Why is `source ~/.bash_aliases` exiting with syntax error?

Question

What is the syntax error in this file? I can't spot it.

set-k8s-azure() { 
  export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.azure-1 
}

set-k8s-minikube() { export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.minikube }

minikube() {
  if [[ $@ == start* ]]; then
    set-k8s-minikube
  fi
  command minikube "$@"
}

alias pulr='if output=$(git status --porcelain) && [ -z "$output" ]; then git pull --rebase; else git stash save "pulr WIP saved" && git pull --rebase && git stash pop; fi'
alias vi=nvim

source ~/.bash_aliases produces:

bash: /home/niel/.bash_aliases: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `('
bash: /home/niel/.bash_aliases: line 1: `set-k8s-azure() { '

Answer 1

I believe that the syntax error is here:

set-k8s-minikube() { export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.minikube }

The {...} construct needs either a newline or a ; before the final }:

set-k8s-minikube() { export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.minikube; }

Also, I'd advise that you use $HOME rather than ~ in scripts, partly because it serves as documentation and partly because $HOME behaves like a variable whereas ~ does not (see Why doesn't the tilde (~) expand inside double quotes?).

Answer 2

Dashes are not valid in function names. (For more details, see Are there problems with hyphens in functions, aliases, and executables?) Bash is normally tolerant of certain invalid chars, but in some cases it's not, and I have no idea why, though I've seen this before. So replace the dashes with underscores (and add a semicolon like Kusalananda said) and it'll be fine:

set_k8s_azure() { 
  export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.azure-1 
}

set_k8s_minikube() { export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config.minikube; }