# Working with str-list options

**URL:** <https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/working-with-str-list-options/2713>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [June 25, 2025, 7:11pm UTC](https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/working-with-str-list-options/2713 "2025-06-25T19:11:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/user_avatar/discuss.kakoune.com/jordan-yee/32/592_2.png) [@jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/u/jordan-yee)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 7:11pm UTC](https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/working-with-str-list-options/2713/1 "2025-06-25T19:11:54Z")

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Is it possible to work with a `str-list` option like a stack or array?

Is this option type effectively just a string that you can concat to with `set -add`?

If I add several string values that each may contain spaces to a `str-list`, then is it possible to retrieve, say, the first item?

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**Author:** ![jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/user_avatar/discuss.kakoune.com/jordan-yee/32/592_2.png) [@jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/u/jordan-yee)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/working-with-str-list-options/2713/2 "2025-06-25T19:21:07Z")

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This post seems like a good reference for implementing pushing/popping to a str-list, but also seems to confirm my suspicion that you’d have to manually manage the format of each item added to the list.

> [@Tag stack](https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/tag-stack/1254):
>
> One feature from Vim that I was missing in Kakoune is the tag stack. Here is a very basic implementation: declare-option str-list tagstack "" declare-option str tagstack\_cmd "ctags-search" define-command -override -params 1 tagstack-push %{ set-option global tagstack "%val{buffile}" "%val{cursor\_line}" \ "%val{cursor\_column}" "%arg{1}" %opt{tagstack} try %{ %opt{tagstack\_cmd} "%arg{1}" } catch %{ tagstack-pop fail "tag not found %arg{1}" } } define-command -override ta…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/user_avatar/discuss.kakoune.com/jordan-yee/32/592_2.png) [@jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/u/jordan-yee)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/working-with-str-list-options/2713/3 "2025-06-25T21:59:33Z")

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Based on the previously referenced example, this is a minimal demonstration for working with with `str-list` options via shell expansion:

```auto
define-command example_str_list_consumer %{
    declare-option str-list mystrlst
    set-option global mystrlst

    set-option -add global mystrlst "list item 1"
    set-option -add global mystrlst "list item 2"

    evaluate-commands %sh{
        eval "set -- $kak_quoted_opt_mystrlst"
        printf "echo -debug ''\n"
        printf "echo -debug 'arg count: %s'\n" "$#"
        printf "echo -debug 'all args: %s'\n" "$*"
        printf "echo -debug 'arg 1: %s'\n" "$1"
        printf "echo -debug 'arg 2: %s'\n" "$2"
        printf "buffer *debug*\n"
    }
}

```

This will open the debug buffer with the following entries:

```auto

arg count: 2
all args: list item 1 list item 2
arg 1: list item 1
arg 2: list item 2

```

When referenced in this way, each item in the str-list option is preserved, spaces and all!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Screwtapello](https://discuss.kakoune.com/user_avatar/discuss.kakoune.com/screwtapello/32/12_2.png) [@Screwtapello](https://discuss.kakoune.com/u/Screwtapello)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 4:56am UTC](https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/working-with-str-list-options/2713/4 "2025-06-26T04:56:49Z")

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As you’ve discovered, a `str-list` is more like a set or even a bag than a stack or an array. It keeps each item separately (there’s no need for a delimiter character or worrying about escaping) but you can’t easily iterate over the items from within Kakoune, or grab an item by index.

Beyond just adding and removing items, you can also access items by index if you write a custom command:

```auto
define-command -params 5.. access-by-index %{
    info "Item 3 is %arg{3} and item 5 is %arg{5}"
}
access-by-index %opt{mystrlst}

```

You can also filter the list for items matching a regex, by copying the option into a register, pasting the register into a scratch buffer, using `<a-k>` to filter the selections, then yanking the results back into a register and copying it back to the option.

If you bring the option into a shell block with `$kak_quoted_opt_mystrlst` then you get a lot more flexibility, of course.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/user_avatar/discuss.kakoune.com/jordan-yee/32/592_2.png) [@jordan-yee](https://discuss.kakoune.com/u/jordan-yee)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://discuss.kakoune.com/t/working-with-str-list-options/2713/5 "2025-07-01T02:33:41Z")

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Those are all great tips. I never considered the possibility that a list option could represent an arg list for a plain kak command. Thanks!