output

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory test.yml

PLAY [localhost] **************************************************************

TASK: [shell cat /tmp/{{item}}] ***********************************************
failed: [localhost] => (item=nonexistant) => {"attempts": 3, "changed": true, "cmd": "cat /tmp/nonexistant", "delta": "0:00:00.013548", "end": "2014-12-11 14:01:09.573189", "failed": true, "item": "nonexistant", "rc": 1, "start": "2014-12-11 14:01:09.559641"}
stderr: cat: /tmp/nonexistant: No such file or directory
msg: Task failed as maximum retries was encountered
changed: [localhost] => (item=exists)
changed: [localhost] => (item=exists)

FATAL: all hosts have already failed -- aborting

PLAY RECAP ********************************************************************
           to retry, use: --limit @/home/hugh/test.retry

localhost                  : ok=0    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1

test playbook

---$
- hosts: localhost$
  gather_facts: False$
  tasks:$
    - shell:$
        cat /tmp/{{item}}$
      with_items:$
        - "nonexistant"$
        - "exists"$
        - "exists"$
      register: shell_result$
      until: shell_result|success$
      ignore_errors: False$