feat(shell): add AbortSignal support via .signal() method

packages/bun-types/shell.d.ts

@@ -202,6 +202,42 @@ declare module "bun" {
        * By default, this is configured to `true`.
        */
       throws(shouldThrow: boolean): this;
+
+      /**
+       * Attach an AbortSignal to cancel this shell command.
+       *
+       * When the signal aborts:
+       * - All processes in the pipeline are terminated with SIGTERM
+       * - The promise rejects with an AbortError (DOMException)
+       * - If `.nothrow()` was used, resolves with exit code 143 (128 + SIGTERM)
+       *
+       * @param signal - The AbortSignal to attach
+       * @returns this - for method chaining
+       * @throws Error if the shell has already started executing
+       *
+       * @example
+       * **Timeout after 5 seconds**
+       * ```ts
+       * await $`long-running-command`.signal(AbortSignal.timeout(5000));
+       * ```
+       *
+       * @example
+       * **Manual cancellation**
+       * ```ts
+       * const controller = new AbortController();
+       * const promise = $`sleep 100`.signal(controller.signal);
+       * setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 1000);
+       * await promise; // Rejects with AbortError after 1 second
+       * ```
+       *
+       * @example
+       * **With nothrow - returns exit code instead of throwing**
+       * ```ts
+       * const result = await $`sleep 100`.nothrow().signal(AbortSignal.timeout(1000));
+       * console.log(result.exitCode); // 143 (128 + 15)
+       * ```
+       */
+      signal(signal: AbortSignal): this;
     }
 
     /**

src/bun.js/api/ParsedShellScript.classes.ts

@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ export default [
         fn: "setQuiet",
         length: 1,
       },
+      setSignal: {
+        fn: "setSignal",
+        length: 1,
+      },
     },
   }),
 ];

src/js/builtins/shell.ts

@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ export function createBunShellTemplateFunction(createShellInterpreter_, createPa
     #args: $ZigGeneratedClasses.ParsedShellScript | undefined = undefined;
     #hasRun: boolean = false;
     #throws: boolean = true;
+    #signal?: AbortSignal; // Store the abort signal
+    #abortedByUs: boolean = false; // Tracks if OUR abort listener fired
     #resolve: (code: number, stdout: Buffer, stderr: Buffer) => void;
     #reject: (code: number, stdout: Buffer, stderr: Buffer) => void;
 
@@ -121,6 +123,34 @@ export function createBunShellTemplateFunction(createShellInterpreter_, createPa
       super((res, rej) => {
         resolve = (code, stdout, stderr) => {
           const out = new ShellOutput(stdout, stderr, code);
+
+          // Check if operation was aborted by our signal.
+          // We check BOTH conditions:
+          // 1. #abortedByUs - our abort listener fired (definitively know our signal caused it)
+          // 2. code >= 128 - process was killed by a signal (sanity check)
+          //
+          // This avoids false positives where:
+          // - The signal fires after normal completion (code would be 0 or small)
+          // - The process was killed by something else (Ctrl+C) but signal wasn't ours
+          //
+          // Exit code 128+N indicates the process was killed by signal N.
+          // SIGTERM (15) -> 143, SIGKILL (9) -> 137
+          const wasAborted = this.#abortedByUs && code >= 128;
+
+          if (wasAborted) {
+            if (this.#throws) {
+              // Reject with the signal's reason, or a default AbortError
+              const reason = this.#signal!.reason ?? new DOMException("The operation was aborted.", "AbortError");
+              rej(reason);
+            } else {
+              // nothrow mode: resolve normally with the exit code
+              potentialError = undefined;
+              res(out);
+            }
+            return;
+          }
+
+          // Normal (non-abort) exit handling (existing code)
           if (this.#throws && code !== 0) {
             potentialError!.initialize(out, code);
             rej(potentialError);
@@ -169,6 +199,16 @@ export function createBunShellTemplateFunction(createShellInterpreter_, createPa
       if (!this.#hasRun) {
         this.#hasRun = true;
 
+        // Handle already-aborted signals entirely in JS
+        // This avoids spawning anything and immediately settles the promise
+        if (this.#signal?.aborted) {
+          // Simulate a process killed by SIGTERM (exit code 128 + 15 = 143)
+          // The resolve callback will see #abortedByUs=true and code>=128,
+          // then reject with AbortError (or resolve if .nothrow() was used)
+          this.#resolve(128 + 15, Buffer.alloc(0), Buffer.alloc(0));
+          return;
+        }
+
         let interp = createShellInterpreter(this.#resolve, this.#reject, this.#args!);
         this.#args = undefined;
         interp.run();
@@ -195,6 +235,33 @@ export function createBunShellTemplateFunction(createShellInterpreter_, createPa
       return this;
     }
 
+    signal(sig: AbortSignal): this {
+      this.#throwIfRunning();
+      this.#signal = sig;
+
+      // Track when our signal fires - this definitively tells us the abort
+      // was triggered by our signal, not some other termination cause
+      if (sig.aborted) {
+        // Signal is already aborted - handle entirely in JS
+        // We'll short-circuit in #run() and never spawn anything
+        this.#abortedByUs = true;
+        // Don't pass to Zig - we'll handle it in #run()
+      } else {
+        // Listen for future abort
+        sig.addEventListener(
+          "abort",
+          () => {
+            this.#abortedByUs = true;
+          },
+          { once: true },
+        );
+        // Pass signal to ParsedShellScript so Zig can access it
+        this.#args!.setSignal(sig);
+      }
+
+      return this;
+    }
+
     async text(encoding) {
       const { stdout } = (await this.#quiet(true)) as ShellOutput;
       return stdout.toString(encoding);

src/shell/ParsedShellScript.zig

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ jsobjs: std.array_list.Managed(JSValue),
 export_env: ?EnvMap = null,
 quiet: bool = false,
 cwd: ?bun.String = null,
+abort_signal: ?*webcore.AbortSignal = null,
 this_jsvalue: JSValue = .zero,
 estimated_size_for_gc: usize = 0,
 
@@ -45,17 +46,20 @@ pub fn take(
     out_quiet: *bool,
     out_cwd: *?bun.String,
     out_export_env: *?EnvMap,
+    out_abort_signal: *?*webcore.AbortSignal,
 ) void {
     out_args.* = this.args.?;
     out_jsobjs.* = this.jsobjs;
     out_quiet.* = this.quiet;
     out_cwd.* = this.cwd;
     out_export_env.* = this.export_env;
+    out_abort_signal.* = this.abort_signal;
 
     this.args = null;
     this.jsobjs = std.array_list.Managed(JSValue).init(bun.default_allocator);
     this.cwd = null;
     this.export_env = null;
+    this.abort_signal = null; // ownership transferred
 }
 
 pub fn finalize(
@@ -65,6 +69,7 @@ pub fn finalize(
 
     if (this.export_env) |*env| env.deinit();
     if (this.cwd) |*cwd| cwd.deref();
+    if (this.abort_signal) |signal| signal.unref();
     if (this.args) |a| a.deinit();
     bun.destroy(this);
 }
@@ -86,6 +91,16 @@ pub fn setQuiet(this: *ParsedShellScript, _: *JSGlobalObject, callframe: *jsc.Ca
     return .js_undefined;
 }
 
+pub fn setSignal(this: *ParsedShellScript, globalThis: *JSGlobalObject, callframe: *jsc.CallFrame) bun.JSError!jsc.JSValue {
+    const signal_val = callframe.argument(0);
+    const signal = signal_val.as(jsc.WebCore.AbortSignal) orelse {
+        return globalThis.throwInvalidArgumentTypeValue("signal", "AbortSignal", signal_val);
+    };
+    if (this.abort_signal) |old| old.unref();
+    this.abort_signal = signal.ref();
+    return .js_undefined;
+}
+
 pub fn setEnv(this: *ParsedShellScript, globalThis: *JSGlobalObject, callframe: *jsc.CallFrame) bun.JSError!jsc.JSValue {
     const value1 = callframe.argument(0).getObject() orelse {
         return globalThis.throwInvalidArguments("env must be an object", .{});
@@ -205,6 +220,7 @@ const assert = bun.assert;
 const jsc = bun.jsc;
 const JSGlobalObject = jsc.JSGlobalObject;
 const JSValue = jsc.JSValue;
+const webcore = bun.webcore;
 
 const CallFrame = jsc.CallFrame;
 const ArgumentsSlice = jsc.CallFrame.ArgumentsSlice;

src/shell/builtin/cat.zig

@@ -69,6 +69,11 @@ pub fn start(this: *Cat) Yield {
 }
 
 pub fn next(this: *Cat) Yield {
+    // Check for abort before processing next file
+    if (this.bltn().parentCmd().base.interpreter.isAborted()) {
+        return this.bltn().done(128 + @intFromEnum(bun.SignalCode.SIGTERM));
+    }
+
     switch (this.state) {
         .idle => @panic("Invalid state"),
         .exec_stdin => {

src/shell/builtin/cp.zig

@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@ pub fn ignoreEbusyErrorIfPossible(this: *Cp) Yield {
 
 pub fn next(this: *Cp) Yield {
     while (this.state != .done) {
+        // Check for abort before continuing
+        if (this.bltn().parentCmd().base.interpreter.isAborted()) {
+            return this.bltn().done(128 + @intFromEnum(bun.SignalCode.SIGTERM));
+        }
+
         switch (this.state) {
             .idle => @panic("Invalid state for \"Cp\": idle, this indicates a bug in Bun. Please file a GitHub issue"),
             .exec => {

src/shell/builtin/seq.zig

@@ -86,6 +86,11 @@ fn do(this: *@This()) Yield {
     defer arena.deinit();
 
     while (if (this.increment > 0) current <= this._end else current >= this._end) : (current += this.increment) {
+        // Check for abort before continuing
+        if (this.bltn().parentCmd().base.interpreter.isAborted()) {
+            return this.bltn().done(128 + @intFromEnum(bun.SignalCode.SIGTERM));
+        }
+
         const str = bun.handleOom(std.fmt.allocPrint(arena.allocator(), "{d}", .{current}));
         defer _ = arena.reset(.retain_capacity);
         _ = this.print(str);

src/shell/builtin/yes.zig

@@ -84,6 +84,11 @@ pub fn start(this: *@This()) Yield {
 /// We write 4 8kb chunks and then suspend execution to the task.
 /// This is to avoid blocking the main thread forever.
 fn writeNoIO(this: *@This()) Yield {
+    // Check for abort before continuing the infinite loop
+    if (this.bltn().parentCmd().base.interpreter.isAborted()) {
+        return this.bltn().done(128 + @intFromEnum(bun.SignalCode.SIGTERM));
+    }
+
     if (this.writeOnceNoIO(this.buffer[0..this.buffer_used])) |yield| return yield;
     if (this.writeOnceNoIO(this.buffer[0..this.buffer_used])) |yield| return yield;
     if (this.writeOnceNoIO(this.buffer[0..this.buffer_used])) |yield| return yield;