diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dcd1160c..7894c4f2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -376,6 +376,73 @@ The `.errors` command will produce a report of all errors in the template
     "message": "The right side of the \"+\" operator must evaluate to a number"
   }
 }
+```
+## $errorReport function
+JSONata does not have a `throw/catch` syntax. However, JSONata has a `$error` function that you can use 
+to throw an error. However, doing so will end the execution of the JSONata expression. If you wish to 
+simply record the fact that an error occured without exiting the expression, use the `$errorReport` function
+which returns an error object but does not throw.
+```json
+> .init -f example/errorReport.json
+{
+   "a": [
+      0,
+      1,
+      2,
+      "${$errorReport('oops', 'my_custom_error')}",
+      4,
+      5
+   ],
+   "b": "${($errorReport('e0');$errorReport('e1');$errorReport('e2'))}"
+}
+> .out
+{
+   "a": [
+      0,
+      1,
+      2,
+      {
+         "error": {
+            "message": "oops",
+            "name": "my_custom_error"
+         }
+      },
+      4,
+      5
+   ],
+   "b": {
+      "error": {
+         "message": "e2"
+      }
+   }
+}
+> .errors
+{
+   "/a/3": {
+      "error": {
+         "message": "oops",
+         "name": "my_custom_error"
+      }
+   },
+   "/b": [
+      {
+         "error": {
+            "message": "e0"
+         }
+      },
+      {
+         "error": {
+            "message": "e1"
+         }
+      },
+      {
+         "error": {
+            "message": "e2"
+         }
+      }
+   ]
+}
+
 ```
 ## Expressions and Variables
 What makes a Stated template different from an ordinary JSON file? JSONata Expressions of course! Stated analyzes the 
diff --git a/example/errorReport.json b/example/errorReport.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5bcd9c8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/example/errorReport.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "a": [
+    0,
+    1,
+    2,
+    "${$errorReport('oops', 'my_custom_error')}",
+    4,
+    5
+  ],
+  "b": "${($errorReport('e0');$errorReport('e1');$errorReport('e2'))}"
+}
diff --git a/src/CliCore.ts b/src/CliCore.ts
index 27596236..6721b299 100644
--- a/src/CliCore.ts
+++ b/src/CliCore.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export default class CliCore {
     constructor(templateProcessor: TemplateProcessor = null) {
         this.templateProcessor = templateProcessor;
         this.logLevel = "info";
-        this.currentDirectory = path.join(process.cwd(), 'example'); // Default to cwd/example
+        this.currentDirectory = process.cwd();
     }
     public close(){
         if(this.templateProcessor){
@@ -117,7 +117,11 @@ export default class CliCore {
         if(filepath===undefined){
             return undefined;
         }
-        const input = await this.readFileAndParse(filepath, importPath);
+        let _filepath = filepath;
+        if(this.currentDirectory){
+            _filepath = path.join(this.currentDirectory, _filepath);
+        }
+        const input = await this.readFileAndParse(_filepath, importPath);
         const contextData = contextFilePath ? await this.readFileAndParse(contextFilePath, importPath) : {};
         options.importPath = importPath; //path is where local imports will be sourced from. We sneak path in with the options
         // if we initialize for the first time, we need to create a new instance of TemplateProcessor
@@ -364,9 +368,9 @@ public async open(directory: string = this.currentDirectory) {
         const fileIndex = parseInt(answer, 10) - 1; // Convert to zero-based index
         if (fileIndex >= 0 && fileIndex < templateFiles.length) {
             // User has entered a valid file number; initialize with this file
-            const filepath = path.join(directory, templateFiles[fileIndex]);
+            const filepath = templateFiles[fileIndex];
             try {
-                const result = await this.init(`-f "${filepath}"`); // Adjust this call as per your init method's expected format
+                const result = await this.init(`-f "${filepath}"`);
                 console.log(StatedREPL.stringify(result));
                 console.log("...try '.out' or 'template.output' to see evaluated template")
             } catch (error) {
diff --git a/src/StatedREPL.ts b/src/StatedREPL.ts
index 0bbeaf2e..764b7237 100755
--- a/src/StatedREPL.ts
+++ b/src/StatedREPL.ts
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export default class StatedREPL {
     }
 
     async cli(cliCoreMethodName, args){
-        let result;
+        let result="";
         try{
             const method = this.cliCore[cliCoreMethodName].bind(this.cliCore);
             result = await method(args);