powershell-windows

PowerShell Windows — Scripting Rules

Core Principles

1. Command Separation

Windows PowerShell 5.1 does not support &&; PowerShell 7 does.
For independent commands use ;: Set-Location "path"; Get-ChildItem.

For dependent native commands preserve short-circuit semantics explicitly:

git add .
if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) { git commit -m "message" }

2. Path Quoting

Always use double quotes for paths with spaces:
```
cd "D:\My Projects\MyApp"
```

3. Script Execution

For .bat/.cmd files:

./gradlew clean build
.\gradlew.bat clean build

4. Docker Commands

Specify full path to docker-compose files:

docker-compose -f "D:\My Projects\app\docker-compose.yml" up -d

5. HTTP Requests

Prefer PowerShell-native HTTP so behavior does not depend on whether curl resolves to an alias or curl.exe:
```
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:9090/status" -UseBasicParsing
```

6. Waiting/Delays

Wrong: timeout 10
Correct:
```
Start-Sleep -Seconds 10
```

7. JSON Handling

JSON parsing:

$response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:9090/status" -UseBasicParsing
$json = $response.Content | ConvertFrom-Json
$json | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3

8. Process Checking

Process search:

Get-Process -Name "java" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

9. Docker Operations

Stop containers:

docker-compose -f "path\to\file.yml" down

Build images:

docker-compose -f "path\to\file.yml" build --no-cache

10. Error Handling

Ignore errors:

Get-Process -Name "java" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Common Errors and Fixes

Error	Cause	Fix
`&& is not recognized`	Running Windows PowerShell 5.1	Use `;` only for independent commands; use `$LASTEXITCODE` for conditional chaining
`curl` behaves unexpectedly	Windows PowerShell alias / executable resolution differs	Use `Invoke-WebRequest`, or call `curl.exe` explicitly when its CLI semantics are required
`timeout` behaves unexpectedly	Console utility semantics differ from shell sleep	Use `Start-Sleep`
`Path not found`	Missing quotes on spaced path	Wrap path in double quotes

Correct Command Examples

# Change directory and execute command
cd "D:\My Projects\MyApp"; ./gradlew clean build -x test

# Wait and make HTTP request
Start-Sleep -Seconds 10; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:9090/status" -UseBasicParsing

# Docker operations
docker-compose -f "D:\My Projects\MyApp\docker-compose.yml" down
docker-compose -f "D:\My Projects\MyApp\docker-compose.yml" build --no-cache
docker-compose -f "D:\My Projects\MyApp\docker-compose.yml" up -d

# Check server status
$response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://localhost:9090/status" -UseBasicParsing
$json = $response.Content | ConvertFrom-Json
Write-Host "Transport: $($json.mcp.transport)"