diff --git a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/Main.java b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/Main.java
index 2798c60..a44dabd 100644
--- a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/Main.java
+++ b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/Main.java
@@ -261,10 +261,15 @@ void insert(
               description = "Create table if not exists")
           boolean createTableIfNotExists,
       @CommandLine.Parameters(
-              arity = "1..*",
+              arity = "0..*",
               paramLabel = "<files>",
               description = "/path/to/file.parquet")
           String[] dataFiles,
+      @CommandLine.Option(
+              names = "--from-file",
+              description =
+                  "Read list of parquet files from the specified file (one file per line)")
+          String fromFile,
       @CommandLine.Option(
               names = "--no-copy",
               description = "Add files to catalog without copying them")
@@ -351,12 +356,25 @@ void insert(
     }
     setAWSRegion(s3Region);
     try (RESTCatalog catalog = loadCatalog()) {
-      if (dataFiles.length == 1 && "-".equals(dataFiles[0])) {
+      // Handle --from-file option
+      if (!Strings.isNullOrEmpty(fromFile)) {
+        if (dataFiles != null && dataFiles.length > 0) {
+          throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot specify both --from-file and file arguments");
+        }
+        dataFiles = readInputFromFile(fromFile).toArray(new String[0]);
+        if (dataFiles.length == 0) {
+          logger.info("Nothing to insert (file empty)");
+          return;
+        }
+      } else if (dataFiles != null && dataFiles.length == 1 && "-".equals(dataFiles[0])) {
         dataFiles = readInput().toArray(new String[0]);
         if (dataFiles.length == 0) {
           logger.info("Nothing to insert (stdin empty)");
           return;
         }
+      } else if (dataFiles == null || dataFiles.length == 0) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+            "No files specified. Provide files as arguments or use --from-file");
       }
 
       List<IcePartition> partitions = null;
@@ -411,7 +429,13 @@ void insert(
               .build();
 
       if (!watchMode) {
-        Insert.run(catalog, tableId, dataFiles, options);
+        Insert.Result result = Insert.run(catalog, tableId, dataFiles, options);
+        if (result.anyFilesFailed()) {
+          logger.error(
+              "{} file(s) failed to insert. Check logs or retry list for details.",
+              result.failedCount());
+          System.exit(1);
+        }
       } else {
         if (!Strings.isNullOrEmpty(watchDebugAddr)) {
           JvmMetrics.builder().register();
@@ -453,6 +477,19 @@ private static List<String> readInput() {
     return r;
   }
 
+  private static List<String> readInputFromFile(String filePath) throws IOException {
+    List<String> r = new ArrayList<>();
+    try (Scanner scanner = new Scanner(new java.io.File(filePath))) {
+      while (scanner.hasNextLine()) {
+        String line = scanner.nextLine();
+        if (!line.isBlank()) {
+          r.add(line);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return r;
+  }
+
   @CommandLine.Command(name = "scan", description = "Scan table.")
   void scanTable(
       @CommandLine.Parameters(
diff --git a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Insert.java b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Insert.java
index 805f41b..2fc0c99 100644
--- a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Insert.java
+++ b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Insert.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
@@ -92,13 +93,15 @@ public final class Insert {
 
   private Insert() {}
 
+  public record Result(boolean anyFilesProcessed, boolean anyFilesFailed, int failedCount) {}
+
   // TODO: refactor
-  public static void run(
+  public static Result run(
       RESTCatalog catalog, TableIdentifier nsTable, String[] files, Options options)
       throws NoSuchTableException, IOException, InterruptedException {
     if (files.length == 0) {
       // no work to be done
-      return;
+      return new Result(false, false, 0);
     }
 
     Table table = catalog.loadTable(nsTable);
@@ -166,6 +169,7 @@ public static void run(
                     ? new RetryLog(options.retryListFile)
                     : null) {
           boolean atLeastOneFileAppended = false;
+          final AtomicInteger failedCount = new AtomicInteger(0);
 
           int numThreads = Math.min(options.threadCount(), filesExpanded.size());
           ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(numThreads);
@@ -202,6 +206,7 @@ public static void run(
                             logger.error(
                                 "{}: error (adding to retry list and continuing)", file, e);
                             retryLog.add(file);
+                            failedCount.incrementAndGet();
                             return Collections.emptyList();
                           } else {
                             throw new IOException(String.format("Error processing %s", file), e);
@@ -221,6 +226,7 @@ public static void run(
                 if (retryLog == null) {
                   throw new IOException("Error processing file(s)", e.getCause());
                 }
+                failedCount.incrementAndGet();
               }
             }
           } finally {
@@ -245,6 +251,9 @@ public static void run(
           } else {
             logger.warn("Table commit skipped (--no-commit)");
           }
+
+          int finalFailedCount = failedCount.get();
+          return new Result(atLeastOneFileAppended, finalFailedCount > 0, finalFailedCount);
         }
       } finally {
         if (s3ClientLazy.hasValue()) {
diff --git a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/InsertWatch.java b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/InsertWatch.java
index bfad50e..00aadfb 100644
--- a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/InsertWatch.java
+++ b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/InsertWatch.java
@@ -120,7 +120,11 @@ public static void run(
             logger.info("Inserting {}", insertBatch);
 
             try {
-              Insert.run(catalog, nsTable, insertBatch.toArray(String[]::new), options);
+              Insert.Result result =
+                  Insert.run(catalog, nsTable, insertBatch.toArray(String[]::new), options);
+              if (result.anyFilesFailed()) {
+                logger.warn("{} file(s) failed to insert in this batch", result.failedCount());
+              }
             } catch (NoSuchTableException e) {
               if (!createTableIfNotExists) {
                 throw e;
@@ -145,7 +149,11 @@ public static void run(
                 retryInsert = false;
               }
               if (retryInsert) {
-                Insert.run(catalog, nsTable, insertBatch.toArray(String[]::new), options);
+                Insert.Result result =
+                    Insert.run(catalog, nsTable, insertBatch.toArray(String[]::new), options);
+                if (result.anyFilesFailed()) {
+                  logger.warn("{} file(s) failed to insert in this batch", result.failedCount());
+                }
               }
             }
           }