Reference

This reference provides a overview of all CLI/test syntax elements organized by category.

Command Execution

Command	Description	Location
`$ <command> …`	Execute a shell command and match its output	Basic Usage
`%EXIT <n>`	Expect command to exit with specific code n	Basic Usage
`%EXIT fail`	Expect command to exit with any non-zero code	Basic Usage
`%EXIT any`	Accept any exit code (including timeouts)	Basic Usage
`%EXIT timeout`	Expect command to timeout	Advanced Features
`%TIMEOUT <duration>`	Set timeout for a command (e.g., 100ms, 5s)	Advanced Features
`%SET <variable>`	Capture full command output into a variable	Environment
`%SET <variable> <pattern>`	Capture grok captures into a variable	Environment
`%EXPECT <alias> <value>`	Expect a grok capture to match a value	Grok Patterns
`%EXPECT_FAILURE`	Expect pattern matching to fail	Advanced Features

clitest uses shell-style variable references and quoting to delimit strings in commands and control structures.

Quote Type	Behavior	Location
`'text'`	Single quotes - literal value, no expansion	Control Structures
`"text"`	Double quotes - literal value with variable expansion	Control Structures
`\char`	Backslash escape - preserve literal meaning	Control Structures
`$VAR`	Basic variable reference	Environment
`${VAR}`	Explicit variable reference	Environment
`$PWD`	Special variable for working directory	Environment

Structure	Description	Location
`# <comment>`	Ignore this line during test execution	Control Structures
`include "path/to/script.cli";`	Include a script into the current script	Control Structures
`if condition { … }`	Conditionally execute commands or patterns	Control Structures
`for <var> in <…> { … }`	Iterate over a list of values	Control Structures
`background { … }`	Run commands in background (auto-killed on exit)	Control Structures
`defer { … }`	Execute cleanup commands after block ends (LIFO order)	Control Structures
`retry { … }`	Retry commands until success or timeout	Control Structures
`exit script;`	Exit script early with success status	Control Structures
`set <var> <value>;`	Set environment variable directly	Environment
`cd <directory>;`	Change working directory	Environment
`using tempdir;`	Create and use temporary directory (auto-deleted)	Environment
`using new dir <name>;`	Create new directory for testing (auto-deleted)	Environment
`using dir <path>;`	Use existing directory (not deleted)	Environment
`pattern <NAME> <regex>;`	Define custom grok pattern	Grok Patterns

Pattern	Description	Location
`! <text>`	Auto-escaped pattern (literal text matching + grok patterns)	Pattern Matching
`? <pattern>`	Raw pattern (regex-style, requires escaping + grok patterns)	Pattern Matching
`!!!`	Multi-line auto-escaped pattern block	Pattern Matching
`???`	Multi-line raw pattern block	Pattern Matching
`"""`	Multi-line literal block	Pattern Matching
`*`	Any pattern (matches any number of lines lazily)	Pattern Matching
`%{PATTERN_NAME}`	Standard grok pattern	Grok Patterns
`%{PATTERN_NAME=(regex)}`	Custom grok pattern with regex	Grok Patterns
`%{PATTERN_NAME:field_name}`	Named grok pattern with output field	Grok Patterns
`%{PATTERN_NAME:field_name=(regex)}`	Custom named grok pattern	Grok Patterns
`repeat { … }`	Match pattern multiple times	Pattern Matching
`choice { … }`	Match any one of specified patterns	Pattern Matching
`unordered { … }`	Match patterns in any order	Pattern Matching
`sequence { … }`	Match patterns in strict order	Pattern Matching
`optional { … }`	Make pattern optional (zero or one match)	Pattern Matching
`if <condition> { … }`	Conditionally require patterns	Pattern Matching
`not { … }`	Negative lookahead pattern	Pattern Matching
`ignore { … }`	Skip/ignore certain output patterns	Pattern Matching
`reject { … }`	Ensure patterns don't appear in output	Pattern Matching

This is a subset of the grok patterns supported by clitest. See the full list of supported patterns at https://docs.rs/grok/latest/grok/patterns/index.html, including the full base patterns in the grok module: https://docs.rs/grok/latest/grok/patterns/grok/index.html.