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wait(1)

wait - wait for jobs to complete

WAIT(1) fish-shell WAIT(1)

wait - wait for jobs to complete

wait [-n | --any] [PID | PROCESS_NAME] ...

NOTE: This page documents the fish builtin wait. To see the documentation on any non-fish versions, use command man wait.

wait waits for child jobs to complete.

If a PID is specified, the command waits for the job that the process with that process ID belongs to.

If a PROCESS_NAME is specified, the command waits for the jobs that the matched processes belong to.

If neither a pid nor a process name is specified, the command waits for all background jobs.

If the -n or --any flag is provided, the command returns as soon as the first job completes. If it is not provided, it returns after all jobs complete.

The -h or --help option displays help about using this command.

sleep 10 &
wait $last_pid


spawns sleep in the background, and then waits until it finishes.

for i in (seq 1 5); sleep 10 &; end
wait


spawns five jobs in the background, and then waits until all of them finish.

for i in (seq 1 5); sleep 10 &; end
hoge &
wait sleep


spawns five sleep jobs and hoge in the background, and then waits until all sleeps finish, and doesn't wait for hoge.

fish-shell developers

October 12, 2026 4.9

fish 4.9.3-r2 · os · ingested 2026-10-13