forge-lang-bash

martimramos's avatarfrom martimramos

Bash/Shell scripting standards including shellcheck, shfmt, and bats testing. Use when working with shell scripts (.sh, .bash).

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[Developer Tools]

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill provides a comprehensive suite for professional Bash and Shell script development, focusing on code quality, consistency, and reliability. By integrating industry-standard tools like ShellCheck for static analysis, shfmt for automated formatting, and Bats for unit testing, it enables developers to build robust automation scripts that follow modern best practices and avoid common pitfalls.

Use Cases

  • Static Analysis & Linting: Automatically detect syntax errors, semantic bugs, and potential security vulnerabilities in .sh and .bash scripts using ShellCheck.
  • Automated Code Formatting: Maintain a consistent coding style across team projects by using shfmt to standardize indentation and syntax layout.
  • Unit Testing for Scripts: Implement the Bats (Bash Automated Testing System) framework to verify script logic and ensure long-term maintainability through automated test suites.
  • Project Scaffolding: Quickly set up professional Shell project structures with dedicated directories for binaries, libraries, and tests.
  • CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Use the provided standards and commands to gate code changes, ensuring only linted and tested scripts are deployed to production environments.
nameforge-lang-bash
descriptionBash/Shell scripting standards including shellcheck, shfmt, and bats testing. Use when working with shell scripts (.sh, .bash).

Bash/Shell Development

Testing

# Run bats tests
bats test/

# Run specific test file
bats test/test_script.bats

# Run with TAP output
bats --tap test/

Static Analysis

# ShellCheck (lint)
shellcheck script.sh

# Check all scripts
shellcheck *.sh scripts/*.sh

# Exclude specific rules
shellcheck -e SC2086 script.sh

Formatting

# Format with shfmt
shfmt -w script.sh

# Check without changing
shfmt -d script.sh

# Format all scripts
shfmt -w -i 4 *.sh

Project Structure

project/
├── bin/
│   └── main.sh
├── lib/
│   ├── utils.sh
│   └── config.sh
├── test/
│   ├── test_main.bats
│   └── test_utils.bats
└── README.md

Script Template

#!/usr/bin/env bash
#
# script.sh - Brief description
#
# Usage: script.sh [options] <args>
#

set -euo pipefail
IFS=$'\n\t'

# Constants
readonly SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
readonly SCRIPT_NAME="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"

# Functions
usage() {
    cat <<EOF
Usage: ${SCRIPT_NAME} [options] <args>

Options:
    -h, --help      Show this help message
    -v, --verbose   Enable verbose output

EOF
}

main() {
    # Parse arguments
    while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
        case "$1" in
            -h|--help)
                usage
                exit 0
                ;;
            -v|--verbose)
                set -x
                shift
                ;;
            *)
                break
                ;;
        esac
    done

    # Main logic here
    echo "Hello from ${SCRIPT_NAME}"
}

main "$@"

Bats Test Template

#!/usr/bin/env bats

setup() {
    # Setup code runs before each test
    load 'test_helper/bats-support/load'
    load 'test_helper/bats-assert/load'
}

@test "script runs without error" {
    run ./bin/main.sh
    assert_success
}

@test "script shows help with -h" {
    run ./bin/main.sh -h
    assert_success
    assert_output --partial "Usage:"
}

@test "script fails on invalid option" {
    run ./bin/main.sh --invalid
    assert_failure
}

TDD Cycle Commands

# RED: Write test, run to see it fail
bats test/

# GREEN: Implement, run to see it pass
bats test/

# REFACTOR: Clean up, ensure tests still pass
shellcheck *.sh && shfmt -d *.sh && bats test/

Best Practices

  • Always use set -euo pipefail at the start
  • Quote all variables: "$var" not $var
  • Use [[ instead of [ for conditionals
  • Prefer $(command) over backticks
  • Use local for function variables
  • Add readonly for constants