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echo

Included in pluginshared-skillsView on GitHub ↗

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferences

Install

Install the containing plugin
/plugin install shared-skills@llm-skills
Invoke this skill after installation
/shared-skills:echo
Download echo-skill.zip
This skill is bundled inside shared-skills. Install the plugin once, then Claude Code can use any of its included skills. Browse the full plugin repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-shared-skills.

SKILL.md

name: echo description: > Print text and variable values to stdout with echo or printf for shell scripting, debugging, and pipeline construction. Use when the agent needs to output a string, interpolate variables, write a line to a file, print without a trailing newline, or handle escape sequences reliably across shells and platforms.

echo

Print text to standard output in shell scripts and interactive sessions. Prefer printf when portability and escape-sequence handling matter.

Quick Start

  1. Print a string: echo "Hello, world"
  2. Interpolate a variable: echo "Path: $PATH"
  3. Write to a file: echo "content" > file.txt

Intent Router

  • references/cheatsheet.md — echo vs printf, common flags, escape sequences, variable interpolation, file writing
  • references/advanced-usage.md — Portable printf patterns, ANSI colour output, here-strings, multiline output, and shell differences
  • references/troubleshooting.md — -e flag portability, double-vs-single quotes, newline handling, Windows CRLF

Core Workflow

  1. Use echo for simple string output and variable printing in interactive sessions
  2. Switch to printf when escape sequences (\n, \t, \0), no-newline output, or cross-shell portability are required
  3. Quote all variable expansions to prevent word-splitting: echo "$var"
  4. Use > to write and >> to append to files; confirm the target path before redirecting
  5. Prefer printf '%s\n' "$var" over echo "$var" in scripts for consistent behaviour

Quick Command Reference

echo "Hello, world"                 # Print a string
echo "$HOME"                        # Interpolate a variable
echo -n "no newline"                # Suppress trailing newline (bash built-in)
echo -e "line1\nline2"              # Interpret escape sequences (bash built-in only)
echo "content" > file.txt           # Write to file (overwrites)
echo "more" >> file.txt             # Append to file
printf "Hello, %s\n" "$name"        # Portable formatted output
printf '%s\n' "$var"                # Print variable safely, no escape interpretation
printf '\033[1mBold\033[0m\n'       # ANSI bold (portable colour output)
printf "line1\nline2\n" > file.txt  # Multiline write (portable)
man echo                            # Shell built-in and /bin/echo manual

Safety Notes

AreaGuardrail
echo is not portableThe -e flag and escape interpretation differ between bash, sh, zsh, and /bin/echo. Use printf in scripts that must run across shells.
Unquoted variablesecho $var undergoes word-splitting and glob expansion. Always quote: echo "$var".
File redirection> silently overwrites the destination. Confirm the path or use >> for appending. Enable set -o noclobber to catch accidental overwrites.
Secrets in argumentsArguments to echo may appear in process listings (ps aux). Do not echo passwords or tokens in environments where process listings are visible.
echo vs printfIn bash, echo -e works. In POSIX sh, it may not. When in doubt, use printf — it behaves consistently across all POSIX shells.

Source Policy

  • Treat help echo (bash built-in) and man echo (external binary) as runtime truth — they may differ.
  • Prefer printf over echo in any script that will be executed by sh or outside of bash.
  • Use $'...' quoting in bash for literal escape sequences: echo $'line1\nline2'.

See Also

  • printf for portable, format-controlled output
  • $cat for printing file contents rather than literal strings
  • tee for writing to both stdout and a file simultaneously
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