28 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
28 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
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---
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type: reference
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subtype: pattern/framework
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title: "zsh: assigning a variable named path silently corrupts $PATH"
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summary: "In zsh, the lowercase array variable path is linked to $PATH; assigning path=... in a script or session clobbers the executable search path and causes unrelated command-not-found failures. Use another name (tpath, fpath_ — but note fpath is also linked)."
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tags:
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- type/reference
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- tool/zsh
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- domain/shell-scripting
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scope: global
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last_updated: 2026-07-08
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date: 2026-07-08
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source: cc-os
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---
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# zsh: `path` is linked to `$PATH`
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zsh ties certain lowercase array variables to their uppercase scalar counterparts:
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`path`↔`PATH`, `fpath`↔`FPATH`, `cdpath`↔`CDPATH`, `mailpath`↔`MAILPATH`, `manpath`↔`MANPATH`.
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Assigning any of them (e.g. `path="/some/file"` as an innocent loop variable) silently
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replaces the executable search path for the rest of the script/session. Symptom: unrelated
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tools start failing with command-not-found after a script ran.
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**Rule:** in zsh scripts (including throwaway audit/eval scripts driven from Claude Code,
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whose Bash tool runs zsh on this machine), never use `path`, `fpath`, `cdpath`, `manpath`
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as variable names. Discovered 2026-07-08 during the Fable orchestration mini-audit
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(scripts fixed by renaming to `tpath`).
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