ZSHOPTIONS(1) User Commands ZSHOPTIONS(1)

NAME

zshoptions - zsh options

SPECIFYING OPTIONS

Options are primarily referred to by name. These names are case
insensitive and underscores are ignored. For example, `allexport' is
equivalent to `A__lleXP_ort'.

The sense of an option name may be inverted by preceding it with
`no', so `setopt No_Beep' is equivalent to `unsetopt beep'. This
inversion can only be done once, so `nonobeep' is not a synonym for
`beep'. Similarly, `tify' is not a synonym for `nonotify' (the
inversion of `notify').

Some options also have one or more single letter names. There are
two sets of single letter options: one used by default, and another
used to emulate sh/ksh (used when the SH_OPTION_LETTERS option is
set). The single letter options can be used on the shell command
line, or with the set, setopt and unsetopt builtins, as normal Unix
options preceded by `-'.

The sense of the single letter options may be inverted by using `+'
instead of `-'. Some of the single letter option names refer to an
option being off, in which case the inversion of that name refers to
the option being on. For example, `+n' is the short name of `exec',
and `-n' is the short name of its inversion, `noexec'.

In strings of single letter options supplied to the shell at startup,
trailing whitespace will be ignored; for example the string `-f '
will be treated just as `-f', but the string `-f i' is an error.
This is because many systems which implement the `#!' mechanism for
calling scripts do not strip trailing whitespace.

It is possible for options to be set within a function scope. See
the description of the option LOCAL_OPTIONS below.

DESCRIPTION OF OPTIONS

In the following list, options set by default in all emulations are
marked <D>; those set by default only in csh, ksh, sh, or zsh
emulations are marked <C>, <K>, <S>, <Z> as appropriate. When
listing options (by `setopt', `unsetopt', `set -o' or `set +o'),
those turned on by default appear in the list prefixed with `no'.
Hence (unless KSH_OPTION_PRINT is set), `setopt' shows all options
whose settings are changed from the default.

Changing Directories

AUTO_CD (-J)
If a command is issued that can't be executed as a normal
command, and the command is the name of a directory, perform
the cd command to that directory. This option is only
applicable if the option SHIN_STDIN is set, i.e. if commands
are being read from standard input. The option is designed
for interactive use; it is recommended that cd be used
explicitly in scripts to avoid ambiguity.

AUTO_PUSHD (-N)
Make cd push the old directory onto the directory stack.

CDABLE_VARS (-T)
If the argument to a cd command (or an implied cd with the
AUTO_CD option set) is not a directory, and does not begin
with a slash, try to expand the expression as if it were
preceded by a `~' (see the section `Filename Expansion').

CD_SILENT
Never print the working directory after a cd (whether explicit
or implied with the AUTO_CD option set). cd normally prints
the working directory when the argument given to it was -, a
stack entry, or the name of a directory found under CDPATH.
Note that this is distinct from pushd's stack-printing
behaviour, which is controlled by PUSHD_SILENT. This option
overrides the printing-related effects of POSIX_CD.

CHASE_DOTS
When changing to a directory containing a path segment `..'
which would otherwise be treated as canceling the previous
segment in the path (in other words, `foo/..' would be removed
from the path, or if `..' is the first part of the path, the
last part of the current working directory would be removed),
instead resolve the path to the physical directory. This
option is overridden by CHASE_LINKS.

For example, suppose /foo/bar is a link to the directory
/alt/rod. Without this option set, `cd /foo/bar/..' changes
to /foo; with it set, it changes to /alt. The same applies if
the current directory is /foo/bar and `cd ..' is used. Note
that all other symbolic links in the path will also be
resolved.

CHASE_LINKS (-w)
Resolve symbolic links to their true values when changing
directory. This also has the effect of CHASE_DOTS, i.e. a
`..' path segment will be treated as referring to the physical
parent, even if the preceding path segment is a symbolic link.

POSIX_CD <K> <S>
Modifies the behaviour of cd, chdir and pushd commands to make
them more compatible with the POSIX standard. The behaviour
with the option unset is described in the documentation for
the cd builtin in zshbuiltins(1). If the option is set, the
shell does not test for directories beneath the local
directory (`.') until after all directories in cdpath have
been tested, and the cd and chdir commands do not recognise
arguments of the form `{+|-}n' as directory stack entries.

Also, if the option is set, the conditions under which the
shell prints the new directory after changing to it are
modified. It is no longer restricted to interactive shells
(although printing of the directory stack with pushd is still
limited to interactive shells); and any use of a component of
CDPATH, including a `.' but excluding an empty component that
is otherwise treated as `.', causes the directory to be
printed.

PUSHD_IGNORE_DUPS
Don't push multiple copies of the same directory onto the
directory stack.

PUSHD_MINUS
Exchanges the meanings of `+' and `-' when used with a number
to specify a directory in the stack.

PUSHD_SILENT (-E)
Do not print the directory stack after pushd or popd.

PUSHD_TO_HOME (-D)
Have pushd with no arguments act like `pushd $HOME'.

Completion

ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT <D>
If unset, key functions that list completions try to return to
the last prompt if given a numeric argument. If set these
functions try to return to the last prompt if given no numeric
argument.

ALWAYS_TO_END
If a completion is performed with the cursor within a word,
and a full completion is inserted, the cursor is moved to the
end of the word. That is, the cursor is moved to the end of
the word if either a single match is inserted or menu
completion is performed.

AUTO_LIST (-9) <D>
Automatically list choices on an ambiguous completion.

AUTO_MENU <D>
Automatically use menu completion after the second consecutive
request for completion, for example by pressing the tab key
repeatedly. This option is overridden by MENU_COMPLETE.

AUTO_NAME_DIRS
Any parameter that is set to the absolute name of a directory
immediately becomes a name for that directory, that will be
used by the `%~' and related prompt sequences, and will be
available when completion is performed on a word starting with
`~'. (Otherwise, the parameter must be used in the form
`~param' first.)

AUTO_PARAM_KEYS <D>
If a parameter name was completed and a following character
(normally a space) automatically inserted, and the next
character typed is one of those that have to come directly
after the name (like `}', `:', etc.), the automatically added
character is deleted, so that the character typed comes
immediately after the parameter name. Completion in a brace
expansion is affected similarly: the added character is a `,',
which will be removed if `}' is typed next.

AUTO_PARAM_SLASH <D>
If a parameter is completed whose content is the name of a
directory, then add a trailing slash instead of a space.

AUTO_REMOVE_SLASH <D>
When the last character resulting from a completion is a slash
and the next character typed is a word delimiter, a slash, or
a character that ends a command (such as a semicolon or an
ampersand), remove the slash.

BASH_AUTO_LIST
On an ambiguous completion, automatically list choices when
the completion function is called twice in succession. This
takes precedence over AUTO_LIST. The setting of
LIST_AMBIGUOUS is respected. If AUTO_MENU is set, the menu
behaviour will then start with the third press. Note that
this will not work with MENU_COMPLETE, since repeated
completion calls immediately cycle through the list in that
case.

COMPLETE_ALIASES
Prevents aliases on the command line from being internally
substituted before completion is attempted. The effect is to
make the alias a distinct command for completion purposes.

COMPLETE_IN_WORD
If unset, the cursor is set to the end of the word if
completion is started. Otherwise it stays there and completion
is done from both ends.

GLOB_COMPLETE
When the current word has a glob pattern, do not insert all
the words resulting from the expansion but generate matches as
for completion and cycle through them like MENU_COMPLETE. The
matches are generated as if a `*' was added to the end of the
word, or inserted at the cursor when COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set.
This actually uses pattern matching, not globbing, so it works
not only for files but for any completion, such as options,
user names, etc.

Note that when the pattern matcher is used, matching control
(for example, case-insensitive or anchored matching) cannot be
used. This limitation only applies when the current word
contains a pattern; simply turning on the GLOB_COMPLETE option
does not have this effect.

HASH_LIST_ALL <D>
Whenever a command completion or spelling correction is
attempted, make sure the entire command path is hashed first.
This makes the first completion slower but avoids false
reports of spelling errors.

LIST_AMBIGUOUS <D>
This option works when AUTO_LIST or BASH_AUTO_LIST is also
set. If there is an unambiguous prefix to insert on the
command line, that is done without a completion list being
displayed; in other words, auto-listing behaviour only takes
place when nothing would be inserted. In the case of
BASH_AUTO_LIST, this means that the list will be delayed to
the third call of the function.

LIST_BEEP <D>
Beep on an ambiguous completion. More accurately, this forces
the completion widgets to return status 1 on an ambiguous
completion, which causes the shell to beep if the option BEEP
is also set; this may be modified if completion is called from
a user-defined widget.

LIST_PACKED
Try to make the completion list smaller (occupying less lines)
by printing the matches in columns with different widths.

LIST_ROWS_FIRST
Lay out the matches in completion lists sorted horizontally,
that is, the second match is to the right of the first one,
not under it as usual.

LIST_TYPES (-X) <D>
When listing files that are possible completions, show the
type of each file with a trailing identifying mark.

MENU_COMPLETE (-Y)
On an ambiguous completion, instead of listing possibilities
or beeping, insert the first match immediately. Then when
completion is requested again, remove the first match and
insert the second match, etc. When there are no more matches,
go back to the first one again. reverse-menu-complete may be
used to loop through the list in the other direction. This
option overrides AUTO_MENU.

REC_EXACT (-S)
If the string on the command line exactly matches one of the
possible completions, it is accepted, even if there is another
completion (i.e. that string with something else added) that
also matches.

Expansion and Globbing

BAD_PATTERN (+2) <C> <Z>
If a pattern for filename generation is badly formed, print an
error message. (If this option is unset, the pattern will be
left unchanged.)

BARE_GLOB_QUAL <Z>
In a glob pattern, treat a trailing set of parentheses as a
qualifier list, if it contains no `|', `(' or (if special) `~'
characters. See the section `Filename Generation'.

BRACE_CCL
Expand expressions in braces which would not otherwise undergo
brace expansion to a lexically ordered list of all the
characters. See the section `Brace Expansion'.

CASE_GLOB <D>
Make globbing (filename generation) sensitive to case. Note
that other uses of patterns are always sensitive to case. If
the option is unset, the presence of any character which is
special to filename generation will cause case-insensitive
matching. For example, cvs(/) can match the directory CVS
owing to the presence of the globbing flag (unless the option
BARE_GLOB_QUAL is unset).

CASE_MATCH <D>
Make regular expressions using the zsh/regex module (including
matches with =~) sensitive to case.

CASE_PATHS
If CASE_PATHS is not set (the default), CASE_GLOB affects the
interpretation of every path component, whenever a special
character appears in any component. When CASE_PATHS is set,
file path components that do not contain special filename
generation characters are always sensitive to case, thus
restricting NO_CASE_GLOB to components that contain globbing
characters.

Note that if the filesystem itself is not sensitive to case,
then CASE_PATHS has no effect.

CSH_NULL_GLOB <C>
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, delete
the pattern from the argument list; do not report an error
unless all the patterns in a command have no matches.
Overrides NOMATCH.

EQUALS <Z>
Perform = filename expansion. (See the section `Filename
Expansion'.)

EXTENDED_GLOB
Treat the `#', `~' and `^' characters as part of patterns for
filename generation, etc. (An initial unquoted `~' always
produces named directory expansion.)

FORCE_FLOAT
Constants in arithmetic evaluation will be treated as floating
point even without the use of a decimal point; the values of
integer variables will be converted to floating point when
used in arithmetic expressions. Integers in any base will be
converted.

GLOB (+F, ksh: +f) <D>
Perform filename generation (globbing). (See the section
`Filename Generation'.)

GLOB_ASSIGN <C>
If this option is set, filename generation (globbing) is
performed on the right hand side of scalar parameter
assignments of the form `name=pattern (e.g. `foo=*'). If the
result has more than one word the parameter will become an
array with those words as arguments. This option is provided
for backwards compatibility only: globbing is always performed
on the right hand side of array assignments of the form
`name=(value)' (e.g. `foo=(*)') and this form is recommended
for clarity; with this option set, it is not possible to
predict whether the result will be an array or a scalar.

GLOB_DOTS (-4)
Do not require a leading `.' in a filename to be matched
explicitly.

GLOB_STAR_SHORT
When this option is set and the default zsh-style globbing is
in effect, the pattern `**/*' can be abbreviated to `**' and
the pattern `***/*' can be abbreviated to ***. Hence `**.c'
finds a file ending in .c in any subdirectory, and `***.c'
does the same while also following symbolic links. A /
immediately after the `**' or `***' forces the pattern to be
treated as the unabbreviated form.

GLOB_SUBST <C> <K> <S>
Treat any characters resulting from parameter expansion as
being eligible for filename expansion and filename generation,
and any characters resulting from command substitution as
being eligible for filename generation. Braces (and commas in
between) do not become eligible for expansion.

HIST_SUBST_PATTERN
Substitutions using the :s and :& history modifiers are
performed with pattern matching instead of string matching.
This occurs wherever history modifiers are valid, including
glob qualifiers and parameters. See the section `Modifiers'
in zshexpn(1).

IGNORE_BRACES (-I) <S>
Do not perform brace expansion. For historical reasons this
also includes the effect of the IGNORE_CLOSE_BRACES option.

IGNORE_CLOSE_BRACES
When neither this option nor IGNORE_BRACES is set, a sole
close brace character `}' is syntactically significant at any
point on a command line. This has the effect that no
semicolon or newline is necessary before the brace terminating
a function or current shell construct. When either option is
set, a closing brace is syntactically significant only in
command position. Unlike IGNORE_BRACES, this option does not
disable brace expansion.

For example, with both options unset a function may be defined
in the following fashion:

args() { echo $# }

while if either option is set, this does not work and
something equivalent to the following is required:

args() { echo $#; }

KSH_GLOB <K>
In pattern matching, the interpretation of parentheses is
affected by a preceding `@', `*', `+', `?' or `!'. See the
section `Filename Generation'.

MAGIC_EQUAL_SUBST
All unquoted arguments of the form `anything=expression'
appearing after the command name have filename expansion (that
is, where expression has a leading `~' or `=') performed on
expression as if it were a parameter assignment. The argument
is not otherwise treated specially; it is passed to the
command as a single argument, and not used as an actual
parameter assignment. For example, in echo foo=~/bar:~/rod,
both occurrences of ~ would be replaced. Note that this
happens anyway with typeset and similar statements.

This option respects the setting of the KSH_TYPESET option.
In other words, if both options are in effect, arguments
looking like assignments will not undergo word splitting.

MARK_DIRS (-8, ksh: -X)
Append a trailing `/' to all directory names resulting from
filename generation (globbing).

MULTIBYTE <D>
Respect multibyte characters when found in strings. When this
option is set, strings are examined using the system library
to determine how many bytes form a character, depending on the
current locale. This affects the way characters are counted
in pattern matching, parameter values and various delimiters.

The option is on by default if the shell was compiled with
MULTIBYTE_SUPPORT; otherwise it is off by default and has no
effect if turned on.

If the option is off a single byte is always treated as a
single character. This setting is designed purely for
examining strings known to contain raw bytes or other values
that may not be characters in the current locale. It is not
necessary to unset the option merely because the character set
for the current locale does not contain multibyte characters.

The option does not affect the shell's editor, which always
uses the locale to determine multibyte characters. This is
because the character set displayed by the terminal emulator
is independent of shell settings.

NOMATCH (+3) <C> <Z>
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, print an
error, instead of leaving it unchanged in the argument list.
This also applies to file expansion of an initial `~' or `='.

NULL_GLOB (-G)
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, delete
the pattern from the argument list instead of reporting an
error. Overrides NOMATCH.

NUMERIC_GLOB_SORT
If numeric filenames are matched by a filename generation
pattern, sort the filenames numerically rather than
lexicographically.

RC_EXPAND_PARAM (-P)
Array expansions of the form `foo${xx}bar', where the
parameter xx is set to (a b c), are substituted with `fooabar
foobbar foocbar' instead of the default `fooa b cbar'. Note
that an empty array will therefore cause all arguments to be
removed.

REMATCH_PCRE
If set, regular expression matching with the =~ operator will
use Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions from the PCRE library.
(The zsh/pcre module must be available.) If not set, regular
expressions will use the extended regexp syntax provided by
the system libraries.

SH_GLOB <K> <S>
Disables the special meaning of `(', `|', `)' and '<' for
globbing the result of parameter and command substitutions,
and in some other places where the shell accepts patterns. If
SH_GLOB is set but KSH_GLOB is not, the shell allows the
interpretation of subshell expressions enclosed in parentheses
in some cases where there is no space before the opening
parenthesis, e.g. !(true) is interpreted as if there were a
space after the !. This option is set by default if zsh is
invoked as sh or ksh.

UNSET (+u, ksh: +u) <K> <S> <Z>
Treat unset parameters as if they were empty when
substituting, and as if they were zero when reading their
values in arithmetic expansion and arithmetic commands.
Otherwise they are treated as an error.

WARN_CREATE_GLOBAL
Print a warning message when a global parameter is created in
a function by an assignment or in math context. This often
indicates that a parameter has not been declared local when it
should have been. Parameters explicitly declared global from
within a function using typeset -g do not cause a warning.
Note that there is no warning when a local parameter is
assigned to in a nested function, which may also indicate an
error.

WARN_NESTED_VAR
Print a warning message when an existing parameter from an
enclosing function scope, or global, is set in a function by
an assignment or in math context. Assignment to shell special
parameters does not cause a warning. This is the companion to
WARN_CREATE_GLOBAL as in this case the warning is only printed
when a parameter is not created. Where possible, use of
typeset -g to set the parameter suppresses the error, but note
that this needs to be used every time the parameter is set.
To restrict the effect of this option to a single function
scope, use `functions -W'.

For example, the following code produces a warning for the
assignment inside the function nested as that overrides the
value within toplevel

toplevel() {
local foo="in fn"
nested
}
nested() {
foo="in nested"
}
setopt warn_nested_var
toplevel

History

APPEND_HISTORY <D>
If this is set, zsh sessions will append their history list to
the history file, rather than replace it. Thus, multiple
parallel zsh sessions will all have the new entries from their
history lists added to the history file, in the order that
they exit. The file will still be periodically re-written to
trim it when the number of lines grows 20% beyond the value
specified by $SAVEHIST (see also the HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY
option).

BANG_HIST (+K) <C> <Z>
Perform textual history expansion, csh-style, treating the
character `!' specially.

EXTENDED_HISTORY <C>
Save each command's beginning timestamp (in seconds since the
epoch) and the duration (in seconds) to the history file. The
format of this prefixed data is:

`: <beginning time>:<elapsed seconds>;<command>'.

HIST_ALLOW_CLOBBER
Add `|' to output redirections in the history. This allows
history references to clobber files even when CLOBBER is
unset.

HIST_BEEP <D>
Beep in ZLE when a widget attempts to access a history entry
which isn't there.

HIST_EXPIRE_DUPS_FIRST
If the internal history needs to be trimmed to add the current
command line, setting this option will cause the oldest
history event that has a duplicate to be lost before losing a
unique event from the list. You should be sure to set the
value of HISTSIZE to a larger number than SAVEHIST in order to
give you some room for the duplicated events, otherwise this
option will behave just like HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS once the
history fills up with unique events.

HIST_FCNTL_LOCK
When writing out the history file, by default zsh uses ad-hoc
file locking to avoid known problems with locking on some
operating systems. With this option locking is done by means
of the system's fcntl call, where this method is available.
On recent operating systems this may provide better
performance, in particular avoiding history corruption when
files are stored on NFS.

HIST_FIND_NO_DUPS
When searching for history entries in the line editor, do not
display duplicates of a line previously found, even if the
duplicates are not contiguous.

HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS
If a new command line being added to the history list
duplicates an older one, the older command is removed from the
list (even if it is not the previous event).

HIST_IGNORE_DUPS (-h)
Do not enter command lines into the history list if they are
duplicates of the previous event.

HIST_IGNORE_SPACE (-g)
Remove command lines from the history list when the first
character on the line is a space, or when one of the expanded
aliases contains a leading space. Only normal aliases (not
global or suffix aliases) have this behaviour. Note that the
command lingers in the internal history until the next command
is entered before it vanishes, allowing you to briefly reuse
or edit the line. If you want to make it vanish right away
without entering another command, type a space and press
return.

HIST_LEX_WORDS
By default, shell history that is read in from files is split
into words on all white space. This means that arguments with
quoted whitespace are not correctly handled, with the
consequence that references to words in history lines that
have been read from a file may be inaccurate. When this
option is set, words read in from a history file are divided
up in a similar fashion to normal shell command line handling.
Although this produces more accurately delimited words, if the
size of the history file is large this can be slow. Trial and
error is necessary to decide.

HIST_NO_FUNCTIONS
Remove function definitions from the history list. Note that
the function lingers in the internal history until the next
command is entered before it vanishes, allowing you to briefly
reuse or edit the definition.

HIST_NO_STORE
Remove the history (fc -l) command from the history list when
invoked. Note that the command lingers in the internal
history until the next command is entered before it vanishes,
allowing you to briefly reuse or edit the line.

HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS
Remove superfluous blanks from each command line being added
to the history list.

HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY <D>
When the history file is re-written, we normally write out a
copy of the file named $HISTFILE.new and then rename it over
the old one. However, if this option is unset, we instead
truncate the old history file and write out the new version
in-place. If one of the history-appending options is enabled,
this option only has an effect when the enlarged history file
needs to be re-written to trim it down to size. Disable this
only if you have special needs, as doing so makes it possible
to lose history entries if zsh gets interrupted during the
save.

When writing out a copy of the history file, zsh preserves the
old file's permissions and group information, but will refuse
to write out a new file if it would change the history file's
owner.

HIST_SAVE_NO_DUPS
When writing out the history file, older commands that
duplicate newer ones are omitted.

HIST_VERIFY
Whenever the user enters a line with history expansion, don't
execute the line directly; instead, perform history expansion
and reload the line into the editing buffer.

INC_APPEND_HISTORY
This option works like APPEND_HISTORY except that new history
lines are added to the $HISTFILE incrementally (as soon as
they are entered), rather than waiting until the shell exits.
The file will still be periodically re-written to trim it when
the number of lines grows 20% beyond the value specified by
$SAVEHIST (see also the HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY option).

INC_APPEND_HISTORY_TIME
This option is a variant of INC_APPEND_HISTORY in which, where
possible, the history entry is written out to the file after
the command is finished, so that the time taken by the command
is recorded correctly in the history file in EXTENDED_HISTORY
format. This means that the history entry will not be
available immediately from other instances of the shell that
are using the same history file.

This option is only useful if INC_APPEND_HISTORY and
SHARE_HISTORY are turned off. The three options should be
considered mutually exclusive.

SHARE_HISTORY <K>

This option both imports new commands from the history file,
and also causes your typed commands to be appended to the
history file (the latter is like specifying
INC_APPEND_HISTORY, which should be turned off if this option
is in effect). The history lines are also output with
timestamps ala EXTENDED_HISTORY (which makes it easier to find
the spot where we left off reading the file after it gets
re-written).

By default, history movement commands visit the imported lines
as well as the local lines, but you can toggle this on and off
with the set-local-history zle binding. It is also possible
to create a zle widget that will make some commands ignore
imported commands, and some include them.

If you find that you want more control over when commands get
imported, you may wish to turn SHARE_HISTORY off,
INC_APPEND_HISTORY or INC_APPEND_HISTORY_TIME (see above) on,
and then manually import commands whenever you need them using
`fc -RI'.

Initialisation

ALL_EXPORT (-a, ksh: -a)
All parameters subsequently defined are automatically
exported.

GLOBAL_EXPORT <Z>
If this option is set, passing the -x flag to the builtins
declare, float, integer, readonly and typeset (but not local)
will also set the -g flag; hence parameters exported to the
environment will not be made local to the enclosing function,
unless they were already or the flag +g is given explicitly.
If the option is unset, exported parameters will be made local
in just the same way as any other parameter.

This option is set by default for backward compatibility; it
is not recommended that its behaviour be relied upon. Note
that the builtin export always sets both the -x and -g flags,
and hence its effect extends beyond the scope of the enclosing
function; this is the most portable way to achieve this
behaviour.

GLOBAL_RCS (+d) <D>
If this option is unset, the startup files /etc/zprofile,
/etc/zshrc, /etc/zlogin and /etc/zlogout will not be run. It
can be disabled and re-enabled at any time, including inside
local startup files (.zshrc, etc.).

RCS (+f) <D>
After /etc/zshenv is sourced on startup, source the .zshenv,
/etc/zprofile, .zprofile, /etc/zshrc, .zshrc, /etc/zlogin,
.zlogin, and .zlogout files, as described in the section
`Files'. If this option is unset, the /etc/zshenv file is
still sourced, but any of the others will not be; it can be
set at any time to prevent the remaining startup files after
the currently executing one from being sourced.

Input/Output
ALIASES <D>
Expand aliases.

CLOBBER (+C, ksh: +C) <D>
Allows `>' redirection to truncate existing files. Otherwise
`>!' or `>|' must be used to truncate a file.

If the option is not set, and the option APPEND_CREATE is also
not set, `>>!' or `>>|' must be used to create a file. If
either option is set, `>>' may be used.

CLOBBER_EMPTY
This option is only used if the option CLOBBER is not set:
note that it is set by default.

If this option is set, then regular files of zero length may
be ovewritten (`clobbered'). Note that it is possible another
process has written to the file between this test and use of
the file by the current process. This option should therefore
not be used in cases where files to be clobbered may be
written to asynchronously.

CORRECT (-0)
Try to correct the spelling of commands. Note that, when the
HASH_LIST_ALL option is not set or when some directories in
the path are not readable, this may falsely report spelling
errors the first time some commands are used.

The shell variable CORRECT_IGNORE may be set to a pattern to
match words that will never be offered as corrections.

CORRECT_ALL (-O)
Try to correct the spelling of all arguments in a line.

The shell variable CORRECT_IGNORE_FILE may be set to a pattern
to match file names that will never be offered as corrections.

DVORAK Use the Dvorak keyboard instead of the standard qwerty
keyboard as a basis for examining spelling mistakes for the
CORRECT and CORRECT_ALL options and the spell-word editor
command.

FLOW_CONTROL <D>
If this option is unset, output flow control via start/stop
characters (usually assigned to ^S/^Q) is disabled in the
shell's editor.

IGNORE_EOF (-7)
Do not exit on end-of-file. Require the use of exit or logout
instead. However, ten consecutive EOFs will cause the shell
to exit anyway, to avoid the shell hanging if its tty goes
away.

Also, if this option is set and the Zsh Line Editor is used,
widgets implemented by shell functions can be bound to EOF
(normally Control-D) without printing the normal warning
message. This works only for normal widgets, not for
completion widgets.

INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS (-k) <K> <S>
Allow comments even in interactive shells.

HASH_CMDS <D>
Note the location of each command the first time it is
executed. Subsequent invocations of the same command will use
the saved location, avoiding a path search. If this option is
unset, no path hashing is done at all. However, when CORRECT
is set, commands whose names do not appear in the functions or
aliases hash tables are hashed in order to avoid reporting
them as spelling errors.

HASH_DIRS <D>
Whenever a command name is hashed, hash the directory
containing it, as well as all directories that occur earlier
in the path. Has no effect if neither HASH_CMDS nor CORRECT
is set.

HASH_EXECUTABLES_ONLY
When hashing commands because of HASH_CMDS, check that the
file to be hashed is actually an executable. This option is
unset by default as if the path contains a large number of
commands, or consists of many remote files, the additional
tests can take a long time. Trial and error is needed to show
if this option is beneficial.

MAIL_WARNING (-U)
Print a warning message if a mail file has been accessed since
the shell last checked.

PATH_DIRS (-Q)
Perform a path search even on command names with slashes in
them. Thus if `/usr/local/bin' is in the user's path, and he
or she types `X11/xinit', the command
`/usr/local/bin/X11/xinit' will be executed (assuming it
exists). Commands explicitly beginning with `/', `./' or
`../' are not subject to the path search. This also applies
to the `.' and source builtins.

Note that subdirectories of the current directory are always
searched for executables specified in this form. This takes
place before any search indicated by this option, and
regardless of whether `.' or the current directory appear in
the command search path.

PATH_SCRIPT <K> <S>
If this option is not set, a script passed as the first
non-option argument to the shell must contain the name of the
file to open. If this option is set, and the script does not
specify a directory path, the script is looked for first in
the current directory, then in the command path. See the
section INVOCATION in zsh(1).

PRINT_EIGHT_BIT
Print eight bit characters literally in completion lists, etc.
This option is not necessary if your system correctly returns
the printability of eight bit characters (see ctype(3)).

PRINT_EXIT_VALUE (-1)
Print the exit value of programs with non-zero exit status.
This is only available at the command line in interactive
shells.

RC_QUOTES
Allow the character sequence `''' to signify a single quote
within singly quoted strings. Note this does not apply in
quoted strings using the format $'...', where a backslashed
single quote can be used.

RM_STAR_SILENT (-H) <K> <S>
Do not query the user before executing `rm *' or `rm path/*'.

RM_STAR_WAIT
If querying the user before executing `rm *' or `rm path/*',
first wait ten seconds and ignore anything typed in that time.
This avoids the problem of reflexively answering `yes' to the
query when one didn't really mean it. The wait and query can
always be avoided by expanding the `*' in ZLE (with tab).

SHORT_LOOPS <C> <Z>
Allow the short forms of for, repeat, select, if, and function
constructs.

SHORT_REPEAT
Allow the short form repeat as SHORT_LOOPS but without
enabling it for the other constructs.

SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK (-L)
If a line ends with a backquote, and there are an odd number
of backquotes on the line, ignore the trailing backquote.
This is useful on some keyboards where the return key is too
small, and the backquote key lies annoyingly close to it. As
an alternative the variable KEYBOARD_HACK lets you choose the
character to be removed.

Job Control

AUTO_CONTINUE
With this option set, stopped jobs that are removed from the
job table with the disown builtin command are automatically
sent a CONT signal to make them running.

AUTO_RESUME (-W)
Treat single word simple commands without redirection as
candidates for resumption of an existing job.

BG_NICE (-6) <C> <Z>
Run all background jobs at a lower priority. This option is
set by default.

CHECK_JOBS <Z>
Report the status of background and suspended jobs before
exiting a shell with job control; a second attempt to exit the
shell will succeed. NO_CHECK_JOBS is best used only in
combination with NO_HUP, else such jobs will be killed
automatically.

The check is omitted if the commands run from the previous
command line included a `jobs' command, since it is assumed
the user is aware that there are background or suspended jobs.
A `jobs' command run from one of the hook functions defined in
the section SPECIAL FUNCTIONS in zshmisc(1) is not counted for
this purpose.

CHECK_RUNNING_JOBS <Z>
Check for both running and suspended jobs when CHECK_JOBS is
enabled. When this option is disabled, zsh checks only for
suspended jobs, which matches the default behavior of bash.

This option has no effect unless CHECK_JOBS is set.

HUP <Z>
Send the HUP signal to running jobs when the shell exits.

LONG_LIST_JOBS (-R)
Print job notifications in the long format by default.

MONITOR (-m, ksh: -m)
Allow job control. Set by default in interactive shells.

NOTIFY (-5, ksh: -b) <Z>
Report the status of background jobs immediately, rather than
waiting until just before printing a prompt.

POSIX_JOBS <K> <S>
This option makes job control more compliant with the POSIX
standard.

When the option is not set, the MONITOR option is unset on
entry to subshells, so that job control is no longer active.
When the option is set, the MONITOR option and job control
remain active in the subshell, but note that the subshell has
no access to jobs in the parent shell.

When the option is not set, jobs put in the background or
foreground with bg or fg are displayed with the same
information that would be reported by jobs. When the option
is set, only the text is printed. The output from jobs itself
is not affected by the option.

When the option is not set, job information from the parent
shell is saved for output within a subshell (for example,
within a pipeline). When the option is set, the output of
jobs is empty until a job is started within the subshell.

In previous versions of the shell, it was necessary to enable
POSIX_JOBS in order for the builtin command wait to return the
status of background jobs that had already exited. This is no
longer the case.

Prompting

PROMPT_BANG <K>
If set, `!' is treated specially in prompt expansion. See
EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).

PROMPT_CR (+V) <D>
Print a carriage return just before printing a prompt in the
line editor. This is on by default as multi-line editing is
only possible if the editor knows where the start of the line
appears.

PROMPT_SP <D>
Attempt to preserve a partial line (i.e. a line that did not
end with a newline) that would otherwise be covered up by the
command prompt due to the PROMPT_CR option. This works by
outputting some cursor-control characters, including a series
of spaces, that should make the terminal wrap to the next line
when a partial line is present (note that this is only
successful if your terminal has automatic margins, which is
typical).

When a partial line is preserved, by default you will see an
inverse+bold character at the end of the partial line: a `%'
for a normal user or a `#' for root. If set, the shell
parameter PROMPT_EOL_MARK can be used to customize how the end
of partial lines are shown.

NOTE: if the PROMPT_CR option is not set, enabling this option
will have no effect. This option is on by default.

PROMPT_PERCENT <C> <Z>
If set, `%' is treated specially in prompt expansion. See
EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).

PROMPT_SUBST <K> <S>
If set, parameter expansion, command substitution and
arithmetic expansion are performed in prompts. Substitutions
within prompts do not affect the command status.

TRANSIENT_RPROMPT
Remove any right prompt from display when accepting a command
line. This may be useful with terminals with other cut/paste
methods.

Scripts and Functions

ALIAS_FUNC_DEF <S>
By default, zsh does not allow the definition of functions
using the `name ()' syntax if name was expanded as an alias:
this causes an error. This is usually the desired behaviour,
as otherwise the combination of an alias and a function based
on the same definition can easily cause problems.

When this option is set, aliases can be used for defining
functions.

For example, consider the following definitions as they might
occur in a startup file.

alias foo=bar
foo() {
print This probably does not do what you expect.
}

Here, foo is expanded as an alias to bar before the () is
encountered, so the function defined would be named bar. By
default this is instead an error in native mode. Note that
quoting any part of the function name, or using the keyword
function, avoids the problem, so is recommended when the
function name can also be an alias.

C_BASES
Output hexadecimal numbers in the standard C format, for
example `0xFF' instead of the usual `16#FF'. If the option
OCTAL_ZEROES is also set (it is not by default), octal numbers
will be treated similarly and hence appear as `077' instead of
`8#77'. This option has no effect on the choice of the output
base, nor on the output of bases other than hexadecimal and
octal. Note that these formats will be understood on input
irrespective of the setting of C_BASES.

C_PRECEDENCES
This alters the precedence of arithmetic operators to be more
like C and other programming languages; the section ARITHMETIC
EVALUATION in zshmisc(1) has an explicit list.

DEBUG_BEFORE_CMD <D>
Run the DEBUG trap before each command; otherwise it is run
after each command. Setting this option mimics the behaviour
of ksh 93; with the option unset the behaviour is that of ksh
88.

ERR_EXIT (-e, ksh: -e)
If a command has a non-zero exit status, execute the ZERR
trap, if set, and exit. This is disabled while running
initialization scripts.

The behaviour is also disabled inside DEBUG traps. In this
case the option is handled specially: it is unset on entry to
the trap. If the option DEBUG_BEFORE_CMD is set, as it is by
default, and the option ERR_EXIT is found to have been set on
exit, then the command for which the DEBUG trap is being
executed is skipped. The option is restored after the trap
exits.

Non-zero status in a command list containing && or || is
ignored for commands not at the end of the list. Hence

false && true

does not trigger exit.

Exiting due to ERR_EXIT has certain interactions with
asynchronous jobs noted in the section JOBS in zshmisc(1).

ERR_RETURN
If a command has a non-zero exit status, return immediately
from the enclosing function. The logic is similar to that for
ERR_EXIT, except that an implicit return statement is executed
instead of an exit. This will trigger an exit at the
outermost level of a non-interactive script.

Normally this option inherits the behaviour of ERR_EXIT that
code followed by `&&' `||' does not trigger a return. Hence
in the following:

summit || true

no return is forced as the combined effect always has a zero
return status.

Note. however, that if summit in the above example is itself a
function, code inside it is considered separately: it may
force a return from summit (assuming the option remains set
within summit), but not from the enclosing context. This
behaviour is different from ERR_EXIT which is unaffected by
function scope.

EVAL_LINENO <Z>
If set, line numbers of expressions evaluated using the
builtin eval are tracked separately of the enclosing
environment. This applies both to the parameter LINENO and
the line number output by the prompt escape %i. If the option
is set, the prompt escape %N will output the string `(eval)'
instead of the script or function name as an indication.
(The two prompt escapes are typically used in the parameter
PS4 to be output when the option XTRACE is set.) If
EVAL_LINENO is unset, the line number of the surrounding
script or function is retained during the evaluation.

EXEC (+n, ksh: +n) <D>
Do execute commands. Without this option, commands are read
and checked for syntax errors, but not executed. This option
cannot be turned off in an interactive shell, except when `-n'
is supplied to the shell at startup.

FUNCTION_ARGZERO <C> <Z>
When executing a shell function or sourcing a script, set $0
temporarily to the name of the function/script. Note that
toggling FUNCTION_ARGZERO from on to off (or off to on) does
not change the current value of $0. Only the state upon entry
to the function or script has an effect. Compare
POSIX_ARGZERO.

LOCAL_LOOPS
When this option is not set, the effect of break and continue
commands may propagate outside function scope, affecting loops
in calling functions. When the option is set in a calling
function, a break or a continue that is not caught within a
called function (regardless of the setting of the option
within that function) produces a warning and the effect is
cancelled.

LOCAL_OPTIONS <K>
If this option is set at the point of return from a shell
function, most options (including this one) which were in
force upon entry to the function are restored; options that
are not restored are PRIVILEGED and RESTRICTED. Otherwise,
only this option, and the LOCAL_LOOPS, XTRACE and
PRINT_EXIT_VALUE options are restored. Hence if this is
explicitly unset by a shell function the other options in
force at the point of return will remain so. A shell function
can also guarantee itself a known shell configuration with a
formulation like `emulate -L zsh'; the -L activates
LOCAL_OPTIONS.

LOCAL_PATTERNS
If this option is set at the point of return from a shell
function, the state of pattern disables, as set with the
builtin command `disable -p', is restored to what it was when
the function was entered. The behaviour of this option is
similar to the effect of LOCAL_OPTIONS on options; hence
`emulate -L sh' (or indeed any other emulation with the -L
option) activates LOCAL_PATTERNS.

LOCAL_TRAPS <K>
If this option is set when a signal trap is set inside a
function, then the previous status of the trap for that signal
will be restored when the function exits. Note that this
option must be set prior to altering the trap behaviour in a
function; unlike LOCAL_OPTIONS, the value on exit from the
function is irrelevant. However, it does not need to be set
before any global trap for that to be correctly restored by a
function. For example,

unsetopt localtraps
trap - INT
fn() { setopt localtraps; trap '' INT; sleep 3; }

will restore normal handling of SIGINT after the function
exits.

MULTI_FUNC_DEF <Z>
Allow definitions of multiple functions at once in the form
`fn1 fn2...()'; if the option is not set, this causes a parse
error. Definition of multiple functions with the function
keyword is always allowed. Multiple function definitions are
not often used and can cause obscure errors.

MULTIOS <Z>
Perform implicit tees or cats when multiple redirections are
attempted (see the section `Redirection').

OCTAL_ZEROES <S>
Interpret any integer constant beginning with a 0 as octal,
per IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (ISO 9945-2:1993). This is not
enabled by default as it causes problems with parsing of, for
example, date and time strings with leading zeroes.

Sequences of digits indicating a numeric base such as the `08'
component in `08#77' are always interpreted as decimal,
regardless of leading zeroes.

PIPE_FAIL
By default, when a pipeline exits the exit status recorded by
the shell and returned by the shell variable $? reflects that
of the rightmost element of a pipeline. If this option is
set, the exit status instead reflects the status of the
rightmost element of the pipeline that was non-zero, or zero
if all elements exited with zero status.

SOURCE_TRACE
If set, zsh will print an informational message announcing the
name of each file it loads. The format of the output is
similar to that for the XTRACE option, with the message
<sourcetrace>. A file may be loaded by the shell itself when
it starts up and shuts down (Startup/Shutdown Files) or by the
use of the `source' and `dot' builtin commands.

TYPESET_SILENT
If this is unset, executing any of the `typeset' family of
commands with no options and a list of parameters that have no
values to be assigned but already exist will display the value
of the parameter. If the option is set, they will only be
shown when parameters are selected with the `-m' option. The
option `-p' is available whether or not the option is set.

TYPESET_TO_UNSET <K> <S>
When declaring a new parameter with any of the `typeset'
family of related commands, the parameter remains unset unless
and until a value is explicity assigned to it, either in the
`typeset' command itself or as a later assignment statement.

VERBOSE (-v, ksh: -v)
Print shell input lines as they are read.

XTRACE (-x, ksh: -x)
Print commands and their arguments as they are executed. The
output is preceded by the value of $PS4, formatted as
described in the section EXPANSION OF PROMPT SEQUENCES in
zshmisc(1).

Shell Emulation

APPEND_CREATE <K> <S>
This option only applies when NO_CLOBBER (-C) is in effect.

If this option is not set, the shell will report an error when
a append redirection (>>) is used on a file that does not
already exists (the traditional zsh behaviour of NO_CLOBBER).
If the option is set, no error is reported (POSIX behaviour).

BASH_REMATCH
When set, matches performed with the =~ operator will set the
BASH_REMATCH array variable, instead of the default MATCH and
match variables. The first element of the BASH_REMATCH array
will contain the entire matched text and subsequent elements
will contain extracted substrings. This option makes more
sense when KSH_ARRAYS is also set, so that the entire matched
portion is stored at index 0 and the first substring is at
index 1. Without this option, the MATCH variable contains the
entire matched text and the match array variable contains
substrings.

BSD_ECHO <S>
Make the echo builtin compatible with the BSD echo(1) command.
This disables backslashed escape sequences in echo strings
unless the -e option is specified.

CONTINUE_ON_ERROR
If a fatal error is encountered (see the section ERRORS in
zshmisc(1)), and the code is running in a script, the shell
will resume execution at the next statement in the script at
the top level, in other words outside all functions or shell
constructs such as loops and conditions. This mimics the
behaviour of interactive shells, where the shell returns to
the line editor to read a new command; it was the normal
behaviour in versions of zsh before 5.0.1.

CSH_JUNKIE_HISTORY <C>
A history reference without an event specifier will always
refer to the previous command. Without this option, such a
history reference refers to the same event as the previous
history reference on the current command line, defaulting to
the previous command.

CSH_JUNKIE_LOOPS <C>
Allow loop bodies to take the form `list; end' instead of `do
list; done'.

CSH_JUNKIE_QUOTES <C>
Changes the rules for single- and double-quoted text to match
that of csh. These require that embedded newlines be preceded
by a backslash; unescaped newlines will cause an error
message. In double-quoted strings, it is made impossible to
escape `$', ``' or `"' (and `\' itself no longer needs
escaping). Command substitutions are only expanded once, and
cannot be nested.

CSH_NULLCMD <C>
Do not use the values of NULLCMD and READNULLCMD when running
redirections with no command. This make such redirections
fail (see the section `Redirection').

KSH_ARRAYS <K> <S>
Emulate ksh array handling as closely as possible. If this
option is set, array elements are numbered from zero, an array
parameter without subscript refers to the first element
instead of the whole array, and braces are required to delimit
a subscript (`${path[2]}' rather than just `$path[2]') or to
apply modifiers to any parameter (`${PWD:h}' rather than
`$PWD:h').

KSH_AUTOLOAD <K> <S>
Emulate ksh function autoloading. This means that when a
function is autoloaded, the corresponding file is merely
executed, and must define the function itself. (By default,
the function is defined to the contents of the file. However,
the most common ksh-style case - of the file containing only a
simple definition of the function - is always handled in the
ksh-compatible manner.)

KSH_OPTION_PRINT <K>
Alters the way options settings are printed: instead of
separate lists of set and unset options, all options are
shown, marked `on' if they are in the non-default state, `off'
otherwise.

KSH_TYPESET
This option is now obsolete: a better appropximation to the
behaviour of other shells is obtained with the reserved word
interface to declare, export, float, integer, local, readonly
and typeset. Note that the option is only applied when the
reserved word interface is not in use.

Alters the way arguments to the typeset family of commands,
including declare, export, float, integer, local and readonly,
are processed. Without this option, zsh will perform normal
word splitting after command and parameter expansion in
arguments of an assignment; with it, word splitting does not
take place in those cases.

KSH_ZERO_SUBSCRIPT
Treat use of a subscript of value zero in array or string
expressions as a reference to the first element, i.e. the
element that usually has the subscript 1. Ignored if
KSH_ARRAYS is also set.

If neither this option nor KSH_ARRAYS is set, accesses to an
element of an array or string with subscript zero return an
empty element or string, while attempts to set element zero of
an array or string are treated as an error. However, attempts
to set an otherwise valid subscript range that includes zero
will succeed. For example, if KSH_ZERO_SUBSCRIPT is not set,

array[0]=(element)

is an error, while

array[0,1]=(element)

is not and will replace the first element of the array.

This option is for compatibility with older versions of the
shell and is not recommended in new code.

POSIX_ALIASES <K> <S>
When this option is set, reserved words are not candidates for
alias expansion: it is still possible to declare any of them
as an alias, but the alias will never be expanded. Reserved
words are described in the section RESERVED WORDS in
zshmisc(1).

Alias expansion takes place while text is being read; hence
when this option is set it does not take effect until the end
of any function or other piece of shell code parsed as one
unit. Note this may cause differences from other shells even
when the option is in effect. For example, when running a
command with `zsh -c', or even `zsh -o posixaliases -c', the
entire command argument is parsed as one unit, so aliases
defined within the argument are not available even in later
lines. If in doubt, avoid use of aliases in non-interactive
code.

POSIX_ARGZERO
This option may be used to temporarily disable
FUNCTION_ARGZERO and thereby restore the value of $0 to the
name used to invoke the shell (or as set by the -c command
line option). For compatibility with previous versions of the
shell, emulations use NO_FUNCTION_ARGZERO instead of
POSIX_ARGZERO, which may result in unexpected scoping of $0 if
the emulation mode is changed inside a function or script. To
avoid this, explicitly enable POSIX_ARGZERO in the emulate
command:

emulate sh -o POSIX_ARGZERO

Note that NO_POSIX_ARGZERO has no effect unless
FUNCTION_ARGZERO was already enabled upon entry to the
function or script.

POSIX_BUILTINS <K> <S>
When this option is set the command builtin can be used to
execute shell builtin commands. Parameter assignments
specified before shell functions and special builtins are kept
after the command completes unless the special builtin is
prefixed with the command builtin. Special builtins are ., :,
break, continue, declare, eval, exit, export, integer, local,
readonly, return, set, shift, source, times, trap and unset.

In addition, various error conditions associated with the
above builtins or exec cause a non-interactive shell to exit
and an interactive shell to return to its top-level
processing.

Furthermore, functions and shell builtins are not executed
after an exec prefix; the command to be executed must be an
external command found in the path.

Furthermore, the getopts builtin behaves in a POSIX-compatible
fashion in that the associated variable OPTIND is not made
local to functions, and its value is calculated differently to
match other shells.

Moreover, the warning and special exit code from [[ -o
non_existent_option ]] are suppressed.

POSIX_IDENTIFIERS <K> <S>
When this option is set, only the ASCII characters a to z, A
to Z, 0 to 9 and _ may be used in identifiers (names of shell
parameters and modules).

In addition, setting this option limits the effect of
parameter substitution with no braces, so that the expression
$# is treated as the parameter $# even if followed by a valid
parameter name. When it is unset, zsh allows expressions of
the form $#name to refer to the length of $name, even for
special variables, for example in expressions such as $#- and
$#*.

Another difference is that with the option set assignment to
an unset variable in arithmetic context causes the variable to
be created as a scalar rather than a numeric type. So after
`unset t; (( t = 3 ))'. without POSIX_IDENTIFIERS set t has
integer type, while with it set it has scalar type.

When the option is unset and multibyte character support is
enabled (i.e. it is compiled in and the option MULTIBYTE is
set), then additionally any alphanumeric characters in the
local character set may be used in identifiers. Note that
scripts and functions written with this feature are not
portable, and also that both options must be set before the
script or function is parsed; setting them during execution is
not sufficient as the syntax variable=value has already been
parsed as a command rather than an assignment.

If multibyte character support is not compiled into the shell
this option is ignored; all octets with the top bit set may be
used in identifiers. This is non-standard but is the
traditional zsh behaviour.

POSIX_STRINGS <K> <S>
This option affects processing of quoted strings. Currently
it only affects the behaviour of null characters, i.e.
character 0 in the portable character set corresponding to US
ASCII.

When this option is not set, null characters embedded within
strings of the form $'...' are treated as ordinary characters.
The entire string is maintained within the shell and output to
files where necessary, although owing to restrictions of the
library interface the string is truncated at the null
character in file names, environment variables, or in
arguments to external programs.

When this option is set, the $'...' expression is truncated at
the null character. Note that remaining parts of the same
string beyond the termination of the quotes are not truncated.

For example, the command line argument a$'b\0c'd is treated
with the option off as the characters a, b, null, c, d, and
with the option on as the characters a, b, d.

POSIX_TRAPS <K> <S>
When this option is set, the usual zsh behaviour of executing
traps for EXIT on exit from shell functions is suppressed. In
that case, manipulating EXIT traps always alters the global
trap for exiting the shell; the LOCAL_TRAPS option is ignored
for the EXIT trap.

Also, a return statement executed in a trap with no argument
passes back from the function the value from the surrounding
context, not from code executed within the trap.

Furthermore, if a trap is set to be ignored, this state
persists when a subshell is entered. Without the option, the
trap would be reset to its default state at this point.

SH_FILE_EXPANSION <K> <S>
Perform filename expansion (e.g., ~ expansion) before
parameter expansion, command substitution, arithmetic
expansion and brace expansion. If this option is unset, it is
performed after brace expansion, so things like `~$USERNAME'
and `~{pfalstad,rc}' will work.

SH_NULLCMD <K> <S>
Do not use the values of NULLCMD and READNULLCMD when doing
redirections, use `:' instead (see the section `Redirection').

SH_OPTION_LETTERS <K> <S>
If this option is set the shell tries to interpret single
letter options (which are used with set and setopt) like ksh
does. This also affects the value of the - special parameter.

SH_WORD_SPLIT (-y) <K> <S>
Causes field splitting to be performed on unquoted parameter
expansions. Note that this option has nothing to do with word
splitting. (See zshexpn(1).)

TRAPS_ASYNC
While waiting for a program to exit, handle signals and run
traps immediately. Otherwise the trap is run after a child
process has exited. Note this does not affect the point at
which traps are run for any case other than when the shell is
waiting for a child process.

Shell State

INTERACTIVE (-i, ksh: -i)
This is an interactive shell. This option is set upon
initialisation if the standard input is a tty and commands are
being read from standard input. (See the discussion of
SHIN_STDIN.) This heuristic may be overridden by specifying a
state for this option on the command line. The value of this
option can only be changed via flags supplied at invocation of
the shell. It cannot be changed once zsh is running.

LOGIN (-l, ksh: -l)
This is a login shell. If this option is not explicitly set,
the shell becomes a login shell if the first character of the
argv[0] passed to the shell is a `-'.

PRIVILEGED (-p, ksh: -p)
Turn on privileged mode. Typically this is used when script is
to be run with elevated privileges. This should be done as
follows directly with the -p option to zsh so that it takes
effect during startup.

#!/bin/zsh -p

The option is enabled automatically on startup if the
effective user (group) ID is not equal to the real user
(group) ID. In this case, turning the option off causes the
effective user and group IDs to be set to the real user and
group IDs. Be aware that if that fails the shell may be
running with different IDs than was intended so a script
should check for failure and act accordingly, for example:

unsetopt privileged || exit

The PRIVILEGED option disables sourcing user startup files.
If zsh is invoked as `sh' or `ksh' with this option set,
/etc/suid_profile is sourced (after /etc/profile on
interactive shells). Sourcing ~/.profile is disabled and the
contents of the ENV variable is ignored. This option cannot be
changed using the -m option of setopt and unsetopt, and
changing it inside a function always changes it globally
regardless of the LOCAL_OPTIONS option.

RESTRICTED (-r)
Enables restricted mode. This option cannot be changed using
unsetopt, and setting it inside a function always changes it
globally regardless of the LOCAL_OPTIONS option. See the
section `Restricted Shell'.

SHIN_STDIN (-s, ksh: -s)
Commands are being read from the standard input. Commands are
read from standard input if no command is specified with -c
and no file of commands is specified. If SHIN_STDIN is set
explicitly on the command line, any argument that would
otherwise have been taken as a file to run will instead be
treated as a normal positional parameter. Note that setting
or unsetting this option on the command line does not
necessarily affect the state the option will have while the
shell is running - that is purely an indicator of whether or
not commands are actually being read from standard input. The
value of this option can only be changed via flags supplied at
invocation of the shell. It cannot be changed once zsh is
running.

SINGLE_COMMAND (-t, ksh: -t)
If the shell is reading from standard input, it exits after a
single command has been executed. This also makes the shell
non-interactive, unless the INTERACTIVE option is explicitly
set on the command line. The value of this option can only be
changed via flags supplied at invocation of the shell. It
cannot be changed once zsh is running.

Zle

BEEP (+B) <D>
Beep on error in ZLE.

COMBINING_CHARS
Assume that the terminal displays combining characters
correctly. Specifically, if a base alphanumeric character is
followed by one or more zero-width punctuation characters,
assume that the zero-width characters will be displayed as
modifications to the base character within the same width.
Not all terminals handle this. If this option is not set,
zero-width characters are displayed separately with special
mark-up.

If this option is set, the pattern test [[:WORD:]] matches a
zero-width punctuation character on the assumption that it
will be used as part of a word in combination with a word
character. Otherwise the base shell does not handle combining
characters specially.

EMACS If ZLE is loaded, turning on this option has the equivalent
effect of `bindkey -e'. In addition, the VI option is unset.
Turning it off has no effect. The option setting is not
guaranteed to reflect the current keymap. This option is
provided for compatibility; bindkey is the recommended
interface.

OVERSTRIKE
Start up the line editor in overstrike mode.

SINGLE_LINE_ZLE (-M) <K>
Use single-line command line editing instead of multi-line.

Note that although this is on by default in ksh emulation it
only provides superficial compatibility with the ksh line
editor and reduces the effectiveness of the zsh line editor.
As it has no effect on shell syntax, many users may wish to
disable this option when using ksh emulation interactively.

VI If ZLE is loaded, turning on this option has the equivalent
effect of `bindkey -v'. In addition, the EMACS option is
unset. Turning it off has no effect. The option setting is
not guaranteed to reflect the current keymap. This option is
provided for compatibility; bindkey is the recommended
interface.

ZLE (-Z)
Use the zsh line editor. Set by default in interactive shells
connected to a terminal.

OPTION ALIASES

Some options have alternative names. These aliases are never used
for output, but can be used just like normal option names when
specifying options to the shell.

BRACE_EXPAND
NO_IGNORE_BRACES (ksh and bash compatibility)

DOT_GLOB
GLOB_DOTS (bash compatibility)

HASH_ALL
HASH_CMDS (bash compatibility)

HIST_APPEND
APPEND_HISTORY (bash compatibility)

HIST_EXPAND
BANG_HIST (bash compatibility)

LOG NO_HIST_NO_FUNCTIONS (ksh compatibility)

MAIL_WARN
MAIL_WARNING (bash compatibility)

ONE_CMD
SINGLE_COMMAND (bash compatibility)

PHYSICAL
CHASE_LINKS (ksh and bash compatibility)

PROMPT_VARS
PROMPT_SUBST (bash compatibility)

STDIN SHIN_STDIN (ksh compatibility)

TRACK_ALL
HASH_CMDS (ksh compatibility)

SINGLE LETTER OPTIONS

Default set

-0 CORRECT
-1 PRINT_EXIT_VALUE
-2 NO_BAD_PATTERN
-3 NO_NOMATCH
-4 GLOB_DOTS
-5 NOTIFY
-6 BG_NICE
-7 IGNORE_EOF
-8 MARK_DIRS
-9 AUTO_LIST
-B NO_BEEP
-C NO_CLOBBER
-D PUSHD_TO_HOME
-E PUSHD_SILENT
-F NO_GLOB
-G NULL_GLOB
-H RM_STAR_SILENT
-I IGNORE_BRACES
-J AUTO_CD
-K NO_BANG_HIST
-L SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK
-M SINGLE_LINE_ZLE
-N AUTO_PUSHD
-O CORRECT_ALL
-P RC_EXPAND_PARAM
-Q PATH_DIRS
-R LONG_LIST_JOBS
-S REC_EXACT
-T CDABLE_VARS
-U MAIL_WARNING
-V NO_PROMPT_CR
-W AUTO_RESUME
-X LIST_TYPES
-Y MENU_COMPLETE
-Z ZLE
-a ALL_EXPORT
-e ERR_EXIT
-f NO_RCS
-g HIST_IGNORE_SPACE
-h HIST_IGNORE_DUPS
-i INTERACTIVE
-k INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS
-l LOGIN
-m MONITOR
-n NO_EXEC
-p PRIVILEGED
-r RESTRICTED
-s SHIN_STDIN
-t SINGLE_COMMAND
-u NO_UNSET
-v VERBOSE
-w CHASE_LINKS
-x XTRACE
-y SH_WORD_SPLIT

sh/ksh emulation set
-C NO_CLOBBER
-T TRAPS_ASYNC
-X MARK_DIRS
-a ALL_EXPORT
-b NOTIFY
-e ERR_EXIT
-f NO_GLOB
-i INTERACTIVE
-l LOGIN
-m MONITOR
-n NO_EXEC
-p PRIVILEGED
-r RESTRICTED
-s SHIN_STDIN
-t SINGLE_COMMAND
-u NO_UNSET
-v VERBOSE
-x XTRACE

Also note

-A Used by set for setting arrays
-b Used on the command line to specify end of option processing
-c Used on the command line to specify a single command
-m Used by setopt for pattern-matching option setting
-o Used in all places to allow use of long option names
-s Used by set to sort positional parameters

zsh 5.9 May 14, 2022 ZSHOPTIONS(1)