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Fix associative argument quote handling in WP_CLI::runcommand()#6200

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copilot/fix-associative-arg-quotes
Feb 6, 2026
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Fix associative argument quote handling in WP_CLI::runcommand()#6200
swissspidy merged 8 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-associative-arg-quotes

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Fix associative argument quote handling in WP_CLI::runcommand()

Issue

When WP_CLI::runcommand() is called with associative arguments containing quoted values (e.g., --bar="baz quax"), the quotes are incorrectly preserved in the parsed value, resulting in "baz quax" instead of baz quax.

Solution

Modified the parse_str_to_argv() function in php/utils.php to:

  1. Use PREG_SET_ORDER to properly access regex capture groups
  2. Detect quoted associative arguments (--key="value" or --key='value') using groups 1 and 2
  3. Detect quoted positional arguments ("value") using groups 5 and 6
  4. Strip outer quotes and unescape inner quotes for both associative and positional arguments consistently
  5. Handle empty quoted values correctly (e.g., --bar="" becomes --bar=)
  6. Simplify logic by leveraging regex capture groups instead of manual quote stripping

Changes Made

  • php/utils.php:

    • Refactored parse_str_to_argv() to use capture groups for quote detection
    • Added consistent unescaping logic for both associative and positional arguments
    • Removed redundant foreach loop for manual quote stripping
    • Used strlen() check to distinguish associative args from positional args
    • Fixed PHPStan static analysis errors

  • tests/UtilsTest.php:

    • Updated test expectations to reflect new behavior
    • Converted testParseStrToArgvStripsQuotesFromAssocValues() to use a data provider
    • Added comprehensive edge case tests for empty quoted values and escaped quotes

Testing

The fix correctly handles:

  • Simple quoted values: --bar="baz quax" → baz quax
  • Empty double quotes: --bar="" → --bar=
  • Empty single quotes: --bar='' → --bar=
  • Escaped double quotes: --bar="baz \"quax\"" → baz "quax"
  • Escaped single quotes: --bar='baz \'quax\'' → baz 'quax'
  • Unquoted values: --bar=baz → baz
  • Positional quoted arguments with unescaping: "echo test" → echo test

All tests pass successfully:

  • ✅ All 17 testParseStrToArgv tests
  • ✅ 7 comprehensive edge cases in testParseStrToArgvStripsQuotesFromAssocValues
  • ✅ PHPStan static analysis (no errors)
  • ✅ PHPCS code style checks
  • ✅ Manual verification

Benefits of Refactoring

  • More robust: Leverages regex capture groups instead of manual string manipulation
  • More consistent: Applies unescaping logic to both associative and positional arguments
  • Simpler: Removed redundant quote-stripping loop
  • Better type safety: Fixed PHPStan errors by using explicit checks
Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Associative argument contains double quotes if the command is called with WP_CLI::runcommand()</issue_title>
<issue_description>## Bug Report

I created the following command to explain the problem:

/**
 * Some test command.
 */
class SomeCommand
{

    /**
     * A test command.
     *
     * ## OPTIONS
     *
     * <testArg>
     * : Test arg
     *
     * [--test-assoc-arg=<testAssocArg>]
     * : Test assoc arg
     *
     */
    public function test(array $args, array $assocArgs)
    {
        \WP_CLI::line($args[0]);
        \WP_CLI::line($assocArgs['test-assoc-arg']);
    }
}

Now if I run the following command in the console the result is correct:

wp some test "I have spaces" --test-assoc-arg="I have spaces too"

Result:

I have spaces
I have spaces too

The problem occurs if I call the same command with WP_CLI::runcommand():

$result = \WP_CLI::runcommand('some test "I have spaces" --test-assoc-arg="I have spaces too"', [
    'launch' => false, // Launch a new process, or reuse the existing.
    'exit_error' => false, // Exit on error by default.
    'return' => 'all', // Capture and return output, or render in realtime.
    'parse' => false, // Parse returned output as a particular format.
]);

var_dump($result->stdout);

Now I would expect the same output that I got in the console, but instead I get the associative argument in double quotes.

Output:

string(33) "I have spaces
"I have spaces too""

I think this doesn't really make sense, especially because arguments without quotation marks don't have quotation marks in the output, which makes it impossible to correctly remove them manually afterwards.

$result = \WP_CLI::runcommand('some test "I have spaces" --test-assoc-arg=Ihavenospaces', [
    'launch' => false, // Launch a new process, or reuse the existing.
    'exit_error' => false, // Exit on error by default.
    'return' => 'all', // Capture and return output, or render in realtime.
    'parse' => false, // Parse returned output as a particular format.
]);

var_dump($result->stdout);

Output:

string(27) "I have spaces
Ihavenospaces"
```</issue_description>

## Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

<comments>
<comment_new><author>@danielbachhuber</author><body>
Thanks for the detailed bug report, @korridor. This does seem like something we should get fixed up.</body></comment_new>
<comment_new><author>@thelovekesh</author><body>
I think most of the behavior is intended.

In above output the, the stdout is wrapped in `""` because `var_dump()` is being used to dump the output.

The only behavior in question is: When we parse a command string for args and assoc args(in `WP_CLI::runcommand()`), it includes the assoc args value as it is after `=` e.g. 
```php
$cmd = 'wp cli foo --bar="baz quax"';

// will return the assoc array as
array(1) {
  ["bar"]=>
  string(19) ""baz quax""
}

Now the question is, should we remove single or double quotes while parsing the cmd? </comment_new>
<comment_new>@danielbachhuber
I would expect this behavior:

$cmd = 'wp cli foo --bar="baz quax"';

// will return the assoc array as
array(1) {
  ["bar"]=>
  string(19) "baz quax"
}

It would be great to have test coverage for the various permutations, though (if we don't already).</comment_new>

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

@swissspidy
Changes before error encountered
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Co-authored-by: swissspidy <841956+swissspidy@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI requested a review from swissspidy January 19, 2026 10:34
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codecov bot commented Jan 19, 2026 •
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Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 94.11765% with 1 line in your changes missing coverage. Please review.

Files with missing lines Patch % Lines
php/utils.php 94.11% 1 Missing ⚠️

📢 Thoughts on this report? Let us know!

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Fix associative argument quote handling in parse_str_to_argv
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Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Fix associative argument double quotes in WP_CLI command Fix associative argument quote handling in WP_CLI::runcommand() Jan 19, 2026
@swissspidy swissspidy requested a review from Copilot January 19, 2026 16:10

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Update tests/UtilsTest.php
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swissspidy reviewed Jan 19, 2026
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Add comprehensive edge case tests for quote handling with data provider
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Copilot AI requested a review from swissspidy January 19, 2026 17:28
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swissspidy reviewed Jan 19, 2026
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Refactor parse_str_to_argv for better readability and consistency
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Copilot AI requested a review from swissspidy January 19, 2026 21:40
@swissspidy swissspidy marked this pull request as ready for review January 19, 2026 22:39
@swissspidy swissspidy requested a review from a team as a code owner January 19, 2026 22:39
@swissspidy swissspidy added this to the 3.0.0 milestone Feb 6, 2026
@swissspidy swissspidy merged commit cde8360 into main Feb 6, 2026
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@swissspidy swissspidy deleted the copilot/fix-associative-arg-quotes branch February 6, 2026 12:24
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Associative argument contains double quotes if the command is called with WP_CLI::runcommand()

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