# The wait builtin command

## Synopsis

    wait [-f] [-n] [-p VARNAME] [ID...]

## Description

The `wait` builtin command is used to wait for job completion and return
exit status.

-   if `ID` is a job specification, it waits for all processes in the
    pipeline of this job
-   waits for a specific job (asynchronous command) and report its exit
    status if one or more `ID` is given
-   waits for all running jobs (asynchronous commands)
-   waits for "the next" job (`-n` option)
-   waits for termination instead of status change (`-f` option)

`ID` may be an operating system process identifier or a shell job
specification.

### Options

|Option|Description|
|------|-----------|
|`-n`|Waits for "the next" child to exit (as opposed to "all children" without this option). Accepts a list of IDs (jobs)|
|`-f`|Waits for the termination of the given `ID` (instead of waiting for a status change only)|
|`-p VARNAME`|When waiting for a list (-n) or all jobs, writes the job ID to the job that was actually terminated into the variable `VARNAME`|

### Return status

The return status is the return status of the job waited for, or

|Status|Reason|
|------|------|
|0|waited for all jobs in shell's job list|
|1|the given `ID` is not a valid job or process ID|

## Examples

## Portability considerations

## See also