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syntax: support alternate command substitution of Bash 5.3 inside double quotes #1368
Description
PR #1178 added the initial support for the "subshell-less" command substitutions introduced in Bash 5.3: ${ command; } and ${| command; }.
However, when these command substitutions are put inside double quotes, they cause errors.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# test.sh
x="${ echo 1;}"
echo "$x"$ shfmt test.sh
test.sh:4:9: reached EOF without closing quote `"`
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# test2.sh
x="${| REPLY=1;}"
echo "$x"$ shfmt test.sh
test2.sh:4:9: reached EOF without closing quote `"`
Both scripts are valid and print 1 to the output.
Activity
amas127 commentedon Aug 13, 2026
Thanks for putting forward this issue again! I would love to replace my "subshell" commands with their "subshell-less" ones, but
shfmtcurrently just fails. I loveshfmt, and if we could add this feature I am pretty sure it would be more consistent and lovely. It might be done with some simple patches, as seen in #1379.mvdan commentedon Aug 13, 2026
Thanks, I'll take a look. Indeed it's best not to report problems on closed issues, as they are easy to miss or forget.
syntax: add regression tests for issue #1368
syntax: support ${ foo;} and ${|foo;} inside double quotes