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- = Shell vs Exec
- OliveTin supports two different methods to run commands: `shell` and `exec`. The difference between these two is that "shell" accepts strings, and will wrap that whole command in a shell with "bash -c". Exec uses a syscall directly to execute commands.
- * **Shell** is more flexible, because it allows you to chain commands (eg, using &&) and redirect or pipe output (eg: ">" or "|").
- * **Exec** is more secure, because it does not invoke a shell, and thus avoids shell injection attacks.
- Shell can be safe and secure with simple argument types (like ascii_identifier), but some argument types like URL can contain basically any character - /, :, ?, &, etc - which can lead to shell injection vulnerabilities while still being a valid URL.
- OliveTin will try and prevent you from using dangerous characters in shell commands (eg, URL is no longer permitted with Shell).
- The way that you specify these two types of execution is different - `shell` expects a single string, while `exec` expects a list of strings (the first being the command, the rest being the arguments).
- [source,yaml]
- .Using Shell
- ----
- actions:
- - title: List files
- shell: ls -l /some/directory
- ----
- [source,yaml]
- .Using Exec
- ----
- actions:
- - title: List files
- exec:
- - ls
- - -l
- - /some/directory
- ----
- When in doubt, prefer `exec` over `shell` for better security. Shell was added in both OliveTin 3k and OliveTin 2k in October 2025.
- == What's Next?
- Now that you understand execution methods, continue building your actions:
- * xref:action_execution/create_your_first.adoc[Create your first action] - Build a simple action to get started
- * xref:args/intro.adoc[Add arguments to actions] - Make actions interactive with user input
- * xref:action_execution/oncron.adoc[Schedule actions] - Set up automated execution
- * xref:action_execution/onwebhook.adoc[Trigger via webhooks] - Integrate with external systems
- * xref:security/concepts.adoc[Configure security] - Secure your actions with authentication and authorization
- * xref:action_examples/intro.adoc[Browse examples] - See real-world action configurations
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