bash-dev

name	bash-dev
description	Bash scripting development standards, error handling, and best practices. Activated when working with .sh files or Bash scripts.
allowed-tools	["Read","Grep","Bash"]

Bash Development Expert

This skill supports Bash script development with best practices and safety standards.

🎯 Core Rules

Shebang and Safety

• Shebang: Always use #!/usr/bin/env bash
• Set Options: Always use set -euo pipefail
  • -e: Exit on error
  • -u: Exit on undefined variable
  • -o pipefail: Fail pipeline if any command fails

Variable Handling

• Quoting: Always quote variables "${var}"
• Constants: Use UPPERCASE for global/environment variables
• Local Variables: Use lowercase for function-local variables
• Readonly: Use readonly for constants

Function Best Practices

• Local Variables: Always use local keyword
• Parameter Validation: Validate required parameters
• Return Codes: 0 for success, non-zero for errors
• Documentation: Document usage, description, and return codes

📚 Script Template

Standard Script Structure

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# Script metadata
# Usage: script_name.sh <arg1> [arg2]
# Description: What this script does
# Author: Your Name
# Version: 1.0.0

# Global constants (UPPERCASE)
readonly SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
readonly SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
readonly VERSION="1.0.0"

# Color codes for output
readonly RED='\033[0;31m'
readonly GREEN='\033[0;32m'
readonly YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
readonly NC='\033[0m' # No Color

#######################################
# Display usage information
# Globals:
#   SCRIPT_NAME
# Arguments:
#   None
# Outputs:
#   Writes usage to stdout
#######################################
usage() {
  cat <<EOF
Usage: ${SCRIPT_NAME} <arg1> [arg2]

Description:
  What this script does in detail

Arguments:
  arg1    Required argument description
  arg2    Optional argument description (default: value)

Options:
  -h, --help    Show this help message
  -v, --version Show version information

Examples:
  ${SCRIPT_NAME} value1
  ${SCRIPT_NAME} value1 value2
EOF
}












() {
   -e  >&2
   1
}










() {
   -e 
}










() {
   -e 
}










() {
   arg1=
   arg2=

  info 

  

  info 
   0
}


  ERR


  
  -h|--)
    usage
     0
    ;;
  -v|--version)
     
     0
    ;;



main 

🛠️ Common Patterns

Error Handling

# Check if command exists
if ! command -v git &> /dev/null; then
  error "git is not installed"
fi

# Check if file exists
if [[ ! -f "${config_file}" ]]; then
  error "Config file not found: ${config_file}"
fi

# Check if directory exists
if [[ ! -d "${target_dir}" ]]; then
  mkdir -p "${target_dir}" || error "Failed to create directory"
fi

Input Validation

# Validate required argument
validate_arg() {
  local arg="${1:?Error: argument required}"
  if [[ -z "${arg}" ]]; then
    error "Argument cannot be empty"
  fi
}

# Validate number
validate_number() {
  local num="$1"
  if ! [[ "${num}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
    error "Invalid number: ${num}"
  fi
}

File Operations

# Safe file read
read_file() {
  local file="$1"
  if [[ ! -r "${file}" ]]; then
    error "Cannot read file: ${file}"
  fi
  cat "${file}"
}

# Safe file write
write_file() {
  local file="$1"
  local content="$2"
  echo "${content}" > "${file}" || error "Failed to write file"
}

Array Handling

# Declare array
declare -a items=("item1" "item2" "item3")

# Iterate over array
for item in "${items[@]}"; do
  echo "Processing: ${item}"
done

# Array length
echo "Total items: ${#items[@]}"

🎯 Quality Checklist

Check these before committing:

• Shebang #!/usr/bin/env bash present
• set -euo pipefail at the beginning
• All variables quoted "${var}"
• Global variables in UPPERCASE
• Local variables use local keyword
• Functions have documentation comments
• Error handling implemented
• Usage function provided
• Exit codes are meaningful (0=success, non-zero=error)
• Script tested with shellcheck

🔍 Common Anti-patterns to Avoid

❌ Don't:

# Unquoted variables
cd $HOME/dir

# Missing error handling
mkdir /some/dir

# Undefined variables
echo $UNDEFINED_VAR

# No set options
#!/bin/bash

✅ Do:

# Quoted variables
cd "${HOME}/dir" || error "Failed to change directory"

# With error handling
mkdir -p "${target_dir}" || error "Failed to create directory"

# Check before use
if [[ -n "${VAR:-}" ]]; then
  echo "${VAR}"
fi

# Proper set options
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

💡 Testing

Using ShellCheck

# Install shellcheck
brew install shellcheck  # macOS

# Check script
shellcheck script.sh

# Ignore specific warnings
# shellcheck disable=SC2086
command ${unquoted}

Testing Functions

# Simple test function
test_function() {
  local expected="expected_value"
  local actual
  actual="$(your_function)"

  if [[ "${actual}" != "${expected}" ]]; then
    error "Test failed: expected '${expected}', got '${actual}'"
  fi
  info "Test passed"
}