---
type: reference
subtype: pattern/framework
title: "zsh: assigning a variable named path silently corrupts $PATH"
summary: "In zsh, the lowercase array variable path is linked to $PATH; assigning path=... in a script or session clobbers the executable search path and causes unrelated command-not-found failures. Use another name (tpath, fpath_ — but note fpath is also linked)."
tags:
  - type/reference
  - tool/zsh
  - domain/shell-scripting
scope: global
last_updated: 2026-07-08
date: 2026-07-08
source: cc-os
---

# zsh: `path` is linked to `$PATH`

zsh ties certain lowercase array variables to their uppercase scalar counterparts:
`path`↔`PATH`, `fpath`↔`FPATH`, `cdpath`↔`CDPATH`, `mailpath`↔`MAILPATH`, `manpath`↔`MANPATH`.
Assigning any of them (e.g. `path="/some/file"` as an innocent loop variable) silently
replaces the executable search path for the rest of the script/session. Symptom: unrelated
tools start failing with command-not-found after a script ran.

**Rule:** in zsh scripts (including throwaway audit/eval scripts driven from Claude Code,
whose Bash tool runs zsh on this machine), never use `path`, `fpath`, `cdpath`, `manpath`
as variable names. Discovered 2026-07-08 during the Fable orchestration mini-audit
(scripts fixed by renaming to `tpath`).
