fix(step): preserve cmd.exe quoting for {{files}} on Windows by jdx · Pull Request #824 · jdx/hk

jdx · 2026-04-12T12:05:45Z

Fixes #823.

Summary

On Windows, Rust's Command::arg applies MSVCRT-style argv escaping that collides with cmd.exe's own quoting, so a rendered {{files}} payload (already quoted via ShellType::Cmd::quote) reaches tools with literal " characters in the arguments. In practice this silently broke ruff, biome, and any other {{files}}-based check — they'd exit 0 while processing zero files, so hk would report success on malformed invocations.
Switch the Windows cmd.exe /c path in src/step/runner.rs to use a new CmdLineRunner::raw_arg (paired with new_direct to avoid the implicit cmd.exe /c wrapping), so the rendered command string is appended verbatim via CommandExt::raw_arg and cmd.exe can parse its own quoting without Rust interference. Also covers {{workspace_files}}, which goes through the same shell-quoting path.
Requires ensembler PR: feat(cmd): add new_direct and raw_arg for Windows quoting ensembler#89 (submodule pointer bumped in this PR).

Test plan

cargo check (linux) passes.
cargo check --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu passes.
Added a Pester regression test {{files}} template passes clean arguments on Windows (no literal quotes) in e2e-win/check.Tests.ps1: materializes files including hello world.txt, renders python check_args.py {{files}}, and fails if any arg contains a literal " or references a missing path.
Wired the new Pester test into the ci-windows job in .github/workflows/ci.yml.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Note

Medium Risk
Changes how step commands are executed on Windows cmd.exe by switching to a raw-argument path; this can affect argument parsing/escaping and could alter behavior for existing Windows hooks.

Overview
Fixes Windows cmd.exe execution so rendered {{files}}/{{workspace_files}} strings are passed verbatim to the shell (using CmdLineRunner::new_direct + raw_arg) instead of being re-escaped by Rust, preventing literal quote characters from reaching tools and silently dropping files.

Adds a Windows Pester regression test that validates {{files}} expands to real paths (including spaces) without embedded quotes, and wires that test into the ci-windows GitHub Actions job.

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit 6693338. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure here.}

Rust's `Command::arg` applies MSVCRT-style argv escaping on Windows, which collides with cmd.exe's own parsing rules. When a step command contains already-cmd-quoted paths (from rendering `{{files}}` or `{{workspace_files}}` via `ShellType::Cmd::quote`), the resulting argv re-escaping causes cmd.exe to deliver tools arguments with literal `"` characters embedded — splitting "file with spaces.txt" into three separate args and turning "simple.txt" into `"simple.txt"`. In practice this silently broke `{{files}}`-based checks on Windows: tools like ruff and biome would exit 0 while processing zero files, so hk would report success on malformed invocations. Use the new `raw_arg` helper (with `new_direct` to skip the implicit `cmd.exe /c` wrapping) so the rendered command string is appended verbatim via `CommandExt::raw_arg`, letting cmd.exe parse its own quoting without Rust's interference. Fixes #823. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request addresses an issue on Windows where Rust's default argument escaping conflicts with cmd.exe quoting, particularly when using the {{files}} template. The changes introduce the use of raw_arg for the default cmd.exe runner to bypass MSVCRT-style re-escaping and include a new regression test. Feedback suggests extending this logic to custom shells that are identified as cmd.exe on Windows to ensure the fix is applied consistently.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-04-12T12:07:45Z

                cmd = cmd.arg(arg);
            }
-            cmd
+            cmd.arg(&run)


The fix for cmd.exe quoting should also be applied when a custom shell is provided, if that shell is detected as cmd.exe. Currently, the custom shell block still uses .arg(&run), which will trigger the same MSVCRT-style escaping issue that this PR aims to fix for the default shell path. By using raw_arg when the shell type is Cmd on Windows, we ensure that the rendered command string (which already contains cmd.exe-appropriate quoting from ShellType::Cmd::quote) is passed through verbatim.

Suggested change

cmd.arg(&run)

if cfg!(windows) && self.shell_type() == ShellType::Cmd {

cmd.raw_arg(&run)

} else {

cmd.arg(&run)

}

greptile-apps · 2026-04-12T12:08:38Z

Greptile Summary

Fixes the Windows cmd.exe double-escaping bug where Rust's MSVCRT argv escaping mangled {{files}}/{{workspace_files}} payloads that were already quoted by ShellType::Cmd::quote. The fix uses CmdLineRunner::new_direct + raw_arg so cmd.exe receives the verbatim command string and parses its own quoting correctly.

One unrelated file — .claude/scheduled_tasks.lock — was accidentally included in the commit and should be removed and gitignored.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge; the core Windows fix and test coverage are correct, with only a trivial stale lock file to clean up.

All findings are P2. The runner.rs logic is sound — use_raw_cmd is correctly scoped to Windows+Cmd at both compile time and runtime, the sh path is structurally unchanged, and the ensembler submodule bump provides the new API. The Pester test now includes the positive file-presence assertions requested in the previous review thread. The only issue is an accidentally committed .claude/scheduled_tasks.lock that has no impact on hk's behavior.

.claude/scheduled_tasks.lock should be deleted and added to .gitignore; no other files need special attention.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
src/step/runner.rs	Correctly gates Windows cmd.exe path on `use_raw_cmd` (compile-time `cfg!(windows)` + runtime `ShellType::Cmd` check); uses `new_direct` + `raw_arg` to avoid double-escaping of already-quoted `{{files}}` payloads; sh path is unchanged and structurally equivalent.
e2e-win/check.Tests.ps1	New Pester regression test covers the bug with a spaced filename and validates both negative (no literal quotes, no missing files) and positive (both files appear in output) assertions; addresses the gap flagged in the previous review thread.
.github/workflows/ci.yml	Wires the new Pester test into `ci-windows` via `-TestName "{{files}} template"`; `{{` is not a GitHub Actions expression (needs `${{`), so the pattern passes through literally to Pester's wildcard filter.
.claude/scheduled_tasks.lock	Accidentally committed Claude Code session lock file (session ID, PID, timestamp); should be deleted and added to .gitignore.
ensembler	Submodule pointer bumped to provide the new `CmdLineRunner::new_direct` and `raw_arg` APIs required by the Windows fix.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[Step::run] --> B{use_raw_cmd
cfg windows AND ShellType::Cmd}
    B -- Yes --> C{self.shell set?}
    B -- No --> D{self.shell set?}

    C -- Yes --> E["new_direct(shell[0])
+ arg(shell[1..])
+ raw_arg(&run)"]
    C -- No --> F["new_direct(cmd.exe)
+ arg(/c)
+ raw_arg(&run)"]

    D -- Yes --> G["new(shell[0])
+ arg(shell[1..])
+ arg(&run)"]
    D -- No --> H["new(sh)
+ arg(-o errexit -c)
+ arg(&run)"]

    E --> I[cmd.execute]
    F --> I
    G --> I
    H --> I

    style E fill:#d4edda,stroke:#28a745
    style F fill:#d4edda,stroke:#28a745

_{Reviews (5): Last reviewed commit: "test(windows): use file:// URI for pkl a..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

Extend the Windows cmd.exe quoting fix to steps that explicitly set `shell = "cmd.exe"` in hk.pkl. Previously the custom-shell branch still used `CmdLineRunner::new` + `.arg(&run)`, which re-applied MSVCRT escaping even though `ShellType::Cmd::quote` had already produced cmd-appropriate quoting. Also tighten the Pester regression test with a positive assertion on both filenames, so a future regression that silently expands `{{files}}` to an empty list still fails the test. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

The `{{files}}` Pester test on Windows exits 101 in CI with only the bare Pester assertion message surfaced. Normalize `$env:PKL_PATH` to forward slashes for the pkl amends URI, write files as ASCII (no BOM), and dump the hk output + hk.pkl + dir listing on failure so the next CI run reveals the underlying error. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

pkl's default `--allowed-modules` allowlist accepts `file:` URIs but rejects bare Windows absolute paths like `D:/a/hk/...`, so the amends `"D:/a/hk/hk/pkl/Config.pkl"` was causing hk to panic with a pkl allowlist error. Build an explicit `file:///` URI from `$env:PKL_PATH`. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

@JohanLorenzo

### 🚀 Features - add {{ hook_args }} template to pass to downstream commands by [@JohanLorenzo](https://github.com/JohanLorenzo) in [#807](#807) ### 🐛 Bug Fixes - **(step)** preserve cmd.exe quoting for {{files}} on Windows by [@jdx](https://github.com/jdx) in [#824](#824) ### 🛡️ Security - **(deps)** update dependency eslint to v10 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#813](#813) ### 📦️ Dependency Updates - update taiki-e/upload-rust-binary-action digest to 10c1cf6 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#810](#810) - update nick-fields/retry action to v4 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#812](#812) - update anthropics/claude-code-action digest to 657fb7c by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#809](#809) - update dependency typescript to v6 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#814](#814) - update rust crate demand to v2 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#815](#815) - update rust crate expr-lang to v1 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#816](#816) - update rust crate similar to v3 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#817](#817) - update rust crate toml to v1 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#820](#820) - update actions/upload-artifact digest to 043fb46 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#821](#821) - update anthropics/claude-code-action digest to b47fd72 by [@renovate[bot]](https://github.com/renovate[bot]) in [#822](#822) ### New Contributors - @JohanLorenzo made their first contribution in [#807](#807)  --- > [!NOTE] > **Low Risk** > Low risk release bookkeeping: version bumps, regenerated CLI/docs, and routine dependency lockfile updates with no functional code changes in this PR. > > **Overview** > Bumps `hk` to **v1.42.0** and adds the corresponding `CHANGELOG.md` release notes. > > Regenerates versioned docs/CLI artifacts (`docs/cli/*`, `hk.usage.kdl`) and updates all documentation/examples to reference the `v1.42.0` Pkl package URLs. Updates `Cargo.lock` for minor dependency revisions. > > <sup>Reviewed by [Cursor Bugbot](https://cursor.com/bugbot) for commit 4b9834f. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure [here](https://www.cursor.com/dashboard/bugbot).</sup>  Co-authored-by: mise-en-dev <123107610+mise-en-dev@users.noreply.github.com>

This MR contains the following updates: | Package | Update | Change | |---|---|---| | [hk](https://github.com/jdx/hk) | minor | `1.41.1` → `1.42.0` | MR created with the help of [el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot](https://gitlab.com/el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot). **Proposed changes to behavior should be submitted there as MRs.** --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>jdx/hk (hk)</summary> ### [`v1.42.0`](https://github.com/jdx/hk/blob/HEAD/CHANGELOG.md#1420---2026-04-12) [Compare Source](jdx/hk@v1.41.1...v1.42.0) ##### 🚀 Features - add {{ hook\_args }} template to pass to downstream commands by [@JohanLorenzo](https://github.com/JohanLorenzo) in [#807](jdx/hk#807) ##### 🐛 Bug Fixes - **(step)** preserve cmd.exe quoting for {{files}} on Windows by [@jdx](https://github.com/jdx) in [#824](jdx/hk#824) ##### 🛡️ Security - **(deps)** update dependency eslint to v10 by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#813](jdx/hk#813) ##### 📦️ Dependency Updates - update taiki-e/upload-rust-binary-action digest to [`10c1cf6`](jdx/hk@10c1cf6) by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#810](jdx/hk#810) - update nick-fields/retry action to v4 by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#812](jdx/hk#812) - update anthropics/claude-code-action digest to [`657fb7c`](jdx/hk@657fb7c) by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#809](jdx/hk#809) - update dependency typescript to v6 by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#814](jdx/hk#814) - update rust crate demand to v2 by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#815](jdx/hk#815) - update rust crate expr-lang to v1 by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#816](jdx/hk#816) - update rust crate similar to v3 by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#817](jdx/hk#817) - update rust crate toml to v1 by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#820](jdx/hk#820) - update actions/upload-artifact digest to [`043fb46`](jdx/hk@043fb46) by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#821](jdx/hk#821) - update anthropics/claude-code-action digest to [`b47fd72`](jdx/hk@b47fd72) by [@renovate\[bot\]](https://github.com/renovate\[bot]) in [#822](jdx/hk#822) ##### New Contributors - [@JohanLorenzo](https://github.com/JohanLorenzo) made their first contribution in [#807](jdx/hk#807) </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: (UTC) - Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined) - Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined) 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied. ♻ **Rebasing**: Whenever MR becomes conflicted, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox. 🔕 **Ignore**: Close this MR and you won't be reminded about this update again. --- - [ ] If you want to rebase/retry this MR, check this box --- This MR has been generated by [Renovate Bot](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate).

gemini-code-assist Bot reviewed Apr 12, 2026

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greptile-apps Bot reviewed Apr 12, 2026

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Comment thread e2e-win/check.Tests.ps1

jdx force-pushed the fix/windows-cmd-quoting branch from b7d5a41 to 77de586 Compare April 12, 2026 12:40

jdx force-pushed the fix/windows-cmd-quoting branch from 77de586 to 4a4f6e4 Compare April 12, 2026 12:40

jdx force-pushed the fix/windows-cmd-quoting branch from 76d7a90 to 6693338 Compare April 12, 2026 12:53

jdx enabled auto-merge (squash) April 12, 2026 13:04

jdx merged commit 55e95f2 into main Apr 12, 2026
20 checks passed

jdx deleted the fix/windows-cmd-quoting branch April 12, 2026 13:11

jdx mentioned this pull request Apr 12, 2026

chore: release v1.42.0 #811

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fix(step): preserve cmd.exe quoting for {{files}} on Windows#824

fix(step): preserve cmd.exe quoting for {{files}} on Windows#824
jdx merged 4 commits intomainfrom
fix/windows-cmd-quoting

jdx commented Apr 12, 2026 •

edited by cursor Bot

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-            cmd.arg(&run)
+            if cfg!(windows) && self.shell_type() == ShellType::Cmd {
+                cmd.raw_arg(&run)
+            } else {
+                cmd.arg(&run)
+            }

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Confidence Score: 5/5

Important Files Changed

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jdx commented Apr 12, 2026 •

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