# 💬 Escaping/quoting
## Array syntax
When using the [array syntax](execution.md#array-syntax), arguments are automatically escaped. They can contain any character, including spaces, tabs and newlines. However, they cannot contain [null bytes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_character): [binary inputs](binary.md#binary-input) should be used instead.
```js
import {execa} from 'execa';
await execa('npm', ['run', 'task with space']);
```
## Template string syntax
The same applies when using the [template string syntax](execution.md#template-string-syntax). However, spaces, tabs and newlines must use `${}`.
```js
await execa`npm run ${'task with space'}`;
```
## User-defined input
The above syntaxes allow the file and its arguments to be user-defined by passing a variable.
```js
import {execa} from 'execa';
const file = 'npm';
const commandArguments = ['run', 'task with space'];
await execa`${file} ${commandArguments}`;
await execa(file, commandArguments);
```
If the file and/or multiple arguments are supplied as a single string, [`parseCommandString()`](api.md#parsecommandstringcommand) can split it into an array.
```js
import {execa, parseCommandString} from 'execa';
const commandString = 'npm run task';
const commandArray = parseCommandString(commandString);
await execa`${commandArray}`;
const [file, ...commandArguments] = commandArray;
await execa(file, commandArguments);
```
Spaces are used as delimiters. They can be escaped with a backslash.
```js
await execa`${parseCommandString('npm run task\\ with\\ space')}`;
```
## Shells
[Shells](shell.md) ([Bash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_(Unix_shell)), [cmd.exe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cmd.exe), etc.) are not used unless the [`shell`](api.md#optionsshell) option is set. This means shell-specific syntax has no special meaning and does not need to be escaped:
- Quotes: `"value"`, `'value'`, `$'value'`
- Characters: `$variable`, `&&`, `||`, `;`, `|`
- Globbing: `*`, `**`
- Expressions: `$?`, `~`
```js
// This prints `$TASK_NAME`, not `build`
await execa({env: {TASK_NAME: 'build'}})`echo $TASK_NAME`;
```
If you do set the `shell` option, arguments will not be automatically escaped anymore. Instead, they will be concatenated as a single string using spaces as delimiters.
```js
await execa({shell: true})`npm ${'run'} ${'task with space'}`;
// Is the same as:
await execa({shell: true})`npm run task with space`;
```
Therefore, you need to manually quote the arguments, using the shell-specific syntax.
```js
await execa({shell: true})`npm ${'run'} ${'"task with space"'}`;
// Is the same as:
await execa({shell: true})`npm run "task with space"`;
```
Sometimes a shell command is passed as argument to an executable that runs it indirectly. In that case, that shell command must quote its own arguments.
```js
const command = 'npm run "task with space"';
await execa`ssh host ${command}`;
```
[**Next**: 💻 Shell](shell.md)\
[**Previous**: ️▶️ Basic execution](execution.md)\
[**Top**: Table of contents](../readme.md#documentation)
