all Python 3shlexfunction

shlex.split()

command-line parsing

Splits a string the way a Unix shell does, honouring quotes and escapes: 'a "b c"' gives ['a', 'b c'].

Syntax

shlex.split(s, comments=False, posix=True)

Unlike str.split(), it keeps a quoted argument whole, which makes it the way to turn a command string into a list for subprocess.run without shell=True. The rules are POSIX shell, not Windows: a backslash escapes, so the path C:\Users becomes C:Users. # comments are kept by default (comments=True strips them), and an unclosed quote raises ValueError.

Examples

import shlex
print(shlex.split('cp "my file.txt" backup/'))  # → ['cp', 'my file.txt', 'backup/']
print('cp "my file.txt" backup/'.split())  # → ['cp', '"my', 'file.txt"', 'backup/']

import shlex
print(shlex.split(r'dir C:\Users'))  # → ['dir', 'C:Users'] — обратная косая черта съедена
print(shlex.split('run # note', comments=True))  # → ['run']
shlex.split('echo "oops')  # → ValueError: No closing quotation

See also

Common errors

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