Bash Shell

aid: bash
name: Bash Shell
description: GNU Bash (Bourne Again SHell) is the default Unix shell and command-line interpreter on most Linux distributions
  and macOS. Developed by Brian Fox for the GNU Project as a free replacement for the Bourne shell, Bash provides a rich scripting
  language with variables, control structures, functions, I/O redirection, job control, and process management. Bash scripts
  are the foundational automation tool for system administration, CI/CD pipelines, DevOps tooling, and software build systems.
type: Index
kind: opensource
deliveryModel:
  model: unknown
  license: GPL v3 License
  open_source: false
  commercial: false
  callable_host: false
  label: Delivery model not determined — needs a product licence on record
  confidence: low
  source:
  - license
  generated: '2026-08-28'
  method: derived
accessModel:
  pricing: unknown
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Unknown
  confidence: low
  source:
  - security
  generated: '2026-11-06'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/bash.png
tags:
- Automation
- Bash
- Command Line
- DevOps
- Linux
- Scripting
- Shell
- Unix
tags_raw:
- Automation
- Bash
- Command-Line
- DevOps
- Linux
- Scripting
- Shell
- Unix
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/bash/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2024-01-01'
modified: '2026-04-21'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
apis: []
common:
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/bash-domain-security.yml
- type: Website
  url: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/
  name: GNU Bash
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html
  name: Bash Reference Manual
- type: Website
  url: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/bash.git
  name: Source Code Repository
- type: Website
  url: https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
  name: Download
- type: License
  url: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
  name: GPL v3 License
- type: Website
  url: https://google.github.io/styleguide/shellguide.html
  name: Google Shell Style Guide
- type: Website
  url: https://github.com/awesome-lists/awesome-bash
  name: Awesome Bash
- type: Website
  url: https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=bash
  name: Bug Tracker
- type: Website
  url: https://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/bash/bashtop.html
  name: Chet Ramey - Bash Maintainer
- name: Project Info
  type: ProjectInfo
  data:
  - name: Current Version
    description: Bash 5.2 (released October 2022), with patch releases ongoing.
  - name: Original Author
    description: Brian Fox, written in 1988 for the GNU Project as a free replacement for the Bourne shell.
  - name: Current Maintainer
    description: Chet Ramey (Case Western Reserve University) has maintained Bash since 1990.
  - name: License
    description: GNU General Public License version 3 (GPL-3.0).
  - name: Language
    description: Written in C; available on all Unix-like systems and via WSL on Windows.
  - name: Package Registry
    description: Distributed as source tarball from ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/ and via OS package managers (apt, yum, brew).
- name: Key Features
  type: Features
  data:
  - name: Built-in Commands
    description: Core built-in commands (cd, echo, read, test, export, alias) executed without forking.
  - name: Shell Scripting
    description: Full scripting language with variables, arrays, conditionals, loops, and functions.
  - name: Parameter Expansion
    description: String manipulation, pattern matching, and variable substitution via parameter expansion.
  - name: I/O Redirection
    description: Redirect stdin, stdout, stderr to files, devices, and between processes with pipes.
  - name: Job Control
    description: Background and foreground process management with fg, bg, jobs, and signals.
  - name: Arithmetic Expansion
    description: Integer arithmetic via $(()) and let built-in for numeric computation in scripts.
  - name: Process Substitution
    description: Treat command output as a file using process substitution for pipeline flexibility.
  - name: Readline Integration
    description: Command-line editing with history, completion, and key bindings via GNU Readline.
  - name: Array Support
    description: Indexed and associative arrays for complex data structures in shell scripts.
  - name: Brace Expansion
    description: Generate arbitrary strings and file lists via brace expansion patterns.
- name: Use Cases
  type: UseCases
  data:
  - name: System Administration
    description: Automate system tasks, user management, log rotation, and maintenance scripts.
  - name: CI/CD Pipelines
    description: Build, test, and deploy scripts in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and CircleCI.
  - name: DevOps Automation
    description: Infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, and deployment orchestration.
  - name: Data Processing
    description: Text processing pipelines using grep, awk, sed, and shell pipelines.
  - name: API Scripting
    description: HTTP API calls with curl and response parsing for automation and testing.
  - name: File Management
    description: Bulk file operations, directory traversal, and file transformation scripts.
  - name: Environment Management
    description: Manage environment variables, PATH, and shell configuration via .bashrc and .profile.
- name: Key Tools
  type: Integrations
  data:
  - name: curl
  - name: grep
  - name: awk
  - name: sed
  - name: jq
  - name: make
  - name: ssh
  - name: rsync
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com