/codes /powershell/lastexitcode-exit-codes

PowerShell exit codes: $LASTEXITCODE, $? and powershell.exe -File results

updated 2026-10-21

tool: PowerShell
versions: Windows PowerShell 5.1, PowerShell 7.x
os: windows, linux, macos

PowerShell has two status variables. $LASTEXITCODE is the exit code of the last native program (or script that called exit N); cmdlet errors do not change it. $? is $true or $false for the last command of any kind. When a CI job or scheduler runs powershell -File script.ps1, the process exit code is the number passed to exit, 1 if the script ended with an uncaught terminating error, and 0 otherwise, even if cmdlets wrote non-terminating errors.

The variables

A script that ends with exit N sets $LASTEXITCODE the same way a native program does:

powershell

'exit 3' | Set-Content exit3.ps1
'exit 0' | Set-Content exit0.ps1
& .\exit3.ps1
"script exit 3:  LASTEXITCODE=$LASTEXITCODE"
& .\exit0.ps1
"script exit 0:  LASTEXITCODE=$LASTEXITCODE"
& .\exit3.ps1
Get-Item missing.txt -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
"failed cmdlet:  LASTEXITCODE=$LASTEXITCODE  ?=$?"

Output

script exit 3:  LASTEXITCODE=3
script exit 0:  LASTEXITCODE=0
failed cmdlet:  LASTEXITCODE=3  ?=False

The failed cmdlet sets $? to $false but leaves $LASTEXITCODE at the previous value. For native programs it works the same way: git status; $LASTEXITCODE.

Exit code of powershell.exe

Start-Process -Wait -PassThru returns the process, whose ExitCode is what a scheduler or CI runner sees:

powershell

'exit 7' | Set-Content exit7.ps1
'throw "boom"' | Set-Content throw.ps1
'Write-Error "soft error"' | Set-Content writeerror.ps1
'"all good"' | Set-Content ok.ps1
function Get-ExitCode([string[]] $ArgumentList) {
  (Start-Process powershell.exe -ArgumentList $ArgumentList -Wait -PassThru -NoNewWindow -RedirectStandardError err.txt -RedirectStandardOutput out.txt).ExitCode
}
foreach ($f in 'exit7', 'throw', 'writeerror', 'ok') {
  '-File {0,-15} -> {1}' -f "$f.ps1", (Get-ExitCode '-NoProfile', '-NonInteractive', '-ExecutionPolicy', 'Bypass', '-File', ".\$f.ps1")
}
'-Command ending with a failed cmdlet -> ' + (Get-ExitCode '-NoProfile', '-NonInteractive', '-Command', 'Get-Item missing.txt')
'-Command ending with a good command  -> ' + (Get-ExitCode '-NoProfile', '-NonInteractive', '-Command', 'Get-Item missing.txt; Get-Date | Out-Null')

Output

-File exit7.ps1       -> 7
-File throw.ps1       -> 1
-File writeerror.ps1  -> 0
-File ok.ps1          -> 0
-Command ending with a failed cmdlet -> 1
-Command ending with a good command  -> 0

How the script ends	powershell -File exit code	powershell -Command exit code
exit N	N	N
Uncaught terminating error (throw, -ErrorAction Stop)	1	1
Non-terminating error only (Write-Error, failed cmdlet)	0	1 if the last command failed ($? is false), else 0
Normal end	0	0

Make CI fail on errors

build.ps1

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'          # cmdlet errors become terminating -> exit code 1
dotnet build
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { exit $LASTEXITCODE }   # native tools need an explicit check

$ErrorActionPreference does not affect native programs. Check $LASTEXITCODE after each one, or in PowerShell 7.3+ set $PSNativeCommandUseErrorActionPreference = $true so a non-zero exit code becomes an error.

Sources

flags · powershellPowerShell -ErrorAction Stop: why try/catch does not catch the errortry/catch only catches terminating errors, and most cmdlet errors are not. Add -ErrorAction Stop, or set $ErrorActionPreference to Stop, to catch them.codes · cmdrobocopy exit codes: 0, 1, 2, 3, 8 and 16 explainedrobocopy exit codes are bit flags: 1 copied, 2 extra files, 4 mismatches, 8 failures, 16 fatal error. Any code below 8 is success; treat 8 or more as failure.commands · cmdCheck %ERRORLEVEL% in a batch file (if errorlevel, ||, exit /b)Read a command's exit code in cmd with %ERRORLEVEL%, test it with if errorlevel N (true for N or higher) or && and ||, and return a code with exit /b N.

The variables

Exit code of powershell.exe

Make CI fail on errors

Sources

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