Windows "robocopy exit code 1 treated as failure" in CI

robocopy uses a bitmask exit code where values 1-7 indicate success with details (files copied, extras, mismatches). CI treats any non-zero exit as failure, so a successful copy fails the step.

What this error means

A robocopy step that clearly copied files fails the job with exit code 1. Deterministic: robocopy returns 1 whenever it copied at least one file.

cmd

   Total    Copied   Skipped  Mismatch    FAILED    Extras
    Files:        5         5         0         0         0         0
robocopy exited with code 1
##[error]Process completed with exit code 1.

Common causes

robocopy non-zero codes are not errors

robocopy returns a bitmask: 0 = nothing to do, 1 = files copied, up to 7 still indicate success with extras/mismatches. Only 8 and above are real failures.

The shell maps any non-zero to failure

PowerShell and Actions treat exit codes 1-7 as failure by default, contradicting robocopy convention.

How to fix it

Normalize the exit code after robocopy

Treat anything below 8 as success and only fail on 8+.

powershell

robocopy src dst /E
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ge 8) { exit $LASTEXITCODE } else { exit 0 }

Use a cmd one-liner to mask success codes

Clamp the exit code in a cmd step.

cmd

robocopy src dst /E
if %ERRORLEVEL% LSS 8 exit /b 0

How to prevent it

Always post-process robocopy exit codes, failing only on 8 or higher, so successful copies do not fail the step.