wt -w 0 -p "MyProfile" No Longer Opens New Tab

[PaulCoddington]

Windows Terminal version

1.22.11141.0

Windows build number

10.0.26100.0

Other Software

Powershell 7.5.1

Steps to reproduce

In recent versions of Windows Terminal, the following Powershell script command:

wt -w 0 -p "MyProfile"

no longer opens a new tab in the target window, as it used to.

Instead, it executes in the current tab, causing the calling script to block
until the MyProfile process exits.

This breaks existing workflows and scripts that rely on the previous behavior
to launch services in background tabs and continue execution asynchronously.

Expected Behavior

A Powershell script containing the command:

wt -w 0 -p "MyProfile"

should:

• Open a new tab in the current window
• Launch the specified profile
• Return control immediately to the script that launched it

This allows launching multiple server applications in parallel, and/or in
sequence after availability checks (e.g. Test-NetConnection or Start-Sleep),
each in its own customized terminal environment.

Actual Behavior

The first profile launched now:

• Runs in the current tab

• Blocks the script until it exits

• Ignores new-tab behavior implicitly expected by -p

• Ignores new-tab behavior explicitly expected by new-tab or by wrapping the command in start-process.

This change breaks automation scripts that:

• Launch local services in isolated profiles

• Use Windows Terminal as a service supervisor

[PaulCoddington]

Solved it: problem between chair and desk. Apologies for letting loose a wild goose. It's been one of those days.

[DHowett]

Untamed ornithoids, in my repository?

Thanks for following up. We run triage every Wednesday, and you beat us to asking additional questions. 🙂