For full text search please use the '?' prefix. e.g. ? Onboarding

Return Code: last command

Only the last return code of piped sequence is checked.

In a piped sequence of commands, $? will always reflect the exit status of the last command in the pipeline.

Example where we succeed but should fail

success() {
  echo.dim "success" >&2
  return 0
}

not_success() {
  echo.dim "not success" >&2
  return 1
}

main() {
  echo hi | not_success | success

  if [ "$?" -eq 0 ]; then
    echo.green "Success (in main)"
  else
    echo.yellow "Not success (in main)"
    return 1;
  fi
}

main "${@}" || exit 1

Output

not success
success
Success (in main)