ZSHOPTIONS(1)ZSHOPTIONS(1)NAMEzshoptions - zsh options
SPECIFYING OPTIONS
Options are primarily referred to by name. These names are case insen‐
sitive and underscores are ignored. For example, `allexport' is equiv‐
alent to `A__lleXP_ort'.
The sense of an option name may be inverted by preceding it with `no',
so `setopt No_Beep' is equivalent to `unsetopt beep'. This inversion
can only be done once, so `nonobeep' is not a synonym for `beep'. Sim‐
ilarly, `tify' is not a synonym for `nonotify' (the inversion of
`notify').
Some options also have one or more single letter names. There are two
sets of single letter options: one used by default, and another used to
emulate sh/ksh (used when the SH_OPTION_LETTERS option is set). The
single letter options can be used on the shell command line, or with
the set, setopt and unsetopt builtins, as normal Unix options preceded
by `-'.
The sense of the single letter options may be inverted by using `+'
instead of `-'. Some of the single letter option names refer to an
option being off, in which case the inversion of that name refers to
the option being on. For example, `+n' is the short name of `exec',
and `-n' is the short name of its inversion, `noexec'.
In strings of single letter options supplied to the shell at startup,
trailing whitespace will be ignored; for example the string `-f '
will be treated just as `-f', but the string `-f i' is an error. This
is because many systems which implement the `#!' mechanism for calling
scripts do not strip trailing whitespace.
DESCRIPTION OF OPTIONS
In the following list, options set by default in all emulations are
marked <D>; those set by default only in csh, ksh, sh, or zsh emula‐
tions are marked <C>, <K>, <S>, <Z> as appropriate. When listing
options (by `setopt', `unsetopt', `set -o' or `set +o'), those turned
on by default appear in the list prefixed with `no'. Hence (unless
KSH_OPTION_PRINT is set), `setopt' shows all options whose settings are
changed from the default.
Changing Directories
AUTO_CD (-J)
If a command is issued that can't be executed as a normal com‐
mand, and the command is the name of a directory, perform the cd
command to that directory. This option is only applicable if
the option SHIN_STDIN is set, i.e. if commands are being read
from standard input. The option is designed for interactive
use; it is recommended that cd be used explicitly in scripts to
avoid ambiguity.
AUTO_PUSHD (-N)
Make cd push the old directory onto the directory stack.
CDABLE_VARS (-T)
If the argument to a cd command (or an implied cd with the
AUTO_CD option set) is not a directory, and does not begin with
a slash, try to expand the expression as if it were preceded by
a `~' (see the section `Filename Expansion').
CHASE_DOTS
When changing to a directory containing a path segment `..'
which would otherwise be treated as canceling the previous seg‐
ment in the path (in other words, `foo/..' would be removed from
the path, or if `..' is the first part of the path, the last
part of the current working directory would be removed), instead
resolve the path to the physical directory. This option is
overridden by CHASE_LINKS.
For example, suppose /foo/bar is a link to the directory
/alt/rod. Without this option set, `cd /foo/bar/..' changes to
/foo; with it set, it changes to /alt. The same applies if the
current directory is /foo/bar and `cd ..' is used. Note that
all other symbolic links in the path will also be resolved.
CHASE_LINKS (-w)
Resolve symbolic links to their true values when changing direc‐
tory. This also has the effect of CHASE_DOTS, i.e. a `..' path
segment will be treated as referring to the physical parent,
even if the preceding path segment is a symbolic link.
POSIX_CD <K> <S>
Modifies the behaviour of cd, chdir and pushd commands to make
them more compatible with the POSIX standard. The behaviour with
the option unset is described in the documentation for the cd
builtin in zshbuiltins(1). If the option is set, the shell does
not test for directories beneath the local directory (`.') until
after all directories in cdpath have been tested.
Also, if the option is set, the conditions under which the shell
prints the new directory after changing to it are modified. It
is no longer restricted to interactive shells (although printing
of the directory stack with pushd is still limited to interac‐
tive shells); and any use of a component of CDPATH, including a
`.' but excluding an empty component that is otherwise treated
as `.', causes the directory to be printed.
PUSHD_IGNORE_DUPS
Don't push multiple copies of the same directory onto the direc‐
tory stack.
PUSHD_MINUS
Exchanges the meanings of `+' and `-' when used with a number to
specify a directory in the stack.
PUSHD_SILENT (-E)
Do not print the directory stack after pushd or popd.
PUSHD_TO_HOME (-D)
Have pushd with no arguments act like `pushd $HOME'.
Completion
ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT <D>
If unset, key functions that list completions try to return to
the last prompt if given a numeric argument. If set these func‐
tions try to return to the last prompt if given no numeric argu‐
ment.
ALWAYS_TO_END
If a completion is performed with the cursor within a word, and
a full completion is inserted, the cursor is moved to the end of
the word. That is, the cursor is moved to the end of the word
if either a single match is inserted or menu completion is per‐
formed.
AUTO_LIST (-9) <D>
Automatically list choices on an ambiguous completion.
AUTO_MENU <D>
Automatically use menu completion after the second consecutive
request for completion, for example by pressing the tab key
repeatedly. This option is overridden by MENU_COMPLETE.
AUTO_NAME_DIRS
Any parameter that is set to the absolute name of a directory
immediately becomes a name for that directory, that will be used
by the `%~' and related prompt sequences, and will be available
when completion is performed on a word starting with `~'. (Oth‐
erwise, the parameter must be used in the form `~param' first.)
AUTO_PARAM_KEYS <D>
If a parameter name was completed and a following character
(normally a space) automatically inserted, and the next charac‐
ter typed is one of those that have to come directly after the
name (like `}', `:', etc.), the automatically added character is
deleted, so that the character typed comes immediately after the
parameter name. Completion in a brace expansion is affected
similarly: the added character is a `,', which will be removed
if `}' is typed next.
AUTO_PARAM_SLASH <D>
If a parameter is completed whose content is the name of a
directory, then add a trailing slash instead of a space.
AUTO_REMOVE_SLASH <D>
When the last character resulting from a completion is a slash
and the next character typed is a word delimiter, a slash, or a
character that ends a command (such as a semicolon or an amper‐
sand), remove the slash.
BASH_AUTO_LIST
On an ambiguous completion, automatically list choices when the
completion function is called twice in succession. This takes
precedence over AUTO_LIST. The setting of LIST_AMBIGUOUS is
respected. If AUTO_MENU is set, the menu behaviour will then
start with the third press. Note that this will not work with
MENU_COMPLETE, since repeated completion calls immediately cycle
through the list in that case.
COMPLETE_ALIASES
Prevents aliases on the command line from being internally sub‐
stituted before completion is attempted. The effect is to make
the alias a distinct command for completion purposes.
COMPLETE_IN_WORD
If unset, the cursor is set to the end of the word if completion
is started. Otherwise it stays there and completion is done from
both ends.
GLOB_COMPLETE
When the current word has a glob pattern, do not insert all the
words resulting from the expansion but generate matches as for
completion and cycle through them like MENU_COMPLETE. The
matches are generated as if a `*' was added to the end of the
word, or inserted at the cursor when COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set.
This actually uses pattern matching, not globbing, so it works
not only for files but for any completion, such as options, user
names, etc.
Note that when the pattern matcher is used, matching control
(for example, case-insensitive or anchored matching) cannot be
used. This limitation only applies when the current word con‐
tains a pattern; simply turning on the GLOB_COMPLETE option does
not have this effect.
HASH_LIST_ALL <D>
Whenever a command completion or spelling correction is
attempted, make sure the entire command path is hashed first.
This makes the first completion slower but avoids false reports
of spelling errors.
LIST_AMBIGUOUS <D>
This option works when AUTO_LIST or BASH_AUTO_LIST is also set.
If there is an unambiguous prefix to insert on the command line,
that is done without a completion list being displayed; in other
words, auto-listing behaviour only takes place when nothing
would be inserted. In the case of BASH_AUTO_LIST, this means
that the list will be delayed to the third call of the function.
LIST_BEEP <D>
Beep on an ambiguous completion. More accurately, this forces
the completion widgets to return status 1 on an ambiguous com‐
pletion, which causes the shell to beep if the option BEEP is
also set; this may be modified if completion is called from a
user-defined widget.
LIST_PACKED
Try to make the completion list smaller (occupying less lines)
by printing the matches in columns with different widths.
LIST_ROWS_FIRST
Lay out the matches in completion lists sorted horizontally,
that is, the second match is to the right of the first one, not
under it as usual.
LIST_TYPES (-X) <D>
When listing files that are possible completions, show the type
of each file with a trailing identifying mark.
MENU_COMPLETE (-Y)
On an ambiguous completion, instead of listing possibilities or
beeping, insert the first match immediately. Then when comple‐
tion is requested again, remove the first match and insert the
second match, etc. When there are no more matches, go back to
the first one again. reverse-menu-complete may be used to loop
through the list in the other direction. This option overrides
AUTO_MENU.
REC_EXACT (-S)
If the string on the command line exactly matches one of the
possible completions, it is accepted, even if there is another
completion (i.e. that string with something else added) that
also matches.
Expansion and Globbing
BAD_PATTERN (+2) <C> <Z>
If a pattern for filename generation is badly formed, print an
error message. (If this option is unset, the pattern will be
left unchanged.)
BARE_GLOB_QUAL <Z>
In a glob pattern, treat a trailing set of parentheses as a
qualifier list, if it contains no `|', `(' or (if special) `~'
characters. See the section `Filename Generation'.
BRACE_CCL
Expand expressions in braces which would not otherwise undergo
brace expansion to a lexically ordered list of all the charac‐
ters. See the section `Brace Expansion'.
CASE_GLOB <D>
Make globbing (filename generation) sensitive to case. Note
that other uses of patterns are always sensitive to case. If
the option is unset, the presence of any character which is spe‐
cial to filename generation will cause case-insensitive match‐
ing. For example, cvs(/) can match the directory CVS owing to
the presence of the globbing flag (unless the option
BARE_GLOB_QUAL is unset).
CASE_MATCH <D>
Make regular expressions using the zsh/regex module (including
matches with =~) sensitive to case.
CSH_NULL_GLOB <C>
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, delete the
pattern from the argument list; do not report an error unless
all the patterns in a command have no matches. Overrides
NOMATCH.
EQUALS <Z>
Perform = filename expansion. (See the section `Filename Expan‐
sion'.)
EXTENDED_GLOB
Treat the `#', `~' and `^' characters as part of patterns for
filename generation, etc. (An initial unquoted `~' always pro‐
duces named directory expansion.)
FORCE_FLOAT
Constants in arithmetic evaluation will be treated as floating
point even without the use of a decimal point; the values of
integer variables will be converted to floating point when used
in arithmetic expressions. Integers in any base will be con‐
verted.
GLOB (+F, ksh: +f) <D>
Perform filename generation (globbing). (See the section `File‐
name Generation'.)
GLOB_ASSIGN <C>
If this option is set, filename generation (globbing) is per‐
formed on the right hand side of scalar parameter assignments of
the form `name=pattern (e.g. `foo=*'). If the result has more
than one word the parameter will become an array with those
words as arguments. This option is provided for backwards com‐
patibility only: globbing is always performed on the right hand
side of array assignments of the form `name=(value)' (e.g.
`foo=(*)') and this form is recommended for clarity; with this
option set, it is not possible to predict whether the result
will be an array or a scalar.
GLOB_DOTS (-4)
Do not require a leading `.' in a filename to be matched explic‐
itly.
GLOB_STAR_SHORT
When this option is set and the default zsh-style globbing is in
effect, the pattern `**/*' can be abbreviated to `**' and the
pattern `***/*' can be abbreviated to ***. Hence `**.c' finds a
file ending in .c in any subdirectory, and `***.c' does the same
while also following symbolic links. A / immediately after the
`**' or `***' forces the pattern to be treated as the unabbrevi‐
ated form.
GLOB_SUBST <C> <K> <S>
Treat any characters resulting from parameter expansion as being
eligible for filename expansion and filename generation, and any
characters resulting from command substitution as being eligible
for filename generation. Braces (and commas in between) do not
become eligible for expansion.
HIST_SUBST_PATTERN
Substitutions using the :s and :& history modifiers are per‐
formed with pattern matching instead of string matching. This
occurs wherever history modifiers are valid, including glob
qualifiers and parameters. See the section Modifiers in zsh‐
expn(1).
IGNORE_BRACES (-I) <S>
Do not perform brace expansion. For historical reasons this
also includes the effect of the IGNORE_CLOSE_BRACES option.
IGNORE_CLOSE_BRACES
When neither this option nor IGNORE_BRACES is set, a sole close
brace character `}' is syntactically significant at any point on
a command line. This has the effect that no semicolon or new‐
line is necessary before the brace terminating a function or
current shell construct. When either option is set, a closing
brace is syntactically significant only in command position.
Unlike IGNORE_BRACES, this option does not disable brace expan‐
sion.
For example, with both options unset a function may be defined
in the following fashion:
args() { echo $# }
while if either option is set, this does not work and something
equivalent to the following is required:
args() { echo $#; }
KSH_GLOB <K>
In pattern matching, the interpretation of parentheses is
affected by a preceding `@', `*', `+', `?' or `!'. See the sec‐
tion `Filename Generation'.
MAGIC_EQUAL_SUBST
All unquoted arguments of the form `anything=expression' appear‐
ing after the command name have filename expansion (that is,
where expression has a leading `~' or `=') performed on expres‐
sion as if it were a parameter assignment. The argument is not
otherwise treated specially; it is passed to the command as a
single argument, and not used as an actual parameter assignment.
For example, in echo foo=~/bar:~/rod, both occurrences of ~
would be replaced. Note that this happens anyway with typeset
and similar statements.
This option respects the setting of the KSH_TYPESET option. In
other words, if both options are in effect, arguments looking
like assignments will not undergo word splitting.
MARK_DIRS (-8, ksh: -X)
Append a trailing `/' to all directory names resulting from
filename generation (globbing).
MULTIBYTE <D>
Respect multibyte characters when found in strings. When this
option is set, strings are examined using the system library to
determine how many bytes form a character, depending on the cur‐
rent locale. This affects the way characters are counted in
pattern matching, parameter values and various delimiters.
The option is on by default if the shell was compiled with
MULTIBYTE_SUPPORT; otherwise it is off by default and has no
effect if turned on.
If the option is off a single byte is always treated as a single
character. This setting is designed purely for examining
strings known to contain raw bytes or other values that may not
be characters in the current locale. It is not necessary to
unset the option merely because the character set for the cur‐
rent locale does not contain multibyte characters.
The option does not affect the shell's editor, which always
uses the locale to determine multibyte characters. This is
because the character set displayed by the terminal emulator is
independent of shell settings.
NOMATCH (+3) <C> <Z>
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, print an
error, instead of leaving it unchanged in the argument list.
This also applies to file expansion of an initial `~' or `='.
NULL_GLOB (-G)
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, delete the
pattern from the argument list instead of reporting an error.
Overrides NOMATCH.
NUMERIC_GLOB_SORT
If numeric filenames are matched by a filename generation pat‐
tern, sort the filenames numerically rather than lexicographi‐
cally.
RC_EXPAND_PARAM (-P)
Array expansions of the form `foo${xx}bar', where the parameter
xx is set to (a b c), are substituted with `fooabar foobbar
foocbar' instead of the default `fooa b cbar'. Note that an
empty array will therefore cause all arguments to be removed.
REMATCH_PCRE
If set, regular expression matching with the =~ operator will
use Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions from the PCRE library.
(The zsh/pcre module must be available.) If not set, regular
expressions will use the extended regexp syntax provided by the
system libraries.
SH_GLOB <K> <S>
Disables the special meaning of `(', `|', `)' and '<' for glob‐
bing the result of parameter and command substitutions, and in
some other places where the shell accepts patterns. If SH_GLOB
is set but KSH_GLOB is not, the shell allows the interpretation
of subshell expressions enclosed in parentheses in some cases
where there is no space before the opening parenthesis, e.g.
!(true) is interpreted as if there were a space after the !.
This option is set by default if zsh is invoked as sh or ksh.
UNSET (+u, ksh: +u) <K> <S> <Z>
Treat unset parameters as if they were empty when substituting.
Otherwise they are treated as an error.
WARN_CREATE_GLOBAL
Print a warning message when a global parameter is created in a
function by an assignment or in math context. This often indi‐
cates that a parameter has not been declared local when it
should have been. Parameters explicitly declared global from
within a function using typeset -g do not cause a warning. Note
that there is no warning when a local parameter is assigned to
in a nested function, which may also indicate an error.
WARN_NESTED_VAR
Print a warning message when an existing parameter from an
enclosing function scope, or global, is set in a function by an
assignment or in math context. Assignment to shell special
parameters does not cause a warning. This is the companion to
WARN_CREATE_GLOBAL as in this case the warning is only printed
when a parameter is not created. Where possible, use of typeset
-g to set the parameter suppresses the error, but note that this
needs to be used every time the parameter is set. To restrict
the effect of this option to a single function scope, use `func‐
tions -W'.
For example, the following code produces a warning for the
assignment inside the function nested as that overrides the
value within toplevel
toplevel() {
local foo="in fn"
nested
}
nested() {
foo="in nested"
}
setopt warn_nested_var
toplevel
History
APPEND_HISTORY <D>
If this is set, zsh sessions will append their history list to
the history file, rather than replace it. Thus, multiple paral‐
lel zsh sessions will all have the new entries from their his‐
tory lists added to the history file, in the order that they
exit. The file will still be periodically re-written to trim it
when the number of lines grows 20% beyond the value specified by
$SAVEHIST (see also the HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY option).
BANG_HIST (+K) <C> <Z>
Perform textual history expansion, csh-style, treating the char‐
acter `!' specially.
EXTENDED_HISTORY <C>
Save each command's beginning timestamp (in seconds since the
epoch) and the duration (in seconds) to the history file. The
format of this prefixed data is:
`: <beginning time>:<elapsed seconds>;<command>'.
HIST_ALLOW_CLOBBER
Add `|' to output redirections in the history. This allows his‐
tory references to clobber files even when CLOBBER is unset.
HIST_BEEP <D>
Beep in ZLE when a widget attempts to access a history entry
which isn't there.
HIST_EXPIRE_DUPS_FIRST
If the internal history needs to be trimmed to add the current
command line, setting this option will cause the oldest history
event that has a duplicate to be lost before losing a unique
event from the list. You should be sure to set the value of
HISTSIZE to a larger number than SAVEHIST in order to give you
some room for the duplicated events, otherwise this option will
behave just like HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS once the history fills up
with unique events.
HIST_FCNTL_LOCK
When writing out the history file, by default zsh uses ad-hoc
file locking to avoid known problems with locking on some oper‐
ating systems. With this option locking is done by means of the
system's fcntl call, where this method is available. On recent
operating systems this may provide better performance, in par‐
ticular avoiding history corruption when files are stored on
NFS.
HIST_FIND_NO_DUPS
When searching for history entries in the line editor, do not
display duplicates of a line previously found, even if the
duplicates are not contiguous.
HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS
If a new command line being added to the history list duplicates
an older one, the older command is removed from the list (even
if it is not the previous event).
HIST_IGNORE_DUPS (-h)
Do not enter command lines into the history list if they are
duplicates of the previous event.
HIST_IGNORE_SPACE (-g)
Remove command lines from the history list when the first char‐
acter on the line is a space, or when one of the expanded
aliases contains a leading space. Only normal aliases (not
global or suffix aliases) have this behaviour. Note that the
command lingers in the internal history until the next command
is entered before it vanishes, allowing you to briefly reuse or
edit the line. If you want to make it vanish right away without
entering another command, type a space and press return.
HIST_LEX_WORDS
By default, shell history that is read in from files is split
into words on all white space. This means that arguments with
quoted whitespace are not correctly handled, with the conse‐
quence that references to words in history lines that have been
read from a file may be inaccurate. When this option is set,
words read in from a history file are divided up in a similar
fashion to normal shell command line handling. Although this
produces more accurately delimited words, if the size of the
history file is large this can be slow. Trial and error is nec‐
essary to decide.
HIST_NO_FUNCTIONS
Remove function definitions from the history list. Note that
the function lingers in the internal history until the next com‐
mand is entered before it vanishes, allowing you to briefly re‐
use or edit the definition.
HIST_NO_STORE
Remove the history (fc -l) command from the history list when
invoked. Note that the command lingers in the internal history
until the next command is entered before it vanishes, allowing
you to briefly reuse or edit the line.
HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS
Remove superfluous blanks from each command line being added to
the history list.
HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY <D>
When the history file is re-written, we normally write out a
copy of the file named $HISTFILE.new and then rename it over the
old one. However, if this option is unset, we instead truncate
the old history file and write out the new version in-place. If
one of the history-appending options is enabled, this option
only has an effect when the enlarged history file needs to be
re-written to trim it down to size. Disable this only if you
have special needs, as doing so makes it possible to lose his‐
tory entries if zsh gets interrupted during the save.
When writing out a copy of the history file, zsh preserves the
old file's permissions and group information, but will refuse to
write out a new file if it would change the history file's
owner.
HIST_SAVE_NO_DUPS
When writing out the history file, older commands that duplicate
newer ones are omitted.
HIST_VERIFY
Whenever the user enters a line with history expansion, don't
execute the line directly; instead, perform history expansion
and reload the line into the editing buffer.
INC_APPEND_HISTORY
This options works like APPEND_HISTORY except that new history
lines are added to the $HISTFILE incrementally (as soon as they
are entered), rather than waiting until the shell exits. The
file will still be periodically re-written to trim it when the
number of lines grows 20% beyond the value specified by $SAVE‐
HIST (see also the HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY option).
INC_APPEND_HISTORY_TIME
This option is a variant of INC_APPEND_HISTORY in which, where
possible, the history entry is written out to the file after the
command is finished, so that the time taken by the command is
recorded correctly in the history file in EXTENDED_HISTORY for‐
mat. This means that the history entry will not be available
immediately from other instances of the shell that are using the
same history file.
This option is only useful if INC_APPEND_HISTORY and SHARE_HIS‐
TORY are turned off. The three options should be considered
mutually exclusive.
SHARE_HISTORY <K>
This option both imports new commands from the history file, and
also causes your typed commands to be appended to the history
file (the latter is like specifying INC_APPEND_HISTORY, which
should be turned off if this option is in effect). The history
lines are also output with timestamps ala EXTENDED_HISTORY
(which makes it easier to find the spot where we left off read‐
ing the file after it gets re-written).
By default, history movement commands visit the imported lines
as well as the local lines, but you can toggle this on and off
with the set-local-history zle binding. It is also possible to
create a zle widget that will make some commands ignore imported
commands, and some include them.
If you find that you want more control over when commands get
imported, you may wish to turn SHARE_HISTORY off,
INC_APPEND_HISTORY or INC_APPEND_HISTORY_TIME (see above) on,
and then manually import commands whenever you need them using
`fc -RI'.
Initialisation
ALL_EXPORT (-a, ksh: -a)
All parameters subsequently defined are automatically exported.
GLOBAL_EXPORT <Z>
If this option is set, passing the -x flag to the builtins
declare, float, integer, readonly and typeset (but not local)
will also set the -g flag; hence parameters exported to the
environment will not be made local to the enclosing function,
unless they were already or the flag +g is given explicitly. If
the option is unset, exported parameters will be made local in
just the same way as any other parameter.
This option is set by default for backward compatibility; it is
not recommended that its behaviour be relied upon. Note that
the builtin export always sets both the -x and -g flags, and
hence its effect extends beyond the scope of the enclosing func‐
tion; this is the most portable way to achieve this behaviour.
GLOBAL_RCS (-d) <D>
If this option is unset, the startup files /etc/zsh/zprofile,
/etc/zsh/zshrc, /etc/zsh/zlogin and /etc/zsh/zlogout will not be
run. It can be disabled and re-enabled at any time, including
inside local startup files (.zshrc, etc.).
RCS (+f) <D>
After /etc/zsh/zshenv is sourced on startup, source the .zshenv,
/etc/zsh/zprofile, .zprofile, /etc/zsh/zshrc, .zshrc,
/etc/zsh/zlogin, .zlogin, and .zlogout files, as described in
the section `Files'. If this option is unset, the
/etc/zsh/zshenv file is still sourced, but any of the others
will not be; it can be set at any time to prevent the remaining
startup files after the currently executing one from being
sourced.
Input/Output
ALIASES <D>
Expand aliases.
CLOBBER (+C, ksh: +C) <D>
Allows `>' redirection to truncate existing files. Otherwise
`>!' or `>|' must be used to truncate a file.
If the option is not set, and the option APPEND_CREATE is also
not set, `>>!' or `>>|' must be used to create a file. If
either option is set, `>>' may be used.
CORRECT (-0)
Try to correct the spelling of commands. Note that, when the
HASH_LIST_ALL option is not set or when some directories in the
path are not readable, this may falsely report spelling errors
the first time some commands are used.
The shell variable CORRECT_IGNORE may be set to a pattern to
match words that will never be offered as corrections.
CORRECT_ALL (-O)
Try to correct the spelling of all arguments in a line.
The shell variable CORRECT_IGNORE_FILE may be set to a pattern
to match file names that will never be offered as corrections.
DVORAK Use the Dvorak keyboard instead of the standard qwerty keyboard
as a basis for examining spelling mistakes for the CORRECT and
CORRECT_ALL options and the spell-word editor command.
FLOW_CONTROL <D>
If this option is unset, output flow control via start/stop
characters (usually assigned to ^S/^Q) is disabled in the
shell's editor.
IGNORE_EOF (-7)
Do not exit on end-of-file. Require the use of exit or logout
instead. However, ten consecutive EOFs will cause the shell to
exit anyway, to avoid the shell hanging if its tty goes away.
Also, if this option is set and the Zsh Line Editor is used,
widgets implemented by shell functions can be bound to EOF (nor‐
mally Control-D) without printing the normal warning message.
This works only for normal widgets, not for completion widgets.
INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS (-k) <K> <S>
Allow comments even in interactive shells.
HASH_CMDS <D>
Note the location of each command the first time it is executed.
Subsequent invocations of the same command will use the saved
location, avoiding a path search. If this option is unset, no
path hashing is done at all. However, when CORRECT is set, com‐
mands whose names do not appear in the functions or aliases hash
tables are hashed in order to avoid reporting them as spelling
errors.
HASH_DIRS <D>
Whenever a command name is hashed, hash the directory containing
it, as well as all directories that occur earlier in the path.
Has no effect if neither HASH_CMDS nor CORRECT is set.
HASH_EXECUTABLES_ONLY
When hashing commands because of HASH_CMDS, check that the file
to be hashed is actually an executable. This option is unset by
default as if the path contains a large number of commands, or
consists of many remote files, the additional tests can take a
long time. Trial and error is needed to show if this option is
beneficial.
MAIL_WARNING (-U)
Print a warning message if a mail file has been accessed since
the shell last checked.
PATH_DIRS (-Q)
Perform a path search even on command names with slashes in
them. Thus if `/usr/local/bin' is in the user's path, and he or
she types `X11/xinit', the command `/usr/local/bin/X11/xinit'
will be executed (assuming it exists). Commands explicitly
beginning with `/', `./' or `../' are not subject to the path
search. This also applies to the `.' and source builtins.
Note that subdirectories of the current directory are always
searched for executables specified in this form. This takes
place before any search indicated by this option, and regardless
of whether `.' or the current directory appear in the command
search path.
PATH_SCRIPT <K> <S>
If this option is not set, a script passed as the first
non-option argument to the shell must contain the name of the
file to open. If this option is set, and the script does not
specify a directory path, the script is looked for first in the
current directory, then in the command path. See the section
INVOCATION in zsh(1).
PRINT_EIGHT_BIT
Print eight bit characters literally in completion lists, etc.
This option is not necessary if your system correctly returns
the printability of eight bit characters (see ctype(3)).
PRINT_EXIT_VALUE (-1)
Print the exit value of programs with non-zero exit status.
This is only available at the command line in interactive
shells.
RC_QUOTES
Allow the character sequence `''' to signify a single quote
within singly quoted strings. Note this does not apply in
quoted strings using the format $'...', where a backslashed sin‐
gle quote can be used.
RM_STAR_SILENT (-H) <K> <S>
Do not query the user before executing `rm *' or `rm path/*'.
RM_STAR_WAIT
If querying the user before executing `rm *' or `rm path/*',
first wait ten seconds and ignore anything typed in that time.
This avoids the problem of reflexively answering `yes' to the
query when one didn't really mean it. The wait and query can
always be avoided by expanding the `*' in ZLE (with tab).
SHORT_LOOPS <C> <Z>
Allow the short forms of for, repeat, select, if, and function
constructs.
SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK (-L)
If a line ends with a backquote, and there are an odd number of
backquotes on the line, ignore the trailing backquote. This is
useful on some keyboards where the return key is too small, and
the backquote key lies annoyingly close to it. As an alterna‐
tive the variable KEYBOARD_HACK lets you choose the character to
be removed.
Job Control
AUTO_CONTINUE
With this option set, stopped jobs that are removed from the job
table with the disown builtin command are automatically sent a
CONT signal to make them running.
AUTO_RESUME (-W)
Treat single word simple commands without redirection as candi‐
dates for resumption of an existing job.
BG_NICE (-6) <C> <Z>
Run all background jobs at a lower priority. This option is set
by default.
CHECK_JOBS <Z>
Report the status of background and suspended jobs before exit‐
ing a shell with job control; a second attempt to exit the shell
will succeed. NO_CHECK_JOBS is best used only in combination
with NO_HUP, else such jobs will be killed automatically.
The check is omitted if the commands run from the previous com‐
mand line included a `jobs' command, since it is assumed the
user is aware that there are background or suspended jobs. A
`jobs' command run from one of the hook functions defined in the
section SPECIAL FUNCTIONS in zshmisc(1) is not counted for this
purpose.
HUP <Z>
Send the HUP signal to running jobs when the shell exits.
LONG_LIST_JOBS (-R)
List jobs in the long format by default.
MONITOR (-m, ksh: -m)
Allow job control. Set by default in interactive shells.
NOTIFY (-5, ksh: -b) <Z>
Report the status of background jobs immediately, rather than
waiting until just before printing a prompt.
POSIX_JOBS <K> <S>
This option makes job control more compliant with the POSIX
standard.
When the option is not set, the MONITOR option is unset on entry
to subshells, so that job control is no longer active. When the
option is set, the MONITOR option and job control remain active
in the subshell, but note that the subshell has no access to
jobs in the parent shell.
When the option is not set, jobs put in the background or fore‐
ground with bg or fg are displayed with the same information
that would be reported by jobs. When the option is set, only
the text is printed. The output from jobs itself is not
affected by the option.
When the option is not set, job information from the parent
shell is saved for output within a subshell (for example, within
a pipeline). When the option is set, the output of jobs is
empty until a job is started within the subshell.
In previous versions of the shell, it was necessary to enable
POSIX_JOBS in order for the builtin command wait to return the
status of background jobs that had already exited. This is no
longer the case.
Prompting
PROMPT_BANG <K>
If set, `!' is treated specially in prompt expansion. See
EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).
PROMPT_CR (+V) <D>
Print a carriage return just before printing a prompt in the
line editor. This is on by default as multi-line editing is
only possible if the editor knows where the start of the line
appears.
PROMPT_SP <D>
Attempt to preserve a partial line (i.e. a line that did not end
with a newline) that would otherwise be covered up by the com‐
mand prompt due to the PROMPT_CR option. This works by out‐
putting some cursor-control characters, including a series of
spaces, that should make the terminal wrap to the next line when
a partial line is present (note that this is only successful if
your terminal has automatic margins, which is typical).
When a partial line is preserved, by default you will see an
inverse+bold character at the end of the partial line: a `%'
for a normal user or a `#' for root. If set, the shell parame‐
ter PROMPT_EOL_MARK can be used to customize how the end of par‐
tial lines are shown.
NOTE: if the PROMPT_CR option is not set, enabling this option
will have no effect. This option is on by default.
PROMPT_PERCENT <C> <Z>
If set, `%' is treated specially in prompt expansion. See
EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).
PROMPT_SUBST <K> <S>
If set, parameter expansion, command substitution and arithmetic
expansion are performed in prompts. Substitutions within
prompts do not affect the command status.
TRANSIENT_RPROMPT
Remove any right prompt from display when accepting a command
line. This may be useful with terminals with other cut/paste
methods.
Scripts and Functions
ALIAS_FUNC_DEF <S>
By default, zsh does not allow the definition of functions using
the `name ()' syntax if name was expanded as an alias: this
causes an error. This is usually the desired behaviour, as oth‐
erwise the combination of an alias and a function based on the
same definition can easily cause problems.
When this option is set, aliases can be used for defining func‐
tions.
For example, consider the following definitions as they might
occur in a startup file.
alias foo=bar
foo() {
print This probably does not do what you expect.
}
Here, foo is expanded as an alias to bar before the () is
encountered, so the function defined would be named bar. By
default this is instead an error in native mode. Note that
quoting any part of the function name, or using the keyword
function, avoids the problem, so is recommended when the func‐
tion name can also be an alias.
C_BASES
Output hexadecimal numbers in the standard C format, for example
`0xFF' instead of the usual `16#FF'. If the option OCTAL_ZEROES
is also set (it is not by default), octal numbers will be
treated similarly and hence appear as `077' instead of `8#77'.
This option has no effect on the choice of the output base, nor
on the output of bases other than hexadecimal and octal. Note
that these formats will be understood on input irrespective of
the setting of C_BASES.
C_PRECEDENCES
This alters the precedence of arithmetic operators to be more
like C and other programming languages; the section ARITHMETIC
EVALUATION in zshmisc(1) has an explicit list.
DEBUG_BEFORE_CMD <D>
Run the DEBUG trap before each command; otherwise it is run
after each command. Setting this option mimics the behaviour of
ksh 93; with the option unset the behaviour is that of ksh 88.
ERR_EXIT (-e, ksh: -e)
If a command has a non-zero exit status, execute the ZERR trap,
if set, and exit. This is disabled while running initialization
scripts.
The behaviour is also disabled inside DEBUG traps. In this case
the option is handled specially: it is unset on entry to the
trap. If the option DEBUG_BEFORE_CMD is set, as it is by
default, and the option ERR_EXIT is found to have been set on
exit, then the command for which the DEBUG trap is being exe‐
cuted is skipped. The option is restored after the trap exits.
Non-zero status in a command list containing && or || is ignored
for commands not at the end of the list. Hence
false && true
does not trigger exit.
Exiting due to ERR_EXIT has certain interactions with asynchro‐
nous jobs noted in the section JOBS in zshmisc(1).
ERR_RETURN
If a command has a non-zero exit status, return immediately from
the enclosing function. The logic is similar to that for
ERR_EXIT, except that an implicit return statement is executed
instead of an exit. This will trigger an exit at the outermost
level of a non-interactive script.
Normally this option inherits the behaviour of ERR_EXIT that
code followed by `&&' `||' does not trigger a return. Hence in
the following:
summit || true
no return is forced as the combined effect always has a zero
return status.
Note. however, that if summit in the above example is itself a
function, code inside it is considered separately: it may force
a return from summit (assuming the option remains set within
summit), but not from the enclosing context. This behaviour is
different from ERR_EXIT which is unaffected by function scope.
EVAL_LINENO <Z>
If set, line numbers of expressions evaluated using the builtin
eval are tracked separately of the enclosing environment. This
applies both to the parameter LINENO and the line number output
by the prompt escape %i. If the option is set, the prompt
escape %N will output the string `(eval)' instead of the script
or function name as an indication. (The two prompt escapes are
typically used in the parameter PS4 to be output when the option
XTRACE is set.) If EVAL_LINENO is unset, the line number of the
surrounding script or function is retained during the evalua‐
tion.
EXEC (+n, ksh: +n) <D>
Do execute commands. Without this option, commands are read and
checked for syntax errors, but not executed. This option cannot
be turned off in an interactive shell, except when `-n' is sup‐
plied to the shell at startup.
FUNCTION_ARGZERO <C> <Z>
When executing a shell function or sourcing a script, set $0
temporarily to the name of the function/script. Note that tog‐
gling FUNCTION_ARGZERO from on to off (or off to on) does not
change the current value of $0. Only the state upon entry to
the function or script has an effect. Compare POSIX_ARGZERO.
LOCAL_LOOPS
When this option is not set, the effect of break and continue
commands may propagate outside function scope, affecting loops
in calling functions. When the option is set in a calling func‐
tion, a break or a continue that is not caught within a called
function (regardless of the setting of the option within that
function) produces a warning and the effect is cancelled.
LOCAL_OPTIONS <K>
If this option is set at the point of return from a shell func‐
tion, most options (including this one) which were in force upon
entry to the function are restored; options that are not
restored are PRIVILEGED and RESTRICTED. Otherwise, only this
option, and the LOCAL_LOOPS, XTRACE and PRINT_EXIT_VALUE options
are restored. Hence if this is explicitly unset by a shell
function the other options in force at the point of return will
remain so. A shell function can also guarantee itself a known
shell configuration with a formulation like `emulate -L zsh';
the -L activates LOCAL_OPTIONS.
LOCAL_PATTERNS
If this option is set at the point of return from a shell func‐
tion, the state of pattern disables, as set with the builtin
command `disable -p', is restored to what it was when the func‐
tion was entered. The behaviour of this option is similar to
the effect of LOCAL_OPTIONS on options; hence `emulate -L sh'
(or indeed any other emulation with the -L option) activates
LOCAL_PATTERNS.
LOCAL_TRAPS <K>
If this option is set when a signal trap is set inside a func‐
tion, then the previous status of the trap for that signal will
be restored when the function exits. Note that this option must
be set prior to altering the trap behaviour in a function;
unlike LOCAL_OPTIONS, the value on exit from the function is
irrelevant. However, it does not need to be set before any
global trap for that to be correctly restored by a function.
For example,
unsetopt localtraps
trap - INT
fn() { setopt localtraps; trap '' INT; sleep 3; }
will restore normal handling of SIGINT after the function exits.
MULTI_FUNC_DEF <Z>
Allow definitions of multiple functions at once in the form `fn1
fn2...()'; if the option is not set, this causes a parse error.
Definition of multiple functions with the function keyword is
always allowed. Multiple function definitions are not often
used and can cause obscure errors.
MULTIOS <Z>
Perform implicit tees or cats when multiple redirections are
attempted (see the section `Redirection').
OCTAL_ZEROES <S>
Interpret any integer constant beginning with a 0 as octal, per
IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (ISO 9945-2:1993). This is not enabled by
default as it causes problems with parsing of, for example, date
and time strings with leading zeroes.
Sequences of digits indicating a numeric base such as the `08'
component in `08#77' are always interpreted as decimal, regard‐
less of leading zeroes.
PIPE_FAIL
By default, when a pipeline exits the exit status recorded by
the shell and returned by the shell variable $? reflects that of
the rightmost element of a pipeline. If this option is set, the
exit status instead reflects the status of the rightmost element
of the pipeline that was non-zero, or zero if all elements
exited with zero status.
SOURCE_TRACE
If set, zsh will print an informational message announcing the
name of each file it loads. The format of the output is similar
to that for the XTRACE option, with the message <sourcetrace>.
A file may be loaded by the shell itself when it starts up and
shuts down (Startup/Shutdown Files) or by the use of the
`source' and `dot' builtin commands.
TYPESET_SILENT
If this is unset, executing any of the `typeset' family of com‐
mands with no options and a list of parameters that have no val‐
ues to be assigned but already exist will display the value of
the parameter. If the option is set, they will only be shown
when parameters are selected with the `-m' option. The option
`-p' is available whether or not the option is set.
VERBOSE (-v, ksh: -v)
Print shell input lines as they are read.
XTRACE (-x, ksh: -x)
Print commands and their arguments as they are executed. The
output is preceded by the value of $PS4, formatted as described
in the section EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).
Shell Emulation
APPEND_CREATE <K> <S>
This option only applies when NO_CLOBBER (-C) is in effect.
If this option is not set, the shell will report an error when a
append redirection (>>) is used on a file that does not already
exists (the traditional zsh behaviour of NO_CLOBBER). If the
option is set, no error is reported (POSIX behaviour).
BASH_REMATCH
When set, matches performed with the =~ operator will set the
BASH_REMATCH array variable, instead of the default MATCH and
match variables. The first element of the BASH_REMATCH array
will contain the entire matched text and subsequent elements
will contain extracted substrings. This option makes more sense
when KSH_ARRAYS is also set, so that the entire matched portion
is stored at index 0 and the first substring is at index 1.
Without this option, the MATCH variable contains the entire
matched text and the match array variable contains substrings.
BSD_ECHO <S>
Make the echo builtin compatible with the BSD echo(1) command.
This disables backslashed escape sequences in echo strings
unless the -e option is specified.
CONTINUE_ON_ERROR
If a fatal error is encountered (see the section ERRORS in zsh‐
misc(1)), and the code is running in a script, the shell will
resume execution at the next statement in the script at the top
level, in other words outside all functions or shell constructs
such as loops and conditions. This mimics the behaviour of
interactive shells, where the shell returns to the line editor
to read a new command; it was the normal behaviour in versions
of zsh before 5.0.1.
CSH_JUNKIE_HISTORY <C>
A history reference without an event specifier will always refer
to the previous command. Without this option, such a history
reference refers to the same event as the previous history ref‐
erence on the current command line, defaulting to the previous
command.
CSH_JUNKIE_LOOPS <C>
Allow loop bodies to take the form `list; end' instead of `do
list; done'.
CSH_JUNKIE_QUOTES <C>
Changes the rules for single- and double-quoted text to match
that of csh. These require that embedded newlines be preceded
by a backslash; unescaped newlines will cause an error message.
In double-quoted strings, it is made impossible to escape `$',
``' or `"' (and `\' itself no longer needs escaping). Command
substitutions are only expanded once, and cannot be nested.
CSH_NULLCMD <C>
Do not use the values of NULLCMD and READNULLCMD when running
redirections with no command. This make such redirections fail
(see the section `Redirection').
KSH_ARRAYS <K> <S>
Emulate ksh array handling as closely as possible. If this
option is set, array elements are numbered from zero, an array
parameter without subscript refers to the first element instead
of the whole array, and braces are required to delimit a sub‐
script (`${path[2]}' rather than just `$path[2]') or to apply
modifiers to any parameter (`${PWD:h}' rather than `$PWD:h').
KSH_AUTOLOAD <K> <S>
Emulate ksh function autoloading. This means that when a func‐
tion is autoloaded, the corresponding file is merely executed,
and must define the function itself. (By default, the function
is defined to the contents of the file. However, the most com‐
mon ksh-style case - of the file containing only a simple defi‐
nition of the function - is always handled in the ksh-compatible
manner.)
KSH_OPTION_PRINT <K>
Alters the way options settings are printed: instead of separate
lists of set and unset options, all options are shown, marked
`on' if they are in the non-default state, `off' otherwise.
KSH_TYPESET
This option is now obsolete: a better appropximation to the be‐
haviour of other shells is obtained with the reserved word
interface to declare, export, float, integer, local, readonly
and typeset. Note that the option is only applied when the
reserved word interface is not in use.
Alters the way arguments to the typeset family of commands,
including declare, export, float, integer, local and readonly,
are processed. Without this option, zsh will perform normal
word splitting after command and parameter expansion in argu‐
ments of an assignment; with it, word splitting does not take
place in those cases.
KSH_ZERO_SUBSCRIPT
Treat use of a subscript of value zero in array or string
expressions as a reference to the first element, i.e. the ele‐
ment that usually has the subscript 1. Ignored if KSH_ARRAYS is
also set.
If neither this option nor KSH_ARRAYS is set, accesses to an
element of an array or string with subscript zero return an
empty element or string, while attempts to set element zero of
an array or string are treated as an error. However, attempts
to set an otherwise valid subscript range that includes zero
will succeed. For example, if KSH_ZERO_SUBSCRIPT is not set,
array[0]=(element)
is an error, while
array[0,1]=(element)
is not and will replace the first element of the array.
This option is for compatibility with older versions of the
shell and is not recommended in new code.
POSIX_ALIASES <K> <S>
When this option is set, reserved words are not candidates for
alias expansion: it is still possible to declare any of them as
an alias, but the alias will never be expanded. Reserved words
are described in the section RESERVED WORDS in zshmisc(1).
Alias expansion takes place while text is being read; hence when
this option is set it does not take effect until the end of any
function or other piece of shell code parsed as one unit. Note
this may cause differences from other shells even when the
option is in effect. For example, when running a command with
`zsh -c', or even `zsh -o posixaliases -c', the entire command
argument is parsed as one unit, so aliases defined within the
argument are not available even in later lines. If in doubt,
avoid use of aliases in non-interactive code.
POSIX_ARGZERO
This option may be used to temporarily disable FUNCTION_ARGZERO
and thereby restore the value of $0 to the name used to invoke
the shell (or as set by the -c command line option). For com‐
patibility with previous versions of the shell, emulations use
NO_FUNCTION_ARGZERO instead of POSIX_ARGZERO, which may result
in unexpected scoping of $0 if the emulation mode is changed
inside a function or script. To avoid this, explicitly enable
POSIX_ARGZERO in the emulate command:
emulate sh -o POSIX_ARGZERO
Note that NO_POSIX_ARGZERO has no effect unless FUNCTION_ARGZERO
was already enabled upon entry to the function or script.
POSIX_BUILTINS <K> <S>
When this option is set the command builtin can be used to exe‐
cute shell builtin commands. Parameter assignments specified
before shell functions and special builtins are kept after the
command completes unless the special builtin is prefixed with
the command builtin. Special builtins are ., :, break, con‐
tinue, declare, eval, exit, export, integer, local, readonly,
return, set, shift, source, times, trap and unset.
In addition, various error conditions associated with the above
builtins or exec cause a non-interactive shell to exit and an
interactive shell to return to its top-level processing.
Furthermore, functions and shell builtins are not executed after
an exec prefix; the command to be executed must be an external
command found in the path.
Furthermore, the getopts builtin behaves in a POSIX-compatible
fashion in that the associated variable OPTIND is not made local
to functions.
POSIX_IDENTIFIERS <K> <S>
When this option is set, only the ASCII characters a to z, A to
Z, 0 to 9 and _ may be used in identifiers (names of shell
parameters and modules).
In addition, setting this option limits the effect of parameter
substitution with no braces, so that the expression $# is
treated as the parameter $# even if followed by a valid parame‐
ter name. When it is unset, zsh allows expressions of the form
$#name to refer to the length of $name, even for special vari‐
ables, for example in expressions such as $#- and $#*.
Another difference is that with the option set assignment to an
unset variable in arithmetic context causes the variable to be
created as a scalar rather than a numeric type. So after `unset
t; (( t = 3 ))'. without POSIX_IDENTIFIERS set t has integer
type, while with it set it has scalar type.
When the option is unset and multibyte character support is
enabled (i.e. it is compiled in and the option MULTIBYTE is
set), then additionally any alphanumeric characters in the local
character set may be used in identifiers. Note that scripts and
functions written with this feature are not portable, and also
that both options must be set before the script or function is
parsed; setting them during execution is not sufficient as the
syntax variable=value has already been parsed as a command
rather than an assignment.
If multibyte character support is not compiled into the shell
this option is ignored; all octets with the top bit set may be
used in identifiers. This is non-standard but is the tradi‐
tional zsh behaviour.
POSIX_STRINGS <K> <S>
This option affects processing of quoted strings. Currently it
only affects the behaviour of null characters, i.e. character 0
in the portable character set corresponding to US ASCII.
When this option is not set, null characters embedded within
strings of the form $'...' are treated as ordinary characters.
The entire string is maintained within the shell and output to
files where necessary, although owing to restrictions of the
library interface the string is truncated at the null character
in file names, environment variables, or in arguments to exter‐
nal programs.
When this option is set, the $'...' expression is truncated at
the null character. Note that remaining parts of the same
string beyond the termination of the quotes are not truncated.
For example, the command line argument a$'b\0c'd is treated with
the option off as the characters a, b, null, c, d, and with the
option on as the characters a, b, d.
POSIX_TRAPS <K> <S>
When this option is set, the usual zsh behaviour of executing
traps for EXIT on exit from shell functions is suppressed. In
that case, manipulating EXIT traps always alters the global trap
for exiting the shell; the LOCAL_TRAPS option is ignored for the
EXIT trap. Furthermore, a return statement executed in a trap
with no argument passes back from the function the value from
the surrounding context, not from code executed within the trap.
SH_FILE_EXPANSION <K> <S>
Perform filename expansion (e.g., ~ expansion) before parameter
expansion, command substitution, arithmetic expansion and brace
expansion. If this option is unset, it is performed after brace
expansion, so things like `~$USERNAME' and `~{pfalstad,rc}' will
work.
SH_NULLCMD <K> <S>
Do not use the values of NULLCMD and READNULLCMD when doing
redirections, use `:' instead (see the section `Redirection').
SH_OPTION_LETTERS <K> <S>
If this option is set the shell tries to interpret single letter
options (which are used with set and setopt) like ksh does.
This also affects the value of the - special parameter.
SH_WORD_SPLIT (-y) <K> <S>
Causes field splitting to be performed on unquoted parameter
expansions. Note that this option has nothing to do with word
splitting. (See the section `Parameter Expansion'.)
TRAPS_ASYNC
While waiting for a program to exit, handle signals and run
traps immediately. Otherwise the trap is run after a child
process has exited. Note this does not affect the point at
which traps are run for any case other than when the shell is
waiting for a child process.
Shell State
INTERACTIVE (-i, ksh: -i)
This is an interactive shell. This option is set upon initiali‐
sation if the standard input is a tty and commands are being
read from standard input. (See the discussion of SHIN_STDIN.)
This heuristic may be overridden by specifying a state for this
option on the command line. The value of this option can only
be changed via flags supplied at invocation of the shell. It
cannot be changed once zsh is running.
LOGIN (-l, ksh: -l)
This is a login shell. If this option is not explicitly set,
the shell becomes a login shell if the first character of the
argv[0] passed to the shell is a `-'.
PRIVILEGED (-p, ksh: -p)
Turn on privileged mode. Typically this is used when script is
to be run with elevated privileges. This should be done as fol‐
lows directly with the -p option to zsh so that it takes effect
during startup.
#!/bin/zsh -p
The option is enabled automatically on startup if the effective
user (group) ID is not equal to the real user (group) ID. In
this case, turning the option off causes the effective user and
group IDs to be set to the real user and group IDs. Be aware
that if that fails the shell may be running with different IDs
than was intended so a script should check for failure and act
accordingly, for example:
unsetopt privileged || exit
The PRIVILEGED option disables sourcing user startup files. If
zsh is invoked as `sh' or `ksh' with this option set,
/etc/suid_profile is sourced (after /etc/profile on interactive
shells). Sourcing ~/.profile is disabled and the contents of the
ENV variable is ignored. This option cannot be changed using the
-m option of setopt and unsetopt, and changing it inside a func‐
tion always changes it globally regardless of the LOCAL_OPTIONS
option.
RESTRICTED (-r)
Enables restricted mode. This option cannot be changed using
unsetopt, and setting it inside a function always changes it
globally regardless of the LOCAL_OPTIONS option. See the sec‐
tion `Restricted Shell'.
SHIN_STDIN (-s, ksh: -s)
Commands are being read from the standard input. Commands are
read from standard input if no command is specified with -c and
no file of commands is specified. If SHIN_STDIN is set explic‐
itly on the command line, any argument that would otherwise have
been taken as a file to run will instead be treated as a normal
positional parameter. Note that setting or unsetting this
option on the command line does not necessarily affect the state
the option will have while the shell is running - that is purely
an indicator of whether or not commands are actually being read
from standard input. The value of this option can only be
changed via flags supplied at invocation of the shell. It can‐
not be changed once zsh is running.
SINGLE_COMMAND (-t, ksh: -t)
If the shell is reading from standard input, it exits after a
single command has been executed. This also makes the shell
non-interactive, unless the INTERACTIVE option is explicitly set
on the command line. The value of this option can only be
changed via flags supplied at invocation of the shell. It can‐
not be changed once zsh is running.
Zle
BEEP (+B) <D>
Beep on error in ZLE.
COMBINING_CHARS
Assume that the terminal displays combining characters cor‐
rectly. Specifically, if a base alphanumeric character is fol‐
lowed by one or more zero-width punctuation characters, assume
that the zero-width characters will be displayed as modifica‐
tions to the base character within the same width. Not all ter‐
minals handle this. If this option is not set, zero-width char‐
acters are displayed separately with special mark-up.
If this option is set, the pattern test [[:WORD:]] matches a
zero-width punctuation character on the assumption that it will
be used as part of a word in combination with a word character.
Otherwise the base shell does not handle combining characters
specially.
EMACS If ZLE is loaded, turning on this option has the equivalent
effect of `bindkey -e'. In addition, the VI option is unset.
Turning it off has no effect. The option setting is not guaran‐
teed to reflect the current keymap. This option is provided for
compatibility; bindkey is the recommended interface.
OVERSTRIKE
Start up the line editor in overstrike mode.
SINGLE_LINE_ZLE (-M) <K>
Use single-line command line editing instead of multi-line.
Note that although this is on by default in ksh emulation it
only provides superficial compatibility with the ksh line editor
and reduces the effectiveness of the zsh line editor. As it has
no effect on shell syntax, many users may wish to disable this
option when using ksh emulation interactively.
VI If ZLE is loaded, turning on this option has the equivalent
effect of `bindkey -v'. In addition, the EMACS option is unset.
Turning it off has no effect. The option setting is not guaran‐
teed to reflect the current keymap. This option is provided for
compatibility; bindkey is the recommended interface.
ZLE (-Z)
Use the zsh line editor. Set by default in interactive shells
connected to a terminal.
OPTION ALIASES
Some options have alternative names. These aliases are never used for
output, but can be used just like normal option names when specifying
options to the shell.
BRACE_EXPAND
NO_IGNORE_BRACES (ksh and bash compatibility)
DOT_GLOB
GLOB_DOTS (bash compatibility)
HASH_ALL
HASH_CMDS (bash compatibility)
HIST_APPEND
APPEND_HISTORY (bash compatibility)
HIST_EXPAND
BANG_HIST (bash compatibility)
LOG NO_HIST_NO_FUNCTIONS (ksh compatibility)
MAIL_WARN
MAIL_WARNING (bash compatibility)
ONE_CMD
SINGLE_COMMAND (bash compatibility)
PHYSICAL
CHASE_LINKS (ksh and bash compatibility)
PROMPT_VARS
PROMPT_SUBST (bash compatibility)
STDIN SHIN_STDIN (ksh compatibility)
TRACK_ALL
HASH_CMDS (ksh compatibility)
SINGLE LETTER OPTIONS
Default set
-0 CORRECT
-1 PRINT_EXIT_VALUE
-2 NO_BAD_PATTERN
-3 NO_NOMATCH
-4 GLOB_DOTS
-5 NOTIFY
-6 BG_NICE
-7 IGNORE_EOF
-8 MARK_DIRS
-9 AUTO_LIST
-B NO_BEEP
-C NO_CLOBBER
-D PUSHD_TO_HOME
-E PUSHD_SILENT
-F NO_GLOB
-G NULL_GLOB
-H RM_STAR_SILENT
-I IGNORE_BRACES
-J AUTO_CD
-K NO_BANG_HIST
-L SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK
-M SINGLE_LINE_ZLE
-N AUTO_PUSHD
-O CORRECT_ALL
-P RC_EXPAND_PARAM
-Q PATH_DIRS
-R LONG_LIST_JOBS
-S REC_EXACT
-T CDABLE_VARS
-U MAIL_WARNING
-V NO_PROMPT_CR
-W AUTO_RESUME
-X LIST_TYPES
-Y MENU_COMPLETE
-Z ZLE
-a ALL_EXPORT
-e ERR_EXIT
-f NO_RCS
-g HIST_IGNORE_SPACE
-h HIST_IGNORE_DUPS
-i INTERACTIVE
-k INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS
-l LOGIN
-m MONITOR
-n NO_EXEC
-p PRIVILEGED
-r RESTRICTED
-s SHIN_STDIN
-t SINGLE_COMMAND
-u NO_UNSET
-v VERBOSE
-w CHASE_LINKS
-x XTRACE
-y SH_WORD_SPLIT
sh/ksh emulation set
-C NO_CLOBBER
-T TRAPS_ASYNC
-X MARK_DIRS
-a ALL_EXPORT
-b NOTIFY
-e ERR_EXIT
-f NO_GLOB
-i INTERACTIVE
-l LOGIN
-m MONITOR
-n NO_EXEC
-p PRIVILEGED
-r RESTRICTED
-s SHIN_STDIN
-t SINGLE_COMMAND
-u NO_UNSET
-v VERBOSE
-x XTRACE
Also note
-A Used by set for setting arrays
-b Used on the command line to specify end of option processing
-c Used on the command line to specify a single command
-m Used by setopt for pattern-matching option setting
-o Used in all places to allow use of long option names
-s Used by set to sort positional parameters
zsh 5.4.2 August 27, 2017 ZSHOPTIONS(1)
