true

Return success exit status

$ true

$ while true; do [command]; sleep [1]; done

$ if true; then echo "always runs"; fi

$ command || true

$ true; echo "continues regardless"

true [IGNORED]

true does nothing except return an exit status of 0 (success). Any arguments provided are ignored.
The command is used in shell scripts where a command is syntactically required but no action is needed. Common uses include:
- Infinite loops: while true; do ...; done
- Ignoring failures: command || true (prevents script exit with set -e)
- Placeholder in conditionals when logic is still being developed
- Initializing variables with command substitution that must succeed
As a shell builtin in most shells, true executes without spawning a subprocess, making it efficient for frequent use in loops.

Although true ignores all arguments, it still parses them. Some implementations treat --help and --version specially. The external binary /usr/bin/true exists for use when a builtin is not available or when exec is needed.

true has been part of Unix since Version 7 Unix in 1979. It was originally implemented as an empty shell script or a program that simply called exit(0). The companion command false returns exit status 1. Both are specified by POSIX and exist as both shell builtins and standalone binaries.

false(1), test(1), bash(1)