
   protected void showVersion() {
-    @SuppressWarnings("resource") PrintStream out = AnsiConsole.out(); // NOPMD - not owner
+    @SuppressWarnings("resource")
+    PrintStream out = AnsiConsole.out(); // NOPMD - not owner
     getVersionInfos().values().stream().forEach(info -> {
       out.println(ansi()
           .bold().a(info.getName()).boldOff()
@@ -230,63 +245,44 @@ public class CallingContext {
     @NonNull
     private final List<Option> options;
     @NonNull
-    private final Deque<ICommand> calledCommands;
+    private final List<ICommand> calledCommands;
+    @Nullable
+    private final ICommand targetCommand;
     @NonNull
     private final List<String> extraArgs;
 
     @SuppressFBWarnings(value = "CT_CONSTRUCTOR_THROW", justification = "Use of final fields")
     public CallingContext(@NonNull List<String> args) {
-      Map<String, ICommand> topLevelCommandMap = getTopLevelCommands().stream()
-          .collect(Collectors.toUnmodifiableMap(ICommand::getName, Function.identity()));
-
+      @SuppressWarnings("PMD.LooseCoupling")
+      LinkedList<ICommand> calledCommands = new LinkedList<>();
       List<Option> options = new LinkedList<>(OPTIONS);
-      Deque<ICommand> calledCommands = new LinkedList<>();
       List<String> extraArgs = new LinkedList<>();
 
-      boolean endArgs = false;
-      for (String arg : args) {
-        if (endArgs || arg.startsWith("-")) {
+      AtomicBoolean endArgs = new AtomicBoolean();
+      args.forEach(arg -> {
+        if (endArgs.get() || arg.startsWith("-")) {
           extraArgs.add(arg);
         } else if ("--".equals(arg)) {
-          endArgs = true;
+          endArgs.set(true);
         } else {
-          ICommand command;
-          if (calledCommands.isEmpty()) {
-            command = topLevelCommandMap.get(arg);
-          } else {
-            command = calledCommands.getLast();
-            command = command.getSubCommandByName(arg);
-          }
+          ICommand command = calledCommands.isEmpty()
+              ? getTopLevelCommandsByName().get(arg)
+              : calledCommands.getLast().getSubCommandByName(arg);
 
           if (command == null) {
             extraArgs.add(arg);
-            endArgs = true;
+            endArgs.set(true);
           } else {
             calledCommands.add(command);
+            options.addAll(command.gatherOptions());
           }
         }
-      }
-
-      if (LOGGER.isDebugEnabled()) {
-        String commandChain = calledCommands.stream()
-            .map(ICommand::getName)
-            .collect(Collectors.joining(" -> "));
-        LOGGER.debug("Processing command chain: {}", commandChain);
-      }
+      });
 
-      for (ICommand cmd : calledCommands) {
-        options.addAll(cmd.gatherOptions());
-      }
-
-      options = Collections.unmodifiableList(options);
-      extraArgs = Collections.unmodifiableList(extraArgs);
-
-      assert options != null;
-      assert extraArgs != null;
-
-      this.options = options;
-      this.calledCommands = calledCommands;
-      this.extraArgs = extraArgs;
+      this.calledCommands = CollectionUtil.unmodifiableList(calledCommands);
+      this.targetCommand = calledCommands.peekLast();
+      this.options = CollectionUtil.unmodifiableList(options);
+      this.extraArgs = CollectionUtil.unmodifiableList(extraArgs);
     }
 
     @NonNull
@@ -296,7 +292,7 @@ public CLIProcessor getCLIProcessor() {
 
     @Nullable
     public ICommand getTargetCommand() {
-      return calledCommands.peekLast();
+      return targetCommand;
     }
 
     @NonNull
@@ -305,7 +301,7 @@ protected List<Option> getOptionsList() {
     }
 
     @NonNull
-    private Deque<ICommand> getCalledCommands() {
+    private List<ICommand> getCalledCommands() {
       return calledCommands;
     }
 
@@ -326,57 +322,102 @@ protected Options toOptions() {
     @NonNull
     public ExitStatus processCommand() {
       CommandLineParser parser = new DefaultParser();
-      CommandLine cmdLine;
 
-      // this uses a two phase approach where:
+      // this uses a three phase approach where:
       // phase 1: checks if help or version are used
-      // phase 2: executes the command
+      // phase 2: parse and validate arguments
+      // phase 3: executes the command
 
       // phase 1
-      ExitStatus retval = null;
-      {
-        try {
-          Options phase1Options = new Options();
-          phase1Options.addOption(HELP_OPTION);
-          phase1Options.addOption(VERSION_OPTION);
+      CommandLine cmdLine;
+      try {
+        Options phase1Options = new Options();
+        phase1Options.addOption(HELP_OPTION);
+        phase1Options.addOption(VERSION_OPTION);
+
+        cmdLine = ObjectUtils.notNull(parser.parse(phase1Options, getExtraArgs().toArray(new String[0]), true));
+      } catch (ParseException ex) {
+        String msg = ex.getMessage();
+        assert msg != null;
+        return handleInvalidCommand(msg);
+      }
 
-          cmdLine = parser.parse(phase1Options, getExtraArgs().toArray(new String[0]), true);
-        } catch (ParseException ex) {
-          String msg = ex.getMessage();
-          assert msg != null;
-          return handleInvalidCommand(msg);
+      if (cmdLine.hasOption(VERSION_OPTION)) {
+        showVersion();
+        return ExitCode.OK.exit();
+      }
+      if (cmdLine.hasOption(HELP_OPTION)) {
+        showHelp();
+        return ExitCode.OK.exit();
+      }
+
+      // phase 2
+      try {
+        cmdLine = ObjectUtils.notNull(parser.parse(toOptions(), getExtraArgs().toArray(new String[0])));
+      } catch (ParseException ex) {
+        String msg = ex.getMessage();
+        assert msg != null;
+        return handleInvalidCommand(msg);
+      }
+
+      ICommand targetCommand = getTargetCommand();
+      if (targetCommand != null) {
+        if (targetCommand.isSubCommandRequired()) {
+          return handleError(
+              ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
+                  .exitMessage("Please choose a valid sub-command."),
+              cmdLine,
+              true);
         }
 
-        if (cmdLine.hasOption(VERSION_OPTION)) {
-          showVersion();
-          retval = ExitCode.OK.exit();
-        } else if (cmdLine.hasOption(HELP_OPTION)) {
-          showHelp();
-          retval = ExitCode.OK.exit();
+        List<ExtraArgument> extraArguments = targetCommand.getExtraArguments();
+        int maxArguments = extraArguments.size();
+
+        List<String> actualArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
+        int actualArgsSize = actualArgs.size();
+        if (actualArgs.size() > maxArguments) {
+          return handleError(
+              ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
+                  .exitMessage("The provided extra arguments exceed the number of allowed arguments."),
+              cmdLine,
+              true);
+        }
+
+        List<ExtraArgument> requiredExtraArguments = targetCommand.getExtraArguments().stream()
+            .filter(ExtraArgument::isRequired)
+            .collect(Collectors.toUnmodifiableList());
+
+        if (actualArgsSize < requiredExtraArguments.size()) {
+          return handleError(
+              ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
+                  .exitMessage("Please provide the required extra arguments."),
+              cmdLine,
+              true);
         }
       }
 
-      if (retval == null) {
-        // phase 2
+      for (ICommand cmd : getCalledCommands()) {
         try {
-          cmdLine = parser.parse(toOptions(), getExtraArgs().toArray(new String[0]));
-        } catch (ParseException ex) {
+          cmd.validateOptions(this, cmdLine);
+        } catch (InvalidArgumentException ex) {
           String msg = ex.getMessage();
           assert msg != null;
           return handleInvalidCommand(msg);
         }
+      }
 
-        if (cmdLine.hasOption(NO_COLOR_OPTION)) {
-          handleNoColor();
-        }
-
-        if (cmdLine.hasOption(QUIET_OPTION)) {
-          handleQuiet();
-        }
-        retval = invokeCommand(cmdLine);
+      // phase 3
+      if (cmdLine.hasOption(NO_COLOR_OPTION)) {
+        handleNoColor();
       }
 
-      retval.generateMessage(cmdLine.hasOption(SHOW_STACK_TRACE_OPTION));
+      if (cmdLine.hasOption(QUIET_OPTION)) {
+        handleQuiet();
+      }
+      ExitStatus retval = invokeCommand(cmdLine);
+      if (ExitCode.OK.equals(retval.getExitCode())) {
+        handleError(retval, cmdLine, false);
+      }
       return retval;
     }
 
@@ -387,22 +428,21 @@ public ExitStatus processCommand() {
     protected ExitStatus invokeCommand(@NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) {
       ExitStatus retval;
       try {
-        for (ICommand cmd : getCalledCommands()) {
-          try {
-            cmd.validateOptions(this, cmdLine);
-          } catch (InvalidArgumentException ex) {
-            String msg = ex.getMessage();
-            assert msg != null;
-            return handleInvalidCommand(msg);
-          }
-        }
-
         ICommand targetCommand = getTargetCommand();
         if (targetCommand == null) {
           retval = ExitCode.INVALID_COMMAND.exit();
         } else {
           ICommandExecutor executor = targetCommand.newExecutor(this, cmdLine);
-          retval = executor.execute();
+          try {
+            executor.execute();
+            retval = ExitCode.OK.exit();
+          } catch (CommandExecutionException ex) {
+            retval = ex.toExitStatus();
+          } catch (RuntimeException ex) {
+            retval = ExitCode.RUNTIME_ERROR
+                .exitMessage("Unexpected error occured: " + ex.getLocalizedMessage())
+                .withThrowable(ex);
+          }
         }
 
         if (ExitCode.INVALID_COMMAND.equals(retval.getExitCode())) {
@@ -416,6 +456,18 @@ protected ExitStatus invokeCommand(@NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) {
       return retval;
     }
 
+    @NonNull
+    public ExitStatus handleError(
+        @NonNull ExitStatus exitStatus,
+        @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine,
+        boolean showHelp) {
+      exitStatus.generateMessage(cmdLine.hasOption(SHOW_STACK_TRACE_OPTION));
+      if (showHelp) {
+        showHelp();
+      }
+      return exitStatus;
+    }
+
     @NonNull
     public ExitStatus handleInvalidCommand(
         @NonNull String message) {
@@ -499,7 +551,7 @@ protected String buildHelpCliSyntax() {
       StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder(64);
       builder.append(getExec());
 
-      Deque<ICommand> calledCommands = getCalledCommands();
+      List<ICommand> calledCommands = getCalledCommands();
       if (!calledCommands.isEmpty()) {
         builder.append(calledCommands.stream()
             .map(ICommand::getName)
@@ -580,7 +632,8 @@ public void showHelp() {
       AnsiPrintStream out = AnsiConsole.out();
       int terminalWidth = Math.max(out.getTerminalWidth(), 40);
 
-      @SuppressWarnings("resource") PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter( // NOPMD not owned
+      @SuppressWarnings("resource")
+      PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter( // NOPMD not owned
           out,
           true,
           StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
diff --git a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractCommandExecutor.java b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractCommandExecutor.java
index 51bfcef70..16176edc9 100644
--- a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractCommandExecutor.java
+++ b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractCommandExecutor.java
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 package gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command;
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitStatus;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
 
 import org.apache.commons.cli.CommandLine;
@@ -37,7 +36,7 @@ protected CommandLine getCommandLine() {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public abstract ExitStatus execute();
+  public abstract void execute() throws CommandExecutionException;
 
   @NonNull
   protected ICommand getCommand() {
diff --git a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractTerminalCommand.java b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractTerminalCommand.java
index a42ac1a85..17a1eab90 100644
--- a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractTerminalCommand.java
+++ b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/AbstractTerminalCommand.java
@@ -5,14 +5,21 @@
 
 package gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command;
 
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.UriUtils;
+
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 
 import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
+import nl.talsmasoftware.lazy4j.Lazy;
 
 public abstract class AbstractTerminalCommand implements ICommand {
+  private static Lazy<Path> currentWorkingDirectory = Lazy.lazy(() -> Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath());
 
   @SuppressWarnings("null")
   @Override
@@ -25,7 +32,23 @@ public boolean isSubCommandRequired() {
     return false;
   }
 
-  protected static Path resolvePathAgainstCWD(@NonNull Path path) {
-    return Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().resolve(path).normalize();
+  @NonNull
+  protected static Path getCurrentWorkingDirectory() {
+    return ObjectUtils.notNull(currentWorkingDirectory.get());
+  }
+
+  @NonNull
+  protected static Path resolveAgainstCWD(@NonNull Path path) {
+    return getCurrentWorkingDirectory().resolve(path).normalize();
+  }
+
+  @NonNull
+  protected static URI resolveAgainstCWD(@NonNull URI uri) {
+    return getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri().resolve(uri.normalize());
+  }
+
+  @NonNull
+  protected static URI resolveAgainstCWD(@NonNull String uri) throws URISyntaxException {
+    return UriUtils.toUri(uri, getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri());
   }
 }
diff --git a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/ICommandExecutor.java b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/ICommandExecutor.java
index 8721da0f0..342d0498a 100644
--- a/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/ICommandExecutor.java
+++ b/cli-processor/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/processor/command/ICommandExecutor.java
@@ -6,35 +6,26 @@
 package gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command;
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitStatus;
 
 import org.apache.commons.cli.CommandLine;
 
 import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
 
 public interface ICommandExecutor {
-  @NonNull
-  ExitStatus execute();
+  void execute() throws CommandExecutionException;
 
   @NonNull
   static ICommandExecutor using(
       @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
       @NonNull CommandLine commandLine,
       @NonNull ExecutionFunction function) {
-    return new ICommandExecutor() {
-      @Override
-      public ExitStatus execute() {
-        return function.execute(callingContext, commandLine);
-      }
-
-    };
+    return () -> function.execute(callingContext, commandLine);
   }
 
   @FunctionalInterface
   interface ExecutionFunction {
-    @NonNull
-    ExitStatus execute(
+    void execute(
         @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
-        @NonNull CommandLine commandLine);
+        @NonNull CommandLine commandLine) throws CommandExecutionException;
   }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/metapath/item/DefaultItemWriter.java b/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/metapath/item/DefaultItemWriter.java
index 03c66652a..197102488 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/metapath/item/DefaultItemWriter.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/metapath/item/DefaultItemWriter.java
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ protected void writeCollectionValue(@NonNull ICollectionValue value) {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public void close() throws Exception {
+  public void close() {
     writer.close();
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/model/validation/XmlSchemaContentValidator.java b/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/model/validation/XmlSchemaContentValidator.java
index 041a6ced0..7558e2d4b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/model/validation/XmlSchemaContentValidator.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/model/validation/XmlSchemaContentValidator.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.constraint.IConstraint.Level;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
 
+import org.eclipse.jdt.annotation.Owning;
 import org.xml.sax.ErrorHandler;
 import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
 import org.xml.sax.SAXParseException;
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ private static Schema toSchema(@NonNull List<? extends Source> schemaSources) th
    * @throws SAXException
    *           if an error occurred while parsing the provided XML schemas
    */
-  public XmlSchemaContentValidator(@NonNull List<? extends Source> schemaSources) throws SAXException {
+  public XmlSchemaContentValidator(@Owning @NonNull List<? extends Source> schemaSources) throws SAXException {
     this(toSchema(ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(schemaSources, "schemaSources")));
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/util/UriUtils.java b/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/util/UriUtils.java
index 9bf7249c0..861ce637f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/util/UriUtils.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/core/util/UriUtils.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ private UriUtils() {
    *          the base URI to use for URI normalization
    * @return a new URI
    * @throws URISyntaxException
-   *           an error if the location string is not convertible to URI
+   *           if the location string is not convertible to URI
    */
   @SuppressWarnings("PMD.PreserveStackTrace")
   @NonNull
@@ -91,12 +91,11 @@ public static URI relativize(URI base, URI other, boolean prepend) throws URISyn
 
   private static boolean hasSameSchemeAndAuthority(URI base, URI other) {
     String baseScheme = base.getScheme();
-    boolean retval = (baseScheme == null && other.getScheme() == null)
-        || (baseScheme != null && baseScheme.equals(other.getScheme()));
+    boolean retval = baseScheme == null && other.getScheme() == null
+        || baseScheme != null && baseScheme.equals(other.getScheme());
     String baseAuthority = base.getAuthority();
-    retval = retval && ((baseAuthority == null && other.getAuthority() == null)
-        || (baseAuthority != null && baseAuthority.equals(other.getAuthority())));
-    return retval;
+    return retval && (baseAuthority == null && other.getAuthority() == null
+        || baseAuthority != null && baseAuthority.equals(other.getAuthority()));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -132,7 +131,7 @@ public static String prependRelativePath(String base, String target) {
 
     // Construct the relative path
     StringBuilder retval = new StringBuilder();
-    for (int j = 0; j < (baseSegments.length - segmentIndex); j++) {
+    for (int j = 0; j < baseSegments.length - segmentIndex; j++) {
       retval.append("..");
       if (retval.length() != 0) {
         retval.append(URI_SEPERATOR);
diff --git a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AbstractBindingModelContainerSupport.java b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AbstractBindingModelContainerSupport.java
index 0a6b457ba..c92d3fc6a 100644
--- a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AbstractBindingModelContainerSupport.java
+++ b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AbstractBindingModelContainerSupport.java
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IAssemblyDefinition;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IAssemblyInstanceAbsolute;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IChoiceGroupInstance;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IChoiceInstance;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IContainerModelAbsolute;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IContainerModelSupport;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IFieldDefinition;
@@ -55,6 +57,22 @@ protected static void addInstance(
     fieldInstances.put(effectiveName, field);
   }
 
+  protected static void addInstance(
+      @NonNull IChoiceInstance choice,
+      @NonNull List<IModelInstanceAbsolute> modelInstances,
+      @NonNull List<IChoiceInstance> choiceInstances) {
+    modelInstances.add(choice);
+    choiceInstances.add(choice);
+  }
+
+  protected static void addInstance(
+      @NonNull IChoiceGroupInstance choiceGroup,
+      @NonNull List<IModelInstanceAbsolute> modelInstances,
+      @NonNull Map<String, IChoiceGroupInstance> choiceGroupInstances) {
+    modelInstances.add(choiceGroup);
+    choiceGroupInstances.put(choiceGroup.getGroupAsName(), choiceGroup);
+  }
+
   @NonNull
   protected static IAssemblyInstanceAbsolute newInstance(
       @NonNull AssemblyReference obj,
diff --git a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AssemblyModelContainerSupport.java b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AssemblyModelContainerSupport.java
index c995d6170..63bf64851 100644
--- a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AssemblyModelContainerSupport.java
+++ b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/AssemblyModelContainerSupport.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 
@@ -95,7 +96,11 @@ IChoiceGroupInstance> of(
    * @param nodeItemFactory
    *          the node item factory used to generate child nodes
    */
-  @SuppressWarnings({ "PMD.AvoidInstantiatingObjectsInLoops", "PMD.UseConcurrentHashMap", "PMD.PrematureDeclaration" })
+  @SuppressWarnings({
+      "PMD.AvoidInstantiatingObjectsInLoops",
+      "PMD.UseConcurrentHashMap",
+      "PMD.PrematureDeclaration",
+      "PMD.NPathComplexity" })
   @SuppressFBWarnings(value = "CT_CONSTRUCTOR_THROW", justification = "Use of final fields")
   protected AssemblyModelContainerSupport(
       @NonNull AssemblyModel model,
@@ -112,17 +117,17 @@ protected AssemblyModelContainerSupport(
     final Map<String, IChoiceGroupInstance> choiceGroupInstances = new LinkedHashMap<>();
 
     // create counters to track child positions
-    int assemblyReferencePosition = 0;
-    int assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition = 0;
-    int fieldReferencePosition = 0;
-    int fieldInlineDefinitionPosition = 0;
-    int choicePosition = 0;
-    int choiceGroupPosition = 0;
-
-    // TODO: make "instances" a constant
+    AtomicInteger assemblyReferencePosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger fieldReferencePosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger fieldInlineDefinitionPosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger choicePosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger choiceGroupPosition = new AtomicInteger();
+
     IBoundInstanceModelChoiceGroup instance = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(
-        modelInstance.getDefinition().getChoiceGroupInstanceByName("instances"));
-    for (Object obj : ObjectUtils.notNull(model.getInstances())) {
+        modelInstance.getDefinition()
+            .getChoiceGroupInstanceByName(BindingConstants.METASCHEMA_CHOICE_GROUP_GROUP_AS_NAME));
+    ObjectUtils.notNull(model.getInstances()).forEach(obj -> {
       assert obj != null;
 
       IBoundInstanceModelGroupedAssembly objInstance
@@ -132,14 +137,14 @@ protected AssemblyModelContainerSupport(
         IAssemblyInstanceAbsolute assembly = newInstance(
             (AssemblyReference) obj,
             objInstance,
-            assemblyReferencePosition++,
+            assemblyReferencePosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent);
         addInstance(assembly, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, assemblyInstances);
       } else if (obj instanceof InlineDefineAssembly) {
         IAssemblyInstanceAbsolute assembly = new InstanceModelAssemblyInline(
             (InlineDefineAssembly) obj,
             objInstance,
-            assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition++,
+            assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent,
             nodeItemFactory);
         addInstance(assembly, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, assemblyInstances);
@@ -147,38 +152,36 @@ protected AssemblyModelContainerSupport(
         IFieldInstanceAbsolute field = newInstance(
             (FieldReference) obj,
             objInstance,
-            fieldReferencePosition++,
+            fieldReferencePosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent);
         addInstance(field, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, fieldInstances);
       } else if (obj instanceof InlineDefineField) {
         IFieldInstanceAbsolute field = new InstanceModelFieldInline(
             (InlineDefineField) obj,
             objInstance,
-            fieldInlineDefinitionPosition++,
+            fieldInlineDefinitionPosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent);
         addInstance(field, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, fieldInstances);
       } else if (obj instanceof AssemblyModel.Choice) {
         IChoiceInstance choice = new InstanceModelChoice(
             (Choice) obj,
             objInstance,
-            choicePosition++,
+            choicePosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent,
             nodeItemFactory);
-        modelInstances.add(choice);
-        choiceInstances.add(choice);
+        addInstance(choice, modelInstances, choiceInstances);
       } else if (obj instanceof AssemblyModel.ChoiceGroup) {
         IChoiceGroupInstance choiceGroup = new InstanceModelChoiceGroup(
             (ChoiceGroup) obj,
             objInstance,
-            choiceGroupPosition++,
+            choiceGroupPosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent,
             nodeItemFactory);
-        modelInstances.add(choiceGroup);
-        choiceGroupInstances.put(choiceGroup.getGroupAsName(), choiceGroup);
+        addInstance(choiceGroup, modelInstances, choiceGroupInstances);
       } else {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException(String.format("Unknown model instance class: %s", obj.getClass()));
       }
-    }
+    });
 
     this.modelInstances = modelInstances.isEmpty()
         ? CollectionUtil.emptyList()
diff --git a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/BindingConstants.java b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/BindingConstants.java
index 8d257fdaf..7442e8991 100644
--- a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/BindingConstants.java
+++ b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/BindingConstants.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ public final class BindingConstants {
   public static final String METASCHEMA_FIELD_INLINE_DEFINTION_NAME = "define-field";
   public static final String METASCHEMA_CHOICE_NAME = "choice";
   public static final String METASCHEMA_CHOICE_GROUP_NAME = "choice-group";
+  public static final String METASCHEMA_CHOICE_GROUP_GROUP_AS_NAME = "instances";
 
   private BindingConstants() {
     // disable construction
diff --git a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/ChoiceModelContainerSupport.java b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/ChoiceModelContainerSupport.java
index ed3baa834..47ccfe812 100644
--- a/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/ChoiceModelContainerSupport.java
+++ b/databind/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/databind/model/metaschema/impl/ChoiceModelContainerSupport.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 
@@ -91,31 +92,35 @@ public ChoiceModelContainerSupport(
     final Map<QName, IAssemblyInstanceAbsolute> assemblyInstances = new LinkedHashMap<>();
 
     // create counters to track child positions
-    int assemblyReferencePosition = 0;
-    int assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition = 0;
-    int fieldReferencePosition = 0;
-    int fieldInlineDefinitionPosition = 0;
+    AtomicInteger assemblyReferencePosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger fieldReferencePosition = new AtomicInteger();
+    AtomicInteger fieldInlineDefinitionPosition = new AtomicInteger();
 
     // TODO: make "instances" a constant
     IBoundInstanceModelChoiceGroup instance = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(
         bindingInstance.getDefinition().getChoiceGroupInstanceByName("choices"));
-    for (Object obj : ObjectUtils.notNull(binding.getChoices())) {
+
+    ObjectUtils.notNull(binding.getChoices()).forEach(obj -> {
       assert obj != null;
       IBoundInstanceModelGroupedAssembly objInstance
           = (IBoundInstanceModelGroupedAssembly) instance.getItemInstance(obj);
 
       if (obj instanceof AssemblyReference) {
-        IAssemblyInstanceAbsolute assembly = newInstance(
-            (AssemblyReference) obj,
-            objInstance,
-            assemblyReferencePosition++,
-            parent);
-        addInstance(assembly, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, assemblyInstances);
+        addInstance(
+            newInstance(
+                (AssemblyReference) obj,
+                objInstance,
+                assemblyReferencePosition.getAndIncrement(),
+                parent),
+            modelInstances,
+            namedModelInstances,
+            assemblyInstances);
       } else if (obj instanceof InlineDefineAssembly) {
         IAssemblyInstanceAbsolute assembly = new InstanceModelAssemblyInline(
             (InlineDefineAssembly) obj,
             objInstance,
-            assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition++,
+            assemblyInlineDefinitionPosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent,
             nodeItemFactory);
         addInstance(assembly, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, assemblyInstances);
@@ -123,20 +128,20 @@ public ChoiceModelContainerSupport(
         IFieldInstanceAbsolute field = newInstance(
             (FieldReference) obj,
             objInstance,
-            fieldReferencePosition++,
+            fieldReferencePosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent);
         addInstance(field, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, fieldInstances);
       } else if (obj instanceof InlineDefineField) {
         IFieldInstanceAbsolute field = new InstanceModelFieldInline(
             (InlineDefineField) obj,
             objInstance,
-            fieldInlineDefinitionPosition++,
+            fieldInlineDefinitionPosition.getAndIncrement(),
             parent);
         addInstance(field, modelInstances, namedModelInstances, fieldInstances);
       } else {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException(String.format("Unknown model instance class: %s", obj.getClass()));
       }
-    }
+    });
 
     this.modelInstances = modelInstances.isEmpty()
         ? CollectionUtil.emptyList()
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/CLI.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/CLI.java
index 0c57fb0a0..19b96471e 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/CLI.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/CLI.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public static void main(String[] args) {
   public static ExitStatus runCli(String... args) {
     System.setProperty("java.util.logging.manager", "org.apache.logging.log4j.jul.LogManager");
 
-    Map<String, IVersionInfo> versions = new LinkedHashMap<>();
+    @SuppressWarnings("PMD.UseConcurrentHashMap") Map<String, IVersionInfo> versions = new LinkedHashMap<>();
     versions.put(CLIProcessor.COMMAND_VERSION, new MetaschemaJavaVersion());
     versions.put(MetaschemaConstants.METASCHEMA_NAMESPACE, new MetaschemaVersion());
 
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractConvertSubcommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractConvertSubcommand.java
index 2e435e588..e2ae2c789 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractConvertSubcommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractConvertSubcommand.java
@@ -7,18 +7,14 @@
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitCode;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitStatus;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.InvalidArgumentException;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.OptionUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.AbstractCommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.AbstractTerminalCommand;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.DefaultExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.AutoCloser;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CustomCollectors;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.UriUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.io.Format;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.io.IBoundLoader;
@@ -33,15 +29,12 @@
 import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
 import java.io.Writer;
 import java.net.URI;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Locale;
 
 import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
 
@@ -59,21 +52,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractConvertSubcommand
       new DefaultExtraArgument("source-file-or-URL", true),
       new DefaultExtraArgument("destination-file", false)));
 
-  @NonNull
-  private static final Option OVERWRITE_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
-      Option.builder()
-          .longOpt("overwrite")
-          .desc("overwrite the destination if it exists")
-          .build());
-  @NonNull
-  private static final Option TO_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
-      Option.builder()
-          .longOpt("to")
-          .required()
-          .hasArg().argName("FORMAT")
-          .desc("convert to format: xml, json, or yaml")
-          .build());
-
   @Override
   public String getName() {
     return COMMAND;
@@ -82,8 +60,8 @@ public String getName() {
   @Override
   public Collection<? extends Option> gatherOptions() {
     return ObjectUtils.notNull(List.of(
-        OVERWRITE_OPTION,
-        TO_OPTION));
+        MetaschemaCommands.OVERWRITE_OPTION,
+        MetaschemaCommands.TO_OPTION));
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -91,30 +69,6 @@ public List<ExtraArgument> getExtraArguments() {
     return EXTRA_ARGUMENTS;
   }
 
-  @SuppressWarnings("PMD.PreserveStackTrace") // intended
-  @Override
-  public void validateOptions(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine cmdLine) throws InvalidArgumentException {
-
-    try {
-      String toFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(TO_OPTION);
-      Format.valueOf(toFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
-    } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-      InvalidArgumentException newEx = new InvalidArgumentException(
-          String.format("Invalid '%s' argument. The format must be one of: %s.",
-              OptionUtils.toArgument(TO_OPTION),
-              Format.names().stream()
-                  .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("and"))));
-      newEx.setOption(TO_OPTION);
-      newEx.addSuppressed(ex);
-      throw newEx;
-    }
-
-    List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
-    if (extraArgs.isEmpty() || extraArgs.size() > 2) {
-      throw new InvalidArgumentException("Illegal number of arguments.");
-    }
-  }
-
   /**
    * Used by implementing classes to provide for execution of a conversion
    * command.
@@ -144,73 +98,34 @@ protected AbstractConversionCommandExecutor(
      *           if a Metaschema error occurred
      * @throws IOException
      *           if an error occurred while reading data
+     * @throws CommandExecutionException
      */
     @NonNull
-    protected abstract IBindingContext getBindingContext() throws MetaschemaException, IOException;
+    protected abstract IBindingContext getBindingContext() throws CommandExecutionException;
 
     @SuppressWarnings({
         "PMD.OnlyOneReturn", // readability
         "PMD.CyclomaticComplexity", "PMD.CognitiveComplexity" // reasonable
     })
     @Override
-    public ExitStatus execute() {
+    public void execute() throws CommandExecutionException {
       CommandLine cmdLine = getCommandLine();
 
       List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
 
       Path destination = null;
       if (extraArgs.size() > 1) {
-        destination = Paths.get(extraArgs.get(1)).toAbsolutePath();
+        destination = MetaschemaCommands.handleDestination(ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(1)), cmdLine);
       }
 
-      if (destination != null) {
-        if (Files.exists(destination)) {
-          if (!cmdLine.hasOption(OVERWRITE_OPTION)) {
-            return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS.exitMessage(
-                String.format("The provided destination '%s' already exists and the '%s' option was not provided.",
-                    destination,
-                    OptionUtils.toArgument(OVERWRITE_OPTION)));
-          }
-          if (!Files.isWritable(destination)) {
-            return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage(
-                "The provided destination '" + destination + "' is not writable.");
-          }
-        } else {
-          Path parent = destination.getParent();
-          if (parent != null) {
-            try {
-              Files.createDirectories(parent);
-            } catch (IOException ex) {
-              return ExitCode.INVALID_TARGET.exit().withThrowable(ex); // NOPMD readability
-            }
-          }
-        }
-      }
+      URI source = MetaschemaCommands.handleSource(
+          ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(0)),
+          ObjectUtils.notNull(getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri()));
 
-      String sourceName = ObjectUtils.notNull(extraArgs.get(0));
-      URI cwd = ObjectUtils.notNull(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toUri());
+      Format toFormat = MetaschemaCommands.getFormat(cmdLine, MetaschemaCommands.TO_OPTION);
 
-      URI source;
-      try {
-        source = UriUtils.toUri(sourceName, cwd);
-      } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.IO_ERROR
-            .exitMessage(String.format("Cannot load source '%s' as it is not a valid file or URI.", sourceName))
-            .withThrowable(ex);
-      }
-      assert source != null;
-
-      String toFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(TO_OPTION);
-      Format toFormat = Format.valueOf(toFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
+      IBindingContext bindingContext = getBindingContext();
 
-      IBindingContext bindingContext;
-      try {
-        bindingContext = getBindingContext();
-      } catch (IOException | MetaschemaException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR
-            .exitMessage(String.format("Unable to initialize the binding context. %s", ex.getLocalizedMessage()))
-            .withThrowable(ex);
-      }
       try {
         IBoundLoader loader = bindingContext.newBoundLoader();
         if (LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
@@ -235,12 +150,11 @@ public ExitStatus execute() {
           }
         }
       } catch (IOException | IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex); // NOPMD readability
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR, ex);
       }
       if (destination != null && LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
         LOGGER.info("Generated {} file: {}", toFormat.toString(), destination);
       }
-      return ExitCode.OK.exit();
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractValidateContentCommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractValidateContentCommand.java
index 3829bd66e..79ed64351 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractValidateContentCommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/AbstractValidateContentCommand.java
@@ -8,29 +8,23 @@
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitCode;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitStatus;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.InvalidArgumentException;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.OptionUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.AbstractCommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.AbstractTerminalCommand;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.DefaultExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.util.LoggingValidationHandler;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.configuration.DefaultConfiguration;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.configuration.IMutableConfiguration;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.metapath.MetapathException;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IConstraintLoader;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.constraint.IConstraintSet;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.constraint.ValidationFeature;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.validation.AggregateValidationResult;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.validation.IValidationResult;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CollectionUtil;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CustomCollectors;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.IVersionInfo;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.UriUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext.ISchemaValidationProvider;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.io.Format;
@@ -45,15 +39,11 @@
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.UnknownHostException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
@@ -68,15 +58,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractValidateContentCommand
       new DefaultExtraArgument("file-or-URI-to-validate", true)));
 
   @NonNull
-  private static final Option AS_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
-      Option.builder()
-          .longOpt("as")
-          .hasArg()
-          .argName("FORMAT")
-          .desc("source format: xml, json, or yaml")
-          .numberOfArgs(1)
-          .build());
-  @NonNull
   private static final Option CONSTRAINTS_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
       Option.builder("c")
           .hasArgs()
@@ -119,7 +100,7 @@ public String getName() {
   @Override
   public Collection<? extends Option> gatherOptions() {
     return List.of(
-        AS_OPTION,
+        MetaschemaCommands.AS_FORMAT_OPTION,
         CONSTRAINTS_OPTION,
         SARIF_OUTPUT_FILE_OPTION,
         SARIF_INCLUDE_PASS_OPTION,
@@ -132,31 +113,6 @@ public List<ExtraArgument> getExtraArguments() {
     return EXTRA_ARGUMENTS;
   }
 
-  @SuppressWarnings("PMD.PreserveStackTrace") // intended
-  @Override
-  public void validateOptions(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine cmdLine) throws InvalidArgumentException {
-    List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
-    if (extraArgs.size() != 1) {
-      throw new InvalidArgumentException("The source to validate must be provided.");
-    }
-
-    if (cmdLine.hasOption(AS_OPTION)) {
-      try {
-        String toFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(AS_OPTION);
-        Format.valueOf(toFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
-      } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-        InvalidArgumentException newEx = new InvalidArgumentException(
-            String.format("Invalid '%s' argument. The format must be one of: %s.",
-                OptionUtils.toArgument(AS_OPTION),
-                Arrays.asList(Format.values()).stream()
-                    .map(Enum::name)
-                    .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("and"))));
-        newEx.addSuppressed(ex);
-        throw newEx;
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   protected abstract class AbstractValidationCommandExecutor
       extends AbstractCommandExecutor {
 
@@ -187,13 +143,13 @@ public AbstractValidationCommandExecutor(
      */
     @NonNull
     protected abstract IBindingContext getBindingContext(@NonNull Set<IConstraintSet> constraintSets)
-        throws MetaschemaException, IOException;
+        throws CommandExecutionException;
 
     @NonNull
     protected abstract IModule getModule(
         @NonNull CommandLine commandLine,
-        IBindingContext bindingContext)
-        throws IOException, MetaschemaException;
+        @NonNull IBindingContext bindingContext)
+        throws CommandExecutionException;
 
     @NonNull
     protected abstract ISchemaValidationProvider getSchemaValidationProvider(
@@ -203,81 +159,29 @@ protected abstract ISchemaValidationProvider getSchemaValidationProvider(
 
     @SuppressWarnings("PMD.OnlyOneReturn") // readability
     @Override
-    public ExitStatus execute() {
-      URI cwd = ObjectUtils.notNull(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toUri());
+    public void execute() throws CommandExecutionException {
       CommandLine cmdLine = getCommandLine();
+      URI currentWorkingDirectory = ObjectUtils.notNull(getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri());
 
-      Set<IConstraintSet> constraintSets;
-      if (cmdLine.hasOption(CONSTRAINTS_OPTION)) {
-        IConstraintLoader constraintLoader = IBindingContext.getConstraintLoader();
-        constraintSets = new LinkedHashSet<>();
-        String[] args = cmdLine.getOptionValues(CONSTRAINTS_OPTION);
-        for (String arg : args) {
-          assert arg != null;
-          try {
-            URI constraintUri = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(UriUtils.toUri(arg, cwd));
-            constraintSets.addAll(constraintLoader.load(constraintUri));
-          } catch (IOException | MetaschemaException | MetapathException | URISyntaxException ex) {
-            return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage("Unable to load constraint set '" + arg + "'.").withThrowable(ex);
-          }
-        }
-      } else {
-        constraintSets = CollectionUtil.emptySet();
-      }
-
-      IBindingContext bindingContext;
-      try {
-        bindingContext = getBindingContext(constraintSets);
-      } catch (IOException | MetaschemaException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR
-            .exitMessage(String.format("Unable to initialize the binding context. %s", ex.getLocalizedMessage()))
-            .withThrowable(ex);
-      }
+      Set<IConstraintSet> constraintSets = MetaschemaCommands.loadConstraintSets(
+          cmdLine,
+          CONSTRAINTS_OPTION,
+          currentWorkingDirectory);
 
+      IBindingContext bindingContext = getBindingContext(constraintSets);
       IBoundLoader loader = bindingContext.newBoundLoader();
 
       List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
 
-      String sourceName = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(0));
-      URI source;
+      URI source = MetaschemaCommands.handleSource(
+          ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(0)),
+          currentWorkingDirectory);
 
-      try {
-        source = UriUtils.toUri(sourceName, cwd);
-      } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage("Cannot load source '%s' as it is not a valid file or URI.")
-            .withThrowable(ex);
-      }
-
-      Format asFormat;
-      if (cmdLine.hasOption(AS_OPTION)) {
-        try {
-          String toFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(AS_OPTION);
-          asFormat = Format.valueOf(toFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-          return ExitCode.IO_ERROR
-              .exitMessage("Invalid '--as' argument. The format must be one of: "
-                  + Arrays.stream(Format.values())
-                      .map(Enum::name)
-                      .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("or")))
-              .withThrowable(ex);
-        }
-      } else {
-        // attempt to determine the format
-        try {
-          asFormat = loader.detectFormat(source);
-        } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
-          // this case was already checked for
-          return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage("The provided source file '" + source + "' does not exist.");
-        } catch (IOException ex) {
-          return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-          return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage(
-              "Source file has unrecognizable format. Use '--as' to specify the format. The format must be one of: "
-                  + Arrays.stream(Format.values())
-                      .map(Enum::name)
-                      .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("or")));
-        }
-      }
+      Format asFormat = MetaschemaCommands.determineSourceFormat(
+          cmdLine,
+          MetaschemaCommands.AS_FORMAT_OPTION,
+          loader,
+          source);
 
       if (LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
         LOGGER.info("Validating '{}' as {}.", source, asFormat.name());
@@ -290,8 +194,10 @@ public ExitStatus execute() {
 
       IValidationResult validationResult = null;
       try {
+        IModule module = bindingContext.registerModule(
+            getModule(getCommandLine(), bindingContext));
+
         if (!cmdLine.hasOption(NO_SCHEMA_VALIDATION_OPTION)) {
-          IModule module = getModule(getCommandLine(), bindingContext);
           // perform schema validation
           validationResult = getSchemaValidationProvider(module, getCommandLine(), bindingContext)
               .validateWithSchema(source, asFormat, bindingContext);
@@ -305,13 +211,19 @@ public ExitStatus execute() {
               : AggregateValidationResult.aggregate(validationResult, constraintValidationResult);
         }
       } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage(String.format("Resource not found at '%s'", source)).withThrowable(ex);
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(
+            ExitCode.IO_ERROR,
+            String.format("Resource not found at '%s'", source),
+            ex);
       } catch (UnknownHostException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage(String.format("Unknown host for '%s'.", source)).withThrowable(ex);
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(
+            ExitCode.IO_ERROR,
+            String.format("Unknown host for '%s'.", source),
+            ex);
       } catch (IOException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
-      } catch (MetapathException | MetaschemaException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.IO_ERROR, ex.getLocalizedMessage(), ex);
+      } catch (MetapathException ex) {
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR, ex.getLocalizedMessage(), ex);
       }
 
       if (cmdLine.hasOption(SARIF_OUTPUT_FILE_OPTION) && LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
@@ -327,7 +239,7 @@ public ExitStatus execute() {
           }
           sarifHandler.write(sarifFile);
         } catch (IOException ex) {
-          return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
+          throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.IO_ERROR, ex.getLocalizedMessage(), ex);
         }
       } else if (validationResult != null && !validationResult.getFindings().isEmpty()) {
         LOGGER.info("Validation identified the following issues:");
@@ -342,7 +254,9 @@ public ExitStatus execute() {
         LOGGER.error("The file '{}' is invalid.", source);
       }
 
-      return (validationResult == null || validationResult.isPassing() ? ExitCode.OK : ExitCode.FAIL).exit();
+      if (validationResult != null && !validationResult.isPassing()) {
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.FAIL);
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ConvertContentUsingModuleCommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ConvertContentUsingModuleCommand.java
index 59f7f35e9..632d393d2 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ConvertContentUsingModuleCommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ConvertContentUsingModuleCommand.java
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 package gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.commands;
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IBoundObject;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CollectionUtil;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext;
@@ -28,9 +28,7 @@
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.Writer;
 import java.net.URI;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
-import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -66,35 +64,27 @@ public Collection<? extends Option> gatherOptions() {
   @Override
   public ICommandExecutor newExecutor(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine commandLine) {
 
-    return new OscalCommandExecutor(callingContext, commandLine);
+    return new CommandExecutor(callingContext, commandLine);
   }
 
-  private final class OscalCommandExecutor
+  private final class CommandExecutor
       extends AbstractConversionCommandExecutor {
 
-    private OscalCommandExecutor(
+    private CommandExecutor(
         @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
         @NonNull CommandLine commandLine) {
       super(callingContext, commandLine);
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected IBindingContext getBindingContext() throws IOException, MetaschemaException {
+    protected IBindingContext getBindingContext() throws CommandExecutionException {
       IBindingContext retval = MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation();
 
-      URI cwd = ObjectUtils.notNull(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toUri());
-
-      IModule module;
-      try {
-        module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(
-            getCommandLine(),
-            MetaschemaCommands.METASCHEMA_REQUIRED_OPTION,
-            cwd,
-            retval);
-      } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-        throw new IOException(String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL.", ex.getInput()),
-            ex);
-      }
+      IModule module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(
+          getCommandLine(),
+          MetaschemaCommands.METASCHEMA_REQUIRED_OPTION,
+          ObjectUtils.notNull(getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri()),
+          retval);
       retval.registerModule(module);
       return retval;
     }
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateDiagramCommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateDiagramCommand.java
index 2db03846d..267a413f5 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateDiagramCommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateDiagramCommand.java
@@ -7,18 +7,14 @@
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitCode;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitStatus;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.InvalidArgumentException;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.OptionUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.AbstractTerminalCommand;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.DefaultExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.util.MermaidErDiagramGenerator;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.UriUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext;
 
 import org.apache.commons.cli.CommandLine;
@@ -35,7 +31,6 @@
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -80,14 +75,6 @@ public List<ExtraArgument> getExtraArguments() {
     return EXTRA_ARGUMENTS;
   }
 
-  @Override
-  public void validateOptions(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine cmdLine) throws InvalidArgumentException {
-    List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
-    if (extraArgs.isEmpty() || extraArgs.size() > 2) {
-      throw new InvalidArgumentException("Illegal number of arguments.");
-    }
-  }
-
   @Override
   public ICommandExecutor newExecutor(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine cmdLine) {
     return ICommandExecutor.using(callingContext, cmdLine, this::executeCommand);
@@ -108,92 +95,55 @@ public ICommandExecutor newExecutor(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine c
   })
   @SuppressFBWarnings(value = "REC_CATCH_EXCEPTION",
       justification = "Catching generic exception for CLI error handling")
-  protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
+  protected void executeCommand(
       @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
-      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) {
+      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) throws CommandExecutionException {
 
     List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
 
     Path destination = null;
     if (extraArgs.size() > 1) {
-      destination = Paths.get(extraArgs.get(1)).toAbsolutePath();
-    }
-
-    if (destination != null) {
-      if (Files.exists(destination)) {
-        if (!cmdLine.hasOption(MetaschemaCommands.OVERWRITE_OPTION)) {
-          return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS.exitMessage( // NOPMD readability
-              String.format("The provided destination '%s' already exists and the '%s' option was not provided.",
-                  destination,
-                  OptionUtils.toArgument(MetaschemaCommands.OVERWRITE_OPTION)));
-        }
-        if (!Files.isWritable(destination)) {
-          return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage( // NOPMD readability
-              "The provided destination '" + destination + "' is not writable.");
-        }
-      } else {
-        Path parent = destination.getParent();
-        if (parent != null) {
-          try {
-            Files.createDirectories(parent);
-          } catch (IOException ex) {
-            return ExitCode.INVALID_TARGET.exit().withThrowable(ex); // NOPMD readability
-          }
-        }
-      }
+      destination = MetaschemaCommands.handleDestination(ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(1)), cmdLine);
     }
 
-    IBindingContext bindingContext;
-    try {
-      bindingContext = MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation();
-    } catch (IOException ex) {
-      return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR
-          .exitMessage(String.format("Unable to initialize the binding context. %s", ex.getLocalizedMessage()))
-          .withThrowable(ex);
-    }
+    IBindingContext bindingContext = MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation();
 
-    URI cwd = ObjectUtils.notNull(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toUri());
-
-    IModule module;
+    URI moduleUri;
     try {
-      URI moduleUri = UriUtils.toUri(ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(0)), cwd);
-      module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(moduleUri, bindingContext);
+      moduleUri = resolveAgainstCWD(ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(0)));
     } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-      return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
-          .exitMessage(
-              String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL.", ex.getInput()))
-          .withThrowable(ex);
-    } catch (IOException | MetaschemaException ex) {
-      return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+          String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL. %s",
+              extraArgs.get(0),
+              ex.getLocalizedMessage()),
+          ex);
     }
+    IModule module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(moduleUri, bindingContext);
 
-    try {
-      if (destination == null) {
-        Writer stringWriter = new StringWriter();
-        try (PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(stringWriter)) {
-          MermaidErDiagramGenerator.generate(module, writer);
-        }
+    if (destination == null) {
+      Writer stringWriter = new StringWriter();
+      try (PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(stringWriter)) {
+        MermaidErDiagramGenerator.generate(module, writer);
+      }
 
-        // Print the result
-        if (LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
-          LOGGER.info(stringWriter.toString());
-        }
-      } else {
-        try (Writer writer = Files.newBufferedWriter(
-            destination,
-            StandardCharsets.UTF_8,
-            StandardOpenOption.CREATE,
-            StandardOpenOption.WRITE,
-            StandardOpenOption.TRUNCATE_EXISTING)) {
-          try (PrintWriter printWriter = new PrintWriter(writer)) {
-            MermaidErDiagramGenerator.generate(module, printWriter);
-          }
+      // Print the result
+      if (LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
+        LOGGER.info(stringWriter.toString());
+      }
+    } else {
+      try (Writer writer = Files.newBufferedWriter(
+          destination,
+          StandardCharsets.UTF_8,
+          StandardOpenOption.CREATE,
+          StandardOpenOption.WRITE,
+          StandardOpenOption.TRUNCATE_EXISTING)) {
+        try (PrintWriter printWriter = new PrintWriter(writer)) {
+          MermaidErDiagramGenerator.generate(module, printWriter);
         }
+      } catch (IOException ex) {
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.IO_ERROR, ex);
       }
-
-      return ExitCode.OK.exit();
-    } catch (Exception ex) {
-      return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateSchemaCommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateSchemaCommand.java
index 31bea72c7..d05e780cd 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateSchemaCommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/GenerateSchemaCommand.java
@@ -11,19 +11,16 @@
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.InvalidArgumentException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.OptionUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.AbstractTerminalCommand;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.DefaultExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.configuration.DefaultConfiguration;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.configuration.IMutableConfiguration;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.xml.ModuleLoader;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.AutoCloser;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CustomCollectors;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.UriUtils;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.io.Format;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.schemagen.ISchemaGenerator;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.schemagen.ISchemaGenerator.SchemaFormat;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.schemagen.SchemaGenerationFeature;
@@ -36,16 +33,12 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
-import java.net.URI;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Locale;
 
 import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
 
@@ -58,16 +51,6 @@ public class GenerateSchemaCommand
   @NonNull
   private static final List<ExtraArgument> EXTRA_ARGUMENTS;
 
-  @NonNull
-  private static final Option AS_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
-      Option.builder()
-          .longOpt("as")
-          .required()
-          .hasArg()
-          .argName("FORMAT")
-          .desc("source format: xml, json, or yaml")
-          .build());
-  @NonNull
   private static final Option INLINE_TYPES_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
       Option.builder()
           .longOpt("inline-types")
@@ -95,7 +78,7 @@ public String getDescription() {
   public Collection<? extends Option> gatherOptions() {
     return List.of(
         MetaschemaCommands.OVERWRITE_OPTION,
-        AS_OPTION,
+        MetaschemaCommands.AS_SCHEMA_FORMAT_OPTION,
         INLINE_TYPES_OPTION);
   }
 
@@ -107,23 +90,6 @@ public List<ExtraArgument> getExtraArguments() {
   @SuppressWarnings("PMD.PreserveStackTrace") // intended
   @Override
   public void validateOptions(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine cmdLine) throws InvalidArgumentException {
-    try {
-      String asFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(AS_OPTION);
-      if (asFormatText != null) {
-        SchemaFormat.valueOf(asFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
-      }
-    } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
-      InvalidArgumentException newEx = new InvalidArgumentException( // NOPMD - intentional
-          String.format("Invalid '%s' argument. The format must be one of: %s.",
-              OptionUtils.toArgument(AS_OPTION),
-              Arrays.asList(Format.values()).stream()
-                  .map(Enum::name)
-                  .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("and"))));
-      newEx.setOption(AS_OPTION);
-      newEx.addSuppressed(ex);
-      throw newEx;
-    }
-
     List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
     if (extraArgs.isEmpty() || extraArgs.size() > 2) {
       throw new InvalidArgumentException("Illegal number of arguments.");
@@ -143,13 +109,14 @@ public ICommandExecutor newExecutor(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine c
    * @param cmdLine
    *          the parsed command line details
    * @return the execution result
+   * @throws CommandExecutionException
    */
   @SuppressWarnings({
       "PMD.OnlyOneReturn" // readability
   })
   protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
       @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
-      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) {
+      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) throws CommandExecutionException {
     List<String> extraArgs = cmdLine.getArgList();
 
     Path destination = null;
@@ -181,8 +148,14 @@ protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
       }
     }
 
-    String asFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(AS_OPTION);
-    SchemaFormat asFormat = SchemaFormat.valueOf(asFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
+    SchemaFormat asFormat;
+    try {
+      asFormat = MetaschemaCommands.getSchemaFormat(cmdLine, MetaschemaCommands.AS_SCHEMA_FORMAT_OPTION);
+    } catch (InvalidArgumentException ex) {
+      return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
+          .exitMessage(ex.getLocalizedMessage())
+          .withThrowable(ex);
+    }
 
     IMutableConfiguration<SchemaGenerationFeature<?>> configuration = new DefaultConfiguration<>();
     if (cmdLine.hasOption(INLINE_TYPES_OPTION)) {
@@ -194,24 +167,16 @@ protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
       }
     }
 
-    String inputName = ObjectUtils.notNull(extraArgs.get(0));
-    URI cwd = ObjectUtils.notNull(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toUri());
+    IBindingContext bindingContext = MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation();
+    IModule module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(
+        ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(extraArgs.get(0)),
+        ObjectUtils.notNull(getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri()),
+        bindingContext);
+    bindingContext.registerModule(module);
 
-    URI input;
     try {
-      input = UriUtils.toUri(inputName, cwd);
-    } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-      return ExitCode.IO_ERROR.exitMessage(
-          String.format("Unable to load '%s' as it is not a valid file or URI.", inputName)).withThrowable(ex);
-    }
-    assert input != null;
-    try {
-      ModuleLoader loader = new ModuleLoader();
-      loader.allowEntityResolution();
-      IModule module = loader.load(input);
-
       if (LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
-        LOGGER.info("Generating {} schema for '{}'.", asFormat.name(), input);
+        LOGGER.info("Generating {} schema for '{}'.", asFormat.name(), extraArgs.get(0));
       }
       if (destination == null) {
         @SuppressWarnings({ "resource", "PMD.CloseResource" }) // not owned
@@ -225,7 +190,7 @@ protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
       } else {
         ISchemaGenerator.generateSchema(module, destination, asFormat, configuration);
       }
-    } catch (IOException | MetaschemaException ex) {
+    } catch (IOException ex) {
       return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex); // NOPMD readability
     }
     if (destination != null && LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/MetaschemaCommands.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/MetaschemaCommands.java
index 881bae0a9..88fd6c59f 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/MetaschemaCommands.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/MetaschemaCommands.java
@@ -6,25 +6,40 @@
 package gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.commands;
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.commands.metapath.MetapathCommand;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitCode;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.InvalidArgumentException;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.OptionUtils;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommand;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.metapath.MetapathException;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IConstraintLoader;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.constraint.IConstraintSet;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CollectionUtil;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CustomCollectors;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.UriUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.io.Format;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.io.IBoundLoader;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.model.metaschema.IBindingModuleLoader;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.schemagen.ISchemaGenerator.SchemaFormat;
 
 import org.apache.commons.cli.CommandLine;
 import org.apache.commons.cli.Option;
 
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
@@ -46,14 +61,15 @@ public final class MetaschemaCommands {
           .argName("FILE_OR_URL")
           .required()
           .desc("metaschema resource")
+          .numberOfArgs(1)
           .build());
   @NonNull
   public static final Option METASCHEMA_OPTIONAL_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
       Option.builder("m")
           .hasArg()
           .argName("FILE_OR_URL")
-          .required()
           .desc("metaschema resource")
+          .numberOfArgs(1)
           .build());
   @NonNull
   public static final Option OVERWRITE_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
@@ -61,39 +77,322 @@ public final class MetaschemaCommands {
           .longOpt("overwrite")
           .desc("overwrite the destination if it exists")
           .build());
+  @NonNull
+  public static final Option TO_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
+      Option.builder()
+          .longOpt("to")
+          .required()
+          .hasArg().argName("FORMAT")
+          .desc("convert to format: " + Arrays.stream(Format.values())
+              .map(Enum::name)
+              .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("or")))
+          .numberOfArgs(1)
+          .build());
+  @NonNull
+  public static final Option AS_FORMAT_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
+      Option.builder()
+          .longOpt("as")
+          .hasArg()
+          .argName("FORMAT")
+          .desc("source format: " + Arrays.stream(Format.values())
+              .map(Enum::name)
+              .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("or")))
+          .numberOfArgs(1)
+          .build());
+  @NonNull
+  public static final Option AS_SCHEMA_FORMAT_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
+      Option.builder()
+          .longOpt("as")
+          .required()
+          .hasArg()
+          .argName("FORMAT")
+          .desc("schema format: " + Arrays.stream(SchemaFormat.values())
+              .map(Enum::name)
+              .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("or")))
+          .numberOfArgs(1)
+          .build());
+
+  /**
+   * Get the provided source path or URI string as an absolute {@link URI} for the
+   * resource.
+   *
+   * @param pathOrUri
+   *          the resource
+   * @param currentWorkingDirectory
+   *          the current working directory the URI will be resolved against to
+   *          ensure it is absolute
+   * @return the absolute URI for the resource
+   * @throws CommandExecutionException
+   *           if the resulting URI is not a well-formed URI
+   */
+  @NonNull
+  public static URI handleSource(
+      @NonNull String pathOrUri,
+      @NonNull URI currentWorkingDirectory) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    try {
+      return getResourceUri(pathOrUri, currentWorkingDirectory);
+    } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+          String.format(
+              "Cannot load source '%s' as it is not a valid file or URI.",
+              pathOrUri),
+          ex);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get the provided destination path as an absolute {@link Path} for the
+   * resource.
+   * <p>
+   * This method checks if the path exists and if so, if the overwrite option is
+   * set. The method also ensures that the parent directory is created, if it
+   * doesn't already exist.
+   *
+   * @param path
+   *          the resource
+   * @param commandLine
+   *          the provided command line argument information
+   * @return the absolute URI for the resource
+   * @throws CommandExecutionException
+   *           if the path exists and cannot be overwritten or is not writable
+   */
+  public static Path handleDestination(
+      @NonNull String path,
+      @NonNull CommandLine commandLine) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    Path retval = Paths.get(path).toAbsolutePath();
+
+    if (Files.exists(retval)) {
+      if (!commandLine.hasOption(OVERWRITE_OPTION)) {
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(
+            ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+            String.format("The provided destination '%s' already exists and the '%s' option was not provided.",
+                retval,
+                OptionUtils.toArgument(OVERWRITE_OPTION)));
+      }
+      if (!Files.isWritable(retval)) {
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(
+            ExitCode.IO_ERROR,
+            String.format(
+                "The provided destination '%s' is not writable.", retval));
+      }
+    } else {
+      Path parent = retval.getParent();
+      if (parent != null) {
+        try {
+          Files.createDirectories(parent);
+        } catch (IOException ex) {
+          throw new CommandExecutionException(
+              ExitCode.INVALID_TARGET,
+              ex);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return retval;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Parse the command line options to get the selected format.
+   *
+   * @param commandLine
+   *          the provided command line argument information
+   * @param option
+   *          the option specifying the format, which must be present on the
+   *          command line
+   * @return the format
+   * @throws CommandExecutionException
+   *           if the format option was not provided or was an invalid choice
+   */
+  @SuppressWarnings("PMD.PreserveStackTrace")
+  @NonNull
+  public static Format getFormat(
+      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine,
+      @NonNull Option option) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    // use the option
+    String toFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(option);
+    if (toFormatText == null) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+          String.format("The '%s' argument was not provided.",
+              option.hasLongOpt()
+                  ? "--" + option.getLongOpt()
+                  : "-" + option.getOpt()));
+    }
+    try {
+      return Format.valueOf(toFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+          String.format("Invalid '%s' argument. The format must be one of: %s.",
+              option.hasLongOpt()
+                  ? "--" + option.getLongOpt()
+                  : "-" + option.getOpt(),
+              Arrays.stream(Format.values())
+                  .map(Enum::name)
+                  .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("or"))));
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   *
+   * @param cmdLine
+   * @param option
+   * @param loader
+   * @param resource
+   * @return
+   * @throws InvalidArgumentException
+   *           if the option is not a supported format
+   * @throws FileNotFoundException
+   *           if the URI is a file that was not found
+   * @throws IOException
+   *           if there was an error reading the file to determine the format of
+   *           the file
+   * @throws IllegalArgumentException
+   *           if the format of the source file was not recognized
+   * @since 2.0.0
+   */
+  @SuppressWarnings({ "PMD.PreserveStackTrace", "PMD.OnlyOneReturn" })
+  @NonNull
+  public static Format determineSourceFormat(
+      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine,
+      @NonNull Option option,
+      @NonNull IBoundLoader loader,
+      @NonNull URI resource) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    if (cmdLine.hasOption(option)) {
+      // use the option
+      return getFormat(cmdLine, option);
+    }
+
+    // attempt to determine the format
+    try {
+      return loader.detectFormat(resource);
+    } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
+      // this case was already checked for
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.IO_ERROR,
+          String.format("The provided source '%s' does not exist.", resource),
+          ex);
+    } catch (IOException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.IO_ERROR,
+          String.format("Unable to determine source format. Use '%s' to specify the format. %s",
+              option.hasLongOpt()
+                  ? "--" + option.getLongOpt()
+                  : "-" + option.getOpt(),
+              ex.getLocalizedMessage()),
+          ex);
+    }
+  }
 
   @NonNull
   public static IModule handleModule(
       @NonNull CommandLine commandLine,
       @NonNull Option option,
       @NonNull URI cwd,
-      @NonNull IBindingContext bindingContext) throws URISyntaxException, IOException, MetaschemaException {
-    String moduleName = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(commandLine.getOptionValue(option));
-    URI moduleUri = UriUtils.toUri(moduleName, cwd);
+      @NonNull IBindingContext bindingContext) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    String moduleName = commandLine.getOptionValue(option);
+    if (moduleName == null) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+          String.format("Unable to determine the module to load. Use '%s' to specify the module.",
+              option.hasLongOpt()
+                  ? "--" + option.getLongOpt()
+                  : "-" + option.getOpt()));
+    }
+
+    URI moduleUri;
+    try {
+      moduleUri = UriUtils.toUri(moduleName, cwd);
+    } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+          String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL. %s",
+              ex.getInput(),
+              ex.getLocalizedMessage()),
+          ex);
+    }
     return handleModule(moduleUri, bindingContext);
   }
 
+  @NonNull
+  public static IModule handleModule(
+      @NonNull String moduleResource,
+      @NonNull URI currentWorkingDirectory,
+      @NonNull IBindingContext bindingContext) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    try {
+      URI moduleUri = getResourceUri(
+          moduleResource,
+          currentWorkingDirectory);
+      return handleModule(moduleUri, bindingContext);
+    } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+          String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL. %s",
+              ex.getInput(),
+              ex.getLocalizedMessage()),
+          ex);
+    }
+  }
+
   @NonNull
   public static IModule handleModule(
       @NonNull URI moduleResource,
-      @NonNull IBindingContext bindingContext) throws IOException, MetaschemaException {
-    IBindingModuleLoader loader = bindingContext.newModuleLoader();
-    loader.allowEntityResolution();
-    return loader.load(moduleResource);
+      @NonNull IBindingContext bindingContext) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    try {
+      IBindingModuleLoader loader = bindingContext.newModuleLoader();
+      loader.allowEntityResolution();
+      return loader.load(moduleResource);
+    } catch (IOException | MetaschemaException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR, ex);
+    }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * For a given resource location, resolve the location into an absolute URI.
+   *
+   * @param location
+   *          the resource location
+   * @param cwd
+   *          the URI of the current working directory
+   * @return the resolved URI
+   * @throws URISyntaxException
+   *           if the location is not a valid URI
+   */
   @NonNull
-  public static URI handleResource(
+  public static URI getResourceUri(
       @NonNull String location,
-      @NonNull URI cwd) throws IOException {
-    try {
-      return UriUtils.toUri(location, cwd);
-    } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-      IOException newEx = new IOException( // NOPMD - intentional
-          String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL.", location));
-      newEx.addSuppressed(ex);
-      throw newEx;
+      @NonNull URI cwd) throws URISyntaxException {
+    return UriUtils.toUri(location, cwd);
+  }
+
+  @NonNull
+  public static Set<IConstraintSet> loadConstraintSets(
+      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine,
+      @NonNull Option option,
+      @NonNull URI cwd) throws CommandExecutionException {
+    Set<IConstraintSet> constraintSets;
+    if (cmdLine.hasOption(option)) {
+      IConstraintLoader constraintLoader = IBindingContext.getConstraintLoader();
+      constraintSets = new LinkedHashSet<>();
+      String[] args = cmdLine.getOptionValues(option);
+      for (String arg : args) {
+        assert arg != null;
+        try {
+          URI constraintUri = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(UriUtils.toUri(arg, cwd));
+          constraintSets.addAll(constraintLoader.load(constraintUri));
+        } catch (URISyntaxException | IOException | MetaschemaException | MetapathException ex) {
+          throw new CommandExecutionException(
+              ExitCode.IO_ERROR,
+              String.format("Unable to process constraint set '%s'. %s",
+                  arg,
+                  ex.getLocalizedMessage()),
+              ex);
+        }
+      }
+    } else {
+      constraintSets = CollectionUtil.emptySet();
     }
+    return constraintSets;
   }
 
   @NonNull
@@ -104,17 +403,53 @@ public static Path newTempDir() throws IOException {
   }
 
   @NonNull
-  public static IBindingContext newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation() throws IOException {
+  public static IBindingContext newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation() throws CommandExecutionException {
     return newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation(CollectionUtil.emptySet());
   }
 
   @NonNull
   public static IBindingContext newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation(@NonNull Set<IConstraintSet> constraintSets)
-      throws IOException {
-    return IBindingContext.builder()
-        .compilePath(newTempDir())
-        .constraintSet(constraintSets)
-        .build();
+      throws CommandExecutionException {
+    try {
+      Path tempDir = newTempDir();
+      tempDir.toFile().deleteOnExit();
+      return IBindingContext.builder()
+          .compilePath(tempDir)
+          .constraintSet(constraintSets)
+          .build();
+    } catch (IOException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.RUNTIME_ERROR,
+          String.format("Unable to initialize the binding context. %s", ex.getLocalizedMessage()),
+          ex);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @SuppressWarnings("PMD.PreserveStackTrace")
+  @NonNull
+  public static SchemaFormat getSchemaFormat(
+      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine,
+      @NonNull Option option) throws InvalidArgumentException {
+    // use the option
+    String toFormatText = cmdLine.getOptionValue(option);
+    if (toFormatText == null) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+          String.format("Option '%s' not provided.",
+              option.hasLongOpt()
+                  ? "--" + option.getLongOpt()
+                  : "-" + option.getOpt()));
+    }
+    try {
+      return SchemaFormat.valueOf(toFormatText.toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT));
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+      throw new InvalidArgumentException(
+          String.format("Invalid '%s' argument. The schema format must be one of: %s.",
+              option.hasLongOpt()
+                  ? "--" + option.getLongOpt()
+                  : "-" + option.getOpt(),
+              Arrays.stream(SchemaFormat.values())
+                  .map(Enum::name)
+                  .collect(CustomCollectors.joiningWithOxfordComma("or"))));
+    }
   }
 
   private MetaschemaCommands() {
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateContentUsingModuleCommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateContentUsingModuleCommand.java
index 7e2eda757..87b091a42 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateContentUsingModuleCommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateContentUsingModuleCommand.java
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
 package gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.commands;
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.configuration.DefaultConfiguration;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.configuration.IMutableConfiguration;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.constraint.IConstraintSet;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.validation.JsonSchemaContentValidator;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.validation.XmlSchemaContentValidator;
@@ -32,10 +32,7 @@
 import java.io.Reader;
 import java.io.StringReader;
 import java.io.StringWriter;
-import java.net.URI;
-import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
-import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -73,13 +70,13 @@ public Collection<? extends Option> gatherOptions() {
 
   @Override
   public ICommandExecutor newExecutor(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine commandLine) {
-    return new OscalCommandExecutor(callingContext, commandLine);
+    return new CommandExecutor(callingContext, commandLine);
   }
 
-  private final class OscalCommandExecutor
+  private final class CommandExecutor
       extends AbstractValidationCommandExecutor {
 
-    private OscalCommandExecutor(
+    private CommandExecutor(
         @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
         @NonNull CommandLine commandLine) {
       super(callingContext, commandLine);
@@ -87,29 +84,19 @@ private OscalCommandExecutor(
 
     @Override
     protected IBindingContext getBindingContext(@NonNull Set<IConstraintSet> constraintSets)
-        throws MetaschemaException, IOException {
+        throws CommandExecutionException {
       return MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation(constraintSets);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected IModule getModule(
         CommandLine commandLine,
-        IBindingContext bindingContext) throws IOException, MetaschemaException {
-
-      URI cwd = ObjectUtils.notNull(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toUri());
-
-      IModule module;
-      try {
-        module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(
-            commandLine,
-            MetaschemaCommands.METASCHEMA_REQUIRED_OPTION,
-            cwd,
-            bindingContext);
-      } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-        throw new IOException(String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL.", ex.getInput()),
-            ex);
-      }
-      return module;
+        IBindingContext bindingContext) throws CommandExecutionException {
+      return MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(
+          commandLine,
+          MetaschemaCommands.METASCHEMA_REQUIRED_OPTION,
+          ObjectUtils.notNull(getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri()),
+          bindingContext);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateModuleCommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateModuleCommand.java
index d070890ab..cecd2f474 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateModuleCommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/ValidateModuleCommand.java
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@
 package gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.commands;
 
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.constraint.IConstraintSet;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.util.JsonUtil;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.validation.JsonSchemaContentValidator;
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ private ValidateModuleCommandExecutor(
 
     @Override
     protected IBindingContext getBindingContext(Set<IConstraintSet> constraintSets)
-        throws MetaschemaException, IOException {
+        throws CommandExecutionException {
       return MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation(constraintSets);
     }
 
@@ -90,16 +90,17 @@ protected ISchemaValidationProvider getSchemaValidationProvider(
   }
 
   private static final class ValidationProvider implements ISchemaValidationProvider {
+    @SuppressWarnings("resource")
     @Override
     public XmlSchemaContentValidator getXmlSchemas(
         @NonNull URL targetResource,
         @NonNull IBindingContext bindingContext) throws IOException, SAXException {
       try (InputStream is = this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("/schema/xml/metaschema-model_schema.xsd")) {
-        List<Source> retval = new LinkedList<>();
-        retval.add(new StreamSource(
+        List<Source> sources = new LinkedList<>();
+        sources.add(new StreamSource(
             ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(is,
                 "Unable to load '/schema/xml/metaschema.xsd' on the classpath")));
-        return new XmlSchemaContentValidator(retval);
+        return new XmlSchemaContentValidator(sources);
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathCommand.java b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathCommand.java
index 152750ae7..2c1f9b4e5 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathCommand.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/main/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathCommand.java
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.commands.MetaschemaCommands;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.CLIProcessor.CallingContext;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitCode;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.ExitStatus;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.InvalidArgumentException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.AbstractTerminalCommand;
+import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.CommandExecutionException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ExtraArgument;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.cli.processor.command.ICommandExecutor;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.metapath.DynamicContext;
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.metapath.item.node.INodeItem;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.metapath.item.node.INodeItemFactory;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.IModule;
-import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.model.MetaschemaException;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.CollectionUtil;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.core.util.ObjectUtils;
 import gov.nist.secauto.metaschema.databind.IBindingContext;
@@ -39,7 +38,6 @@
 import java.io.Writer;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
-import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -62,7 +60,7 @@ public class EvaluateMetapathCommand
           .desc("Metapath expression to execute")
           .build());
   @NonNull
-  public static final Option CONTENT_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
+  private static final Option CONTENT_OPTION = ObjectUtils.notNull(
       Option.builder("i")
           .hasArg()
           .argName("FILE_OR_URL")
@@ -112,37 +110,21 @@ public ICommandExecutor newExecutor(CallingContext callingContext, CommandLine c
   })
   @SuppressFBWarnings(value = "REC_CATCH_EXCEPTION",
       justification = "Catching generic exception for CLI error handling")
-  protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
-      @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
-      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) {
-    URI cwd = ObjectUtils.notNull(Paths.get("").toAbsolutePath().toUri());
+  private void executeCommand(
+      @SuppressWarnings("unused") @NonNull CallingContext callingContext,
+      @NonNull CommandLine cmdLine) throws CommandExecutionException {
 
     IModule module = null;
     INodeItem item = null;
     if (cmdLine.hasOption(MetaschemaCommands.METASCHEMA_OPTIONAL_OPTION)) {
-      IBindingContext bindingContext;
-      try {
-        bindingContext = MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation();
-      } catch (Exception ex) {
-        return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR
-            .exitMessage("Unable to initialize binding context." + ex.getMessage())
-            .withThrowable(ex);
-      }
+      IBindingContext bindingContext = MetaschemaCommands.newBindingContextWithDynamicCompilation();
 
-      try {
-        module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(
-            cmdLine,
-            MetaschemaCommands.METASCHEMA_OPTIONAL_OPTION,
-            cwd,
-            bindingContext);
-      } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
-            .exitMessage(
-                String.format("Cannot load module as '%s' is not a valid file or URL.", ex.getInput()))
-            .withThrowable(ex);
-      } catch (IOException | MetaschemaException ex) {
-        return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
-      }
+      module = MetaschemaCommands.handleModule(
+          cmdLine,
+          MetaschemaCommands.METASCHEMA_OPTIONAL_OPTION,
+          ObjectUtils.notNull(getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri()),
+          bindingContext);
+      bindingContext.registerModule(module);
 
       // determine if the query is evaluated against the module or the instance
       if (cmdLine.hasOption(CONTENT_OPTION)) {
@@ -150,29 +132,39 @@ protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
 
         IBoundLoader loader = bindingContext.newBoundLoader();
 
-        String content = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(cmdLine.getOptionValue(CONTENT_OPTION));
+        String contentLocation = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(cmdLine.getOptionValue(CONTENT_OPTION));
         URI contentResource;
         try {
-          contentResource = MetaschemaCommands.handleResource(content, cwd);
-        } catch (IOException ex) {
-          return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
-              .exitMessage("Unable to resolve content location. " + ex.getMessage())
-              .withThrowable(ex);
+          contentResource = MetaschemaCommands.getResourceUri(
+              contentLocation,
+              ObjectUtils.notNull(getCurrentWorkingDirectory().toUri()));
+        } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
+          throw new CommandExecutionException(
+              ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+              String.format("Unable to load content '%s'. %s",
+                  contentLocation,
+                  ex.getMessage()),
+              ex);
         }
 
         try {
           item = loader.loadAsNodeItem(contentResource);
         } catch (IOException ex) {
-          return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS
-              .exitMessage("Unable to resolve content location. " + ex.getMessage())
-              .withThrowable(ex);
+          throw new CommandExecutionException(
+              ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
+              String.format("Unable to load content '%s'. %s",
+                  contentLocation,
+                  ex.getMessage()),
+              ex);
         }
       } else {
         item = INodeItemFactory.instance().newModuleNodeItem(module);
       }
     } else if (cmdLine.hasOption(CONTENT_OPTION)) {
       // content provided, but no module; require module
-      return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS.exitMessage(
+      String contentLocation = ObjectUtils.requireNonNull(cmdLine.getOptionValue(CONTENT_OPTION));
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
           String.format("Must use '%s' to specify the Metaschema module.", CONTENT_OPTION.getArgName()));
     }
 
@@ -184,7 +176,8 @@ protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
 
     String expression = cmdLine.getOptionValue(EXPRESSION_OPTION);
     if (expression == null) {
-      return ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS.exitMessage(
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(
+          ExitCode.INVALID_ARGUMENTS,
           String.format("Must use '%s' to specify the Metapath expression.", EXPRESSION_OPTION.getArgName()));
     }
 
@@ -197,6 +190,10 @@ protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
         try (PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(stringWriter)) {
           try (IItemWriter itemWriter = new DefaultItemWriter(writer)) {
             itemWriter.writeSequence(sequence);
+          } catch (IOException ex) {
+            throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.IO_ERROR, ex);
+          } catch (Exception ex) {
+            throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.RUNTIME_ERROR, ex);
           }
         }
 
@@ -204,10 +201,11 @@ protected ExitStatus executeCommand(
         if (LOGGER.isInfoEnabled()) {
           LOGGER.info(stringWriter.toString());
         }
+      } catch (IOException ex) {
+        throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.IO_ERROR, ex);
       }
-      return ExitCode.OK.exit();
-    } catch (Exception ex) {
-      return ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR.exit().withThrowable(ex);
+    } catch (RuntimeException ex) {
+      throw new CommandExecutionException(ExitCode.PROCESSING_ERROR, ex);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/metaschema-cli/src/test/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathSubCommandTest.java b/metaschema-cli/src/test/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathSubCommandTest.java
index f8d14ae13..b307f3fd1 100644
--- a/metaschema-cli/src/test/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathSubCommandTest.java
+++ b/metaschema-cli/src/test/java/gov/nist/secauto/metaschema/cli/commands/metapath/EvaluateMetapathSubCommandTest.java
@@ -22,10 +22,6 @@ void test() {
           = {
               "metapath",
               "eval",
-              "-m",
-              "../databind/src/test/resources/metaschema/fields_with_flags/metaschema.xml",
-              "-i",
-              "../databind/src/test/resources/metaschema/fields_with_flags/example.json",
               "-e",
               "3 + 4 + 5",
               "--show-stack-trace" };