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fix: quote path variables in write_source_file shell scripts#1239

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fmeum merged 3 commits intobazel-contrib:mainfrom
jfjonsson:fix-write-source-file-quotes
Feb 12, 2026
Merged

fix: quote path variables in write_source_file shell scripts#1239
fmeum merged 3 commits intobazel-contrib:mainfrom
jfjonsson:fix-write-source-file-quotes

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@jfjonsson jfjonsson commented Feb 4, 2026

Summary

Fix write_source_file failing with shell syntax errors when paths contain metacharacters like parentheses.

Problem

The generated shell script assigned paths to variables without quoting:

in=$current_working_dir/path/to/(folder)/file.txt
out=path/to/(folder)/file.txt

Bash interprets ( as the start of a subshell, causing:

syntax error near unexpected token `('

This breaks builds using Next.js App Router route groups (e.g., app/(dashboard)/page.tsx) or any path with parentheses, spaces, or other shell metacharacters.

Fix

Quote the variable assignments:

in="$current_working_dir/path/to/(folder)/file.txt"
out="path/to/(folder)/file.txt"

Changes

  • lib/private/write_source_file.bzl: Quote path variable assignments
  • lib/tests/write_source_files/write_source_file_test.bzl: Quote paths in test script generator
  • Added regression test with parentheses in path ((route-group)/test.js)

Test plan

  • New test special_chars_in_path_test passes
  • All existing write_source_files tests pass

@jfjonsson
fix: quote path variables in write_source_file shell scripts
f3dbc9f 
Paths containing shell metacharacters (like parentheses) caused syntax errors.
Added quotes around variable assignments in the generated shell scripts and included a regression test with parentheses in the path.
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aspect-workflows bot commented Feb 4, 2026 •
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Bazel 8 (Test)

2 test targets passed

Targets 
//lib/tests/copy_to_directory:case_22_test [k8-fastbuild]                    61ms
//lib/tests/copy_to_directory_bin_action:test [k8-fastbuild]                 61ms

Total test execution time was 122ms. 135 tests (98.5%) were fully cached saving 16s.

Bazel 9 (Test)

2 test targets passed

Targets 
//lib/tests/copy_to_directory:case_22_test [k8-fastbuild]                    96ms
//lib/tests/copy_to_directory_bin_action:test [k8-fastbuild]                 64ms

Total test execution time was 160ms. 135 tests (98.5%) were fully cached saving 18s.

Bazel 7 (Test)

e2e/api_entries

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1 test (100.0%) was fully cached saving 24ms.

Bazel 8 (Test)

e2e/api_entries

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Bazel 9 (Test)

e2e/api_entries

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1 test (100.0%) was fully cached saving 50ms.

Bazel 7 (Test)

e2e/copy_action

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1 test (100.0%) was fully cached saving 31ms.

Bazel 8 (Test)

e2e/copy_action

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Bazel 9 (Test)

e2e/copy_action

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1 test (100.0%) was fully cached saving 32ms.

Bazel 7 (Test)

e2e/copy_to_directory

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6 tests (100.0%) were fully cached saving 297ms.

Bazel 8 (Test)

e2e/copy_to_directory

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6 tests (100.0%) were fully cached saving 286ms.

Bazel 9 (Test)

e2e/copy_to_directory

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6 tests (100.0%) were fully cached saving 349ms.

Bazel 7 (Test)

e2e/coreutils

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Bazel 8 (Test)

e2e/coreutils

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Bazel 9 (Test)

e2e/coreutils

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Bazel 7 (Test)

e2e/external_copy_to_directory

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Bazel 8 (Test)

e2e/external_copy_to_directory

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Bazel 9 (Test)

e2e/external_copy_to_directory

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e2e/smoke

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e2e/smoke

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e2e/smoke

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4 tests (100.0%) were fully cached saving 618ms.

Bazel 7 (Test)

e2e/write_source_files

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1 test (100.0%) was fully cached saving 39ms.

Bazel 8 (Test)

e2e/write_source_files

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1 test (100.0%) was fully cached saving 33ms.

Bazel 9 (Test)

e2e/write_source_files

All tests were cache hits

1 test (100.0%) was fully cached saving 40ms.

@fmeum fmeum enabled auto-merge (squash) February 4, 2026 10:13
auto-merge was automatically disabled February 4, 2026 10:35

Head branch was pushed to by a user without write access

@jfjonsson jfjonsson requested a review from fmeum February 4, 2026 10:50
@fmeum fmeum enabled auto-merge (squash) February 4, 2026 12:01
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fmeum commented Feb 4, 2026

Windows CI still fails.

auto-merge was automatically disabled February 4, 2026 13:41

Head branch was pushed to by a user without write access

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jfjonsson commented Feb 4, 2026

@fmeum sorry for the spam 😅
I didn't find a way to get the windows test log output in the github action

//lib/tests/write_source_files:special_chars_in_path_test                FAILED in 1.4s
  D:/_bazel/execroot/_main/bazel-out/x64_windows-fastbuild/testlogs/lib/tests/write_source_files/special_chars_in_path_test/test.log

But I think I have found all the places where we needed quotes.

@jfjonsson jfjonsson requested a review from fmeum February 4, 2026 13:57
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jfjonsson commented Feb 12, 2026

@fmeum Anything else I need to do before we could merge this?

@fmeum fmeum merged commit 709790d into bazel-contrib:main Feb 12, 2026
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@jfjonsson jfjonsson mentioned this pull request Feb 23, 2026
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fmeum pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Mar 12, 2026
@jfjonsson
fix(2.x): quote path variables in write_source_file (#1242)
8d46253 
## Summary

Backport of #1239 to 2.x. Fix `write_source_file` failing with shell
syntax errors when paths contain metacharacters like parentheses.

## Problem

The generated shell script assigned paths to variables without quoting:

```bash
in=$runfiles_dir/path/to/(folder)/file.txt
out=path/to/(folder)/file.txt
```

Bash interprets `(` as the start of a subshell, causing:
```
syntax error near unexpected token `('
```

This breaks builds using Next.js App Router route groups (e.g.,
`app/(dashboard)/page.tsx`) or any path with parentheses, spaces, or
other shell metacharacters.

## Fix

Quote the variable assignments:

```bash
in="$runfiles_dir/path/to/(folder)/file.txt"
out="path/to/(folder)/file.txt"
```

## Changes

- `lib/private/write_source_file.bzl`: Quote path variable assignments
in both bash and batch scripts
- `lib/tests/write_source_files/write_source_file_test.bzl`: Quote paths
in test script generator
- Added regression test with parentheses in path
(`(route-group)/test.js`)

## Test plan

- [x] New test `special_chars_in_path_test` passes
- [x] All existing `write_source_files` tests pass
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