How can I validate exits and aborts in RSpec?

Using the new RSpec syntax:

expect { code_that_exits }.to raise_error(SystemExit)

If something is printed to STDOUT and you want to test that too, you can do something like:

context "when -h or --help option used" do
  it "prints the help and exits" do
    help = %Q(
      Usage: my_app [options]
        -h, --help                       Shows this help message
    )

    ARGV << "-h"
    expect do
      output = capture_stdout { my_app.execute(ARGV) }
      expect(output).to eq(help)
    end.to raise_error(SystemExit)

    ARGV << "--help"
    expect do
      output = capture_stdout { my_app.execute(ARGV) }
      expect(output).to eq(help)
    end.to raise_error(SystemExit)
  end
end

Where capture_stdout is defined as seen in Test output to command line with RSpec.

Update: Consider using RSpec's output matcher instead of capture_stdout

try this:

module MyGem
  describe "CLI" do
    context "execute" do

      it "should exit cleanly when -h is used" do
        argv=["-h"]
        out = StringIO.new
        lambda { ::MyGem::CLI.execute( out, argv) }.should raise_error SystemExit
      end

    end
  end
end