Add PSApplicationOutputEncoding variable #21219

jborean93 · 2024-02-14T03:51:54Z

PR Summary

Adds the $PSApplicationOutputEncoding variable that can be used to control the encoding PowerShell uses when reading the raw bytes to a string of an external application. This provides a scoped option to control the encoding used without resorting to the process wide setting of [Console]::OutputEncoding.

If the variable is unset (the default) or $null, the [Console]::OutputEncoding value is used to preserve the existing behaviour.

I ended up with $PSApplicationOutputEncoding to reflect that this is for the "Application" commands in PowerShell (Get-Command ... -CommandType Application) and $OutputEncoding is already taken as the confusingly named option for controlling how PowerShell encodes input to an application.

While not covered in this PR this could potentially be expanded in the future with:

Argument converters to support setting from a string/integer $PSApplicationOutputEncoding = 'utf-8'
A custom "raw/byte" encoding to have PowerShell output the byte[] without any encoding

PR Context

#16868 for this specific ask but there are many related issues to this.

Currently PowerShell uses the value of [Console]::OutputEncoding to control what encoding is used when reading the output from a native application. This can be problematic as:

It's set process wide, multithreading code can impact each other
You need an annoying try/finally to temporarily set it to another value
It also changes how the current process itself might write the output if the end user forgets to reset back to the default

A very common example is using wsl.exe which is hardcoded to output as UTF-16-LE/Unicode. To do this in PowerShell you would need to do:

$origEncoding = [Console]::OutputEncoding
try {
    [Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode
    $res = wsl.exe status
}
finally {
    [Console]::OutputEncoding = $origEncoding
}

With this PR you can now do

$res = & {
    $PSApplicationOutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode
    wsl.exe status
}

Not only is this less lines, it is thread safe so you can run this in parallel in multiple runspaces at the same time and it also won't change how PowerShell might output it's strings to the console. The scriptblock can even be omitted if already running in a child scope that doesn't need to go back to the default.

Other known examples of external applications that don't follow the value of [Console]::OutputEncoding and typically need the user to set it when calling

winget.exe - always uses UTF-8
python.exe - uses the Windows locale encoding (WinPS called this ANSI), or can be UTF-8 if an env var or argument is set to force it

PR Checklist

pull-request-quantifier-deprecated · 2024-02-14T03:51:59Z

This PR has 74 quantified lines of changes. In general, a change size of upto 200 lines is ideal for the best PR experience!

Quantification details

Label      : Small
Size       : +72 -2
Percentile : 29.6%

Total files changed: 6

Change summary by file extension:
.cs : +14 -2
.resx : +3 -0
.ps1 : +55 -0

Change counts above are quantified counts, based on the PullRequestQuantifier customizations.

Why proper sizing of changes matters

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balance between between PR complexity and PR review overhead. PRs within the
optimal size (typical small, or medium sized PRs) mean:

Fast and predictable releases to production:
- Optimal size changes are more likely to be reviewed faster with fewer
  iterations.
- Similarity in low PR complexity drives similar review times.
Review quality is likely higher as complexity is lower:
- Bugs are more likely to be detected.
- Code inconsistencies are more likely to be detected.
Knowledge sharing is improved within the participants:
- Small portions can be assimilated better.
Better engineering practices are exercised:
- Solving big problems by dividing them in well contained, smaller problems.
- Exercising separation of concerns within the code changes.

What can I do to optimize my changes

Use the PullRequestQuantifier to quantify your PR accurately
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How to interpret the change counts in git diff output

One line was added: +1 -0
One line was deleted: +0 -1
One line was modified: +1 -1 (git diff doesn't know about modified, it will
interpret that line like one addition plus one deletion)
Change percentiles: Change characteristics (addition, deletion, modification)
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pull-request-quantifier-deprecated · 2024-02-14T03:58:14Z

This PR has 78 quantified lines of changes. In general, a change size of upto 200 lines is ideal for the best PR experience!

Quantification details

Label      : Small
Size       : +76 -2
Percentile : 31.2%

Total files changed: 6

Change summary by file extension:
.cs : +18 -2
.resx : +3 -0
.ps1 : +55 -0

Change counts above are quantified counts, based on the PullRequestQuantifier customizations.

Why proper sizing of changes matters

Optimal pull request sizes drive a better predictable PR flow as they strike a
balance between between PR complexity and PR review overhead. PRs within the
optimal size (typical small, or medium sized PRs) mean:

Fast and predictable releases to production:
- Optimal size changes are more likely to be reviewed faster with fewer
  iterations.
- Similarity in low PR complexity drives similar review times.
Review quality is likely higher as complexity is lower:
- Bugs are more likely to be detected.
- Code inconsistencies are more likely to be detected.
Knowledge sharing is improved within the participants:
- Small portions can be assimilated better.
Better engineering practices are exercised:
- Solving big problems by dividing them in well contained, smaller problems.
- Exercising separation of concerns within the code changes.

What can I do to optimize my changes

Use the PullRequestQuantifier to quantify your PR accurately
- Create a context profile for your repo using the context generator
- Exclude files that are not necessary to be reviewed or do not increase the review complexity. Example: Autogenerated code, docs, project IDE setting files, binaries, etc. Check out the Excluded section from your prquantifier.yaml context profile.
- Understand your typical change complexity, drive towards the desired complexity by adjusting the label mapping in your prquantifier.yaml context profile.
- Only use the labels that matter to you, see context specification to customize your prquantifier.yaml context profile.
Change your engineering behaviors
- For PRs that fall outside of the desired spectrum, review the details and check if:
  - Your PR could be split in smaller, self-contained PRs instead
  - Your PR only solves one particular issue. (For example, don't refactor and code new features in the same PR).

How to interpret the change counts in git diff output

One line was added: +1 -0
One line was deleted: +0 -1
One line was modified: +1 -1 (git diff doesn't know about modified, it will
interpret that line like one addition plus one deletion)
Change percentiles: Change characteristics (addition, deletion, modification)
of this PR in relation to all other PRs within the repository.

Was this comment helpful? 👍 :ok_hand: :thumbsdown: (Email)
Customize PullRequestQuantifier for this repository.

daxian-dbw

LGTM!

iSazonov · 2025-10-21T04:35:20Z

@jborean93 Please rebase to get latest build workflows.

Adds the $PSApplicationOutputEncoding variable that can be used to control the encoding PowerShell uses when reading the raw bytes to a string of an external application. This provides a scoped option to control the encoding used without resorting to the process wide setting of [Console]::OutputEncoding.

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR introduces the $PSApplicationOutputEncoding variable to provide a scoped, thread-safe mechanism for controlling the encoding PowerShell uses when reading output from native applications, addressing the limitations of using the process-wide [Console]::OutputEncoding setting.

Key Changes:

Adds $PSApplicationOutputEncoding variable with Encoding type converter
Modifies native command processor to use the new variable when set, falling back to [Console]::OutputEncoding
Includes comprehensive test coverage for the new functionality

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`SpecialVariables.cs`	Defines the new `PSApplicationOutputEncoding` constant and variable path for internal reference
`InitialSessionState.cs`	Registers the `$PSApplicationOutputEncoding` session state variable with appropriate type converter
`RunspaceInit.resx`	Adds user-facing description for the new variable
`NativeCommandProcessor.cs`	Implements `GetOutputEncoding()` method to retrieve encoding from variable or fallback to console default
`NativeCommandEncoding.Tests.ps1`	Provides test coverage for variable scoping, null handling, and type validation
`WriteConsoleOut.ps1`	Test asset that writes encoded bytes to console for testing encoding behavior

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jborean93 · 2025-10-21T04:47:58Z

@iSazonov, the PR has been rebased.

microsoft-github-policy-service · 2025-10-21T05:13:47Z

📣 Hey @@jborean93, how did we do? We would love to hear your feedback with the link below! 🗣️

🔗 https://aka.ms/PSRepoFeedback

Microsoft Forms

jborean93 · 2025-10-21T05:17:03Z

Thanks for the review and merge everyone!

Adds the $PSApplicationOutputEncoding variable that can be used to control the encoding PowerShell uses when reading the raw bytes to a string of an external application.

pull-request-quantifier-deprecated bot added the Small label Feb 14, 2024

jborean93 mentioned this pull request Feb 14, 2024

Document new variable PSApplicationOutputEncoding MicrosoftDocs/PowerShell-Docs#10876

Open

4 tasks

microsoft-github-policy-service bot added the Review - Needed The PR is being reviewed label Feb 21, 2024

jborean93 force-pushed the console-encoding branch from a202534 to faaf11f Compare May 23, 2024 22:41

jborean93 force-pushed the console-encoding branch from faaf11f to f1d187e Compare September 2, 2024 02:36

jborean93 force-pushed the console-encoding branch from f1d187e to 661e310 Compare October 4, 2024 00:46

SeeminglyScience added WG-NeedsReview Needs a review by the labeled Working Group WG-Engine core PowerShell engine, interpreter, and runtime labels Dec 4, 2024

jborean93 mentioned this pull request Jan 28, 2025

Add RFC for process environment blocks PowerShell/PowerShell-RFC#384

Open

rkeithhill assigned rkeithhill and SeeminglyScience and unassigned rkeithhill Feb 23, 2025

jborean93 mentioned this pull request Jun 29, 2025

PowerShell pipe default OutputEncoding should match [System.Console]::OutputEncoding to avoid encoding issues with native console tools like more #25698

Open

5 tasks

powercode added WG-Reviewed A Working Group has reviewed this and made a recommendation Review - Needed The PR is being reviewed and removed Review - Needed The PR is being reviewed WG-NeedsReview Needs a review by the labeled Working Group labels Oct 20, 2025

daxian-dbw approved these changes Oct 20, 2025

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iSazonov added the CL-General Indicates that a PR should be marked as a general cmdlet change in the Change Log label Oct 21, 2025

microsoft-github-policy-service bot removed the Review - Needed The PR is being reviewed label Oct 21, 2025

jborean93 added 2 commits October 21, 2025 14:43

Reduce code complexity

f492cfc

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings October 21, 2025 04:43

jborean93 force-pushed the console-encoding branch from 661e310 to f492cfc Compare October 21, 2025 04:43

Copilot AI reviewed Oct 21, 2025

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iSazonov enabled auto-merge (squash) October 21, 2025 04:58

iSazonov approved these changes Oct 21, 2025

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iSazonov merged commit af26292 into PowerShell:master Oct 21, 2025
34 checks passed

jborean93 deleted the console-encoding branch October 21, 2025 05:16

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