SC2191 – ShellCheck Wiki

The `=` here is literal. To assign by index, use `( [index]=value )` with no spaces. To keep as literal, quote it.

Problematic code:

array=( [index] = value )

Correct code:

array=( [index]=value )

Rationale:

The shell doesn't care about the = sign in your array assignment because it's not part of a recognized index assignment. Instead, it's considered a literal character and becomes part of an array element's value.

In the example problematic code, this is because the = was intended to set the index, but the shell will not recognize it when it is surrounded by spaces.

Make sure to remove any spaces around the = when assigning by index, such as in the correct code.

If you wanted the = to be a literal part of the array element, add quotes around it, such as env=( "LC_CTYPE=C" ) or specialChars=( "=" "%" ";" ) .

Exceptions:

None.