snippetbashTip

set — Toggle shell options or set the values of positional parameters. More information: <https://www.gnu.

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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theshellcommandoptionsclisettoggle

Problem

How to use the set command: Toggle shell options or set the values of positional parameters. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#The-Set-Builtin>.

Solution

set — Toggle shell options or set the values of positional parameters. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#The-Set-Builtin>.

Display the names and values of shell variables:

set

Export newly initialized variables to child processes:

set -a

Write formatted messages to stderr when jobs finish:

set -b

Write and edit text in the command-line with vi-like keybindings (e.g. yy):

set -o vi

Return to default (emacs) mode:

set -o emacs

List all modes:

set -o

Exit the shell when (some) command fails:

set -e

Reset all shell parameters and assign new ones:

set -- {{argument1 argument2 ...}}

Code Snippets

Display the names and values of shell variables

set

Export newly initialized variables to child processes

set -a

Write formatted messages to `stderr` when jobs finish

set -b

Write and edit text in the command-line with `vi`-like keybindings (e.g. `yy`)

set -o vi

Return to default (`emacs`) mode

set -o emacs

Context

tldr-pages: common/set

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