What does HRESULT 0x87C51013 (UTC_E_INTENTIONAL_SCRIPT_FAILURE) mean?

UTC_E_INTENTIONAL_SCRIPT_FAILURE

Separate cause from final symptom: script-defined termination signal

The code UTC_E_INTENTIONAL_SCRIPT_FAILURE (0x87C51013) belongs to scenario action execution, inside the Universal Telemetry Client/DiagTrack workflow. The first diagnostic step is to separate configuration, policy and runtime state. It identifies script-defined termination signal and reports that the approved script deliberately returned the failure used to stop the current escalation path; it does not by itself prove that all Windows diagnostic data collection is unavailable.

Scenario actions run under service-controlled identity, timeout and cancellation rules. The useful evidence is the exact action instance and its child process or script state, not a later generic service event. Stdout, stderr and native exit values should be retained separately from the UTC HRESULT.

High-value observations

A focused experiment

1. Export the relevant Microsoft-Windows-UniversalTelemetryClient/Operational events and preserve their ActivityId or request correlation alongside this result.
2. Capture script hash/version, documented sentinel exit code, action branch, stdout/stderr and subsequent action suppression. Do this before restarting the service or deleting any working directory.
3. Perform this one-variable comparison: run the script with inputs that select its success branch and then its intentional-stop branch.
4. After the comparison, record the next HRESULT and whether the requested session, action, trigger or output object was actually created.

Nearby result: UTC_E_CHILD_PROCESS_FAILED — covers an ordinary nonzero child exit that was not an intentional UTC sentinel.

Child-action accounting

Keep process creation, job assignment, timeout, cancellation, exit code and output capture as separate timestamps. That sequence reveals whether the child failed itself, was terminated by UTC or never started.

Recovery criteria

Handle the sentinel as scenario control flow and do not relabel it as a script-engine crash.

Technical references

• Microsoft Open Specifications: Windows error-code registry — reference for scenario action execution while interpreting this result.
• Microsoft: Universal Telemetry Client configuration diagnosis — reference for scenario action execution while interpreting this result.
• Microsoft: UniversalTelemetryClient operational-log guidance — reference for scenario action execution while interpreting it.
• Microsoft: About Windows Error Reporting