Start-Process "git" returns strange 129 exit code

Question

In Bash

$ git status > /dev/null; echo $?
0

Same repository in Powershell

$> (Start-Process git -ArgumentList="status" -Wait -PassThru).ExitCode
129

What is going on here, what 129 means and why it is not equal to 0 and how to get it right?

Also, if you want the status of your repository in PowerShell, you might check out github.com/dahlbyk/posh-git or github.com/ethomson/gitpowershell — Edward Thomson
– Edward Thomson, Commented Feb 13, 2014 at 16:46

Edward Thomson · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-12 18:09:46Z

17

When you specify the arguments to git incorrectly (and needs to print its usage) it will exit with error code 129:

C:\Temp>git status --asdf
error: unknown option `asdf`
usage: git status [options] [--] <filepattern>...

    .... help is printed here ....

C:\Temp>echo %ERRORLEVEL%
129

Is it possible that you are passing the commands through PowerShell incorrectly? (Eg, is -Wait -Passthrough being delivered to git-status?)

You could avoid passing arguments entirely by calling the git-status command instead of calling git with the status argument.

answered Feb 12, 2014 at 18:09

Edward Thomson

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3 Comments

ДМИТРИЙ МАЛИКОВ Over a year ago

there is a problem with calling git-status: "Start-Process : This command cannot be run due to the error: The system cannot find the file specified."

Edward Thomson Over a year ago

@ДМИТРИЙМАЛИКОВ Well, you may need to specify the full path, or put the git libexec directory in your %PATH%.

Denis Barmenkov Over a year ago

Same thing when calling [git add --pathspec-from-file=file.txt] on git 2.19.1.4 which does not support this option.

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