bash-hackers-wiki/docs/commands/builtin/wait.md

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# 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