Handle a nonzero exit code according to whether the result is expected: deliberately branch on valid outcomes, but preserve failures from required work all the way to the agent controller or CI runner. Capture status immediately, configure pipelines so an earlier failure cannot be hidden, and run diagnostics or cleanup without letting them turn a failed task into a reported success.
First decide whether the nonzero result is an error
Exit codes are interpreted by the caller. In GNU Bash, status 0 means success and a nonzero status means failure; individual programs may assign their own meanings to nonzero values. A search that finds no optional match might be a normal branch, while a failed build, test, or required edit generally means the task did not succeed. Bash also uses 126 for a command that was found but could not be executed, 127 for command-not-found, and 128 + N for termination by fatal signal N. These are Bash conventions, not a universal codebook for all programs. See the GNU Bash manual on exit status.
For each command, establish which outcomes are valid and what the workflow should do next. Handle an expected nonzero outcome explicitly; do not suppress an unexpected one merely to keep the run moving.
Branch explicitly on a command’s result
Keep the status decision adjacent to the command that produced it. In Bash, $? contains the status of the most recently executed command, so an intervening logging or diagnostic command can overwrite the value. Prefer a conditional that tests the command directly:
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if grep -q "optional pattern" input.txt; then
echo "Match found; continue with the matching path."
else
echo "No match; continue with the documented no-match path."
fiThis makes the expected branch visible and avoids confusing an intentional “no match” with a failed required operation. For a command whose failure is not an expected branch, allow the failure to propagate or handle it explicitly while preserving a nonzero final result.
Make pipeline failures visible
By default, Bash assigns a pipeline the status of its last command. That means a producer can fail while a later formatter succeeds, leaving the overall pipeline looking successful. Bash’s pipefail option changes the pipeline status to the rightmost command that failed, or zero if every component succeeded. The manual documents this behavior in Bash pipelines.
set -o pipefail
producer | formatterUse pipefail when failure in any pipeline component should fail the operation. It reports a pipeline-level status, not a complete list of which components failed. If the workflow needs component-by-component attribution, capture those statuses separately.
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Use set -e as a guardrail, not a guarantee
Bash’s -e (also called errexit) does not exit after every nonzero command in every context. The manual lists exceptions, including commands used as tests in if, while, or until; most commands in && and || lists; non-final pipeline elements when pipefail is not enabled; and commands whose status is inverted with !. Consequently, set -e is useful fail-fast protection in some scripts, but it is not a substitute for explicit decisions about important command results.
Check statuses directly wherever the workflow needs a particular response—for example, when a failed test should stop required work, but a missing optional search result should select a normal alternative.
Preserve failure through wrappers, cleanup, and diagnostics
A wrapper or agent step should return a nonzero result when required work fails. Logging the problem, saving artifacts, or running cleanup can be useful, but a successful final housekeeping command must not erase the original failure. Structure the wrapper so it records the failed status, performs the needed recovery, and then reports failure to its caller.
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In execution traces, record enough context to identify and diagnose the failure: the command, working directory, relevant environment, standard output and error, and exit status. This is practical implementation guidance; the shell and CI documentation defines status behavior but does not prescribe one universal agent logging format.
Do not retry every nonzero status automatically. First determine whether the command documents the condition as transient; a retry may repeat side effects and will not fix a deterministic error.
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These shell details should not be assumed to describe every agent runner or CI service. In GitHub Actions, each run keyword starts a new process and shell in the runner environment. GitHub documents that, on non-Windows runners, an unspecified shell invokes bash -e with fallback behavior, while explicitly selecting bash invokes bash --noprofile --norc -eo pipefail. The selected shell’s status determines whether the step succeeds or fails. Check the current GitHub Actions workflow syntax documentation for the shell and platform in use.
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GitHub maps exit code 0 to success and every nonzero code to failure. Its documented consequences include canceling concurrent actions and skipping future dependent actions. A wrapper that accidentally returns success after failed required work can therefore affect more than its own log line. See GitHub’s guidance on setting exit codes for actions.
Run diagnostics after an earlier step fails
GitHub Actions applies an implicit success() status check to ordinary conditions. To run a diagnostic step after an earlier failure, use a failure-aware condition such as failure():
- name: Collect diagnostics
if: ${{ failure() }}
run: ./collect-diagnostics.shThis is for recovery or diagnosis; it should not make failed required work appear successful. GitHub explains status-check functions in its workflow expressions documentation.
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Mark a JavaScript action as failed
For a JavaScript action, use core.setFailed(message) to log an error and set the action’s failure status. GitHub documents this as a shortcut for logging an error and exiting with status 1. See GitHub’s workflow command reference.
Choose the handling policy at the right scope
Before changing a workflow, identify where the status originates and what receives it. A useful decision sequence is:
- Classify the result: Is this nonzero status an intentional outcome, such as an absent optional match, or a failure of required work?
- Locate its scope: Did it come from one process, a script’s final command, a pipeline component, a task step, or the full agent run?
- Verify propagation: Will the wrapper, controller, or CI runner receive the original failure, or can a later successful command mask it?
- Select recovery: Should the workflow stop, retry under a documented transient-error policy, or continue only to collect diagnostics or clean up?
- Check the runtime contract: Confirm the shell, operating system, runner, and action type that define status behavior and defaults.
The authoritative behavior described here is specific to GNU Bash and GitHub Actions. For another shell, runner, agent framework, or CI service, consult its official documentation rather than assuming Bash or GitHub’s rules apply.
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