Cypress PowerShell: broken comma-separated-values CLI parsing since NodeJS 22.0.0

[alexsch01]

PowerShell Command

npx cypress run --env a=1,b=2,c=3

Current behavior

{ a: '1 b=2 c=3' }

NodeJS 22.0.0 is different from older versions that it includes C:\Program Files\nodejs\npx.ps1 file

Desired behavior

{ a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }

Test code to reproduce

cypress/e2e/spec.cy.js

it('', () => {
    cy.task('log', Cypress.env())
})

cypress.config.js

const { defineConfig } = require('cypress');

module.exports = defineConfig({
    e2e: {
        supportFile: false,
        screenshotOnRunFailure: false,
        setupNodeEvents(on) {
            on('task', {
                log(str) {
                    console.log(str)
                    return null;
                },
            });
        },
    },
});

Cypress Version

any (14.3.2 tested)

Node version

v22.0.0+ (v22.15.0 tested)

Operating System

Windows 10 22H2

Extra Information

1. This issue affects --env and --config parsing
2. Deleting C:\Program Files\nodejs\npx.ps1 is a workaround

[MikeMcC399]

@alexsch01

https://docs.cypress.io/app/references/environment-variables#Option-4---env

[MikeMcC399]

• duplicates similar to issue CLI (env) options not correctly parsed cypress#27176

[alexsch01]

Not a duplicate because that specific issue no longer is reproducible on the newest Cypress version with NodeJS 16.18.1

I'm surprised nobody reported on this issue

[MikeMcC399]

@alexsch01

Not a duplicate because that specific issue no longer is reproducible on the newest Cypress version with NodeJS 16.18.1

I changed it to "similar to ..." since the resolution was to enclose the option in quotes when using Windows PowerShell and this led to the addition of this instruction to the documentation.

The resolution of your issue would be to add quotes to your command in PowerShell:

npx cypress run --env "a=1,b=2,c=3"

You can see this also if you use cypress open, then view Settings -> Project settings -> Resolved configuration

Windows 11 24H2
Node.js 22.15.0
npm 10.9.2
PSVersion 5.1.26100.3912
Cypress 14.3.2

npx cypress open --e2e --browser electron --env "a=1,b=2,c=3"

[jennifer-shehane]

Perhaps we should update out docs to always recommend comments around the values?

[MikeMcC399]

@jennifer-shehane

Perhaps we should update out docs to always recommend comments around the values?

Good point. The instructions are a little hidden on https://docs.cypress.io/app/references/environment-variables#Option-4---env and there is nothing on the https://docs.cypress.io/app/references/command-line about special requirements of PowerShell. I believe it is due to the comma character causing PowerShell to split out the parameters. Quoting the parameter stops PowerShell from attempting any further parsing.

This issue should probably go into https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress-documentation or a new one could be opened there.

[alexsch01]

Ok I made a npm PR based on patch here npm/cli#8267

hopefully this could get backported to NodeJS 22 and NodeJS 24 at some point

[jennifer-shehane]

Moved issue to docs

[MikeMcC399]

@alexsch01

Thanks for finding the cli issue and following up with npm!

I suggest to wait for the resolution of the npm PR npm/cli#8267 before adding anything to the Cypress documentation, which already contains a hint in https://docs.cypress.io/app/references/environment-variables#Option-4---env

It looks like only PowerShell with npx for Node.js >=22 is affected. Running a script with npm, where the environment parameters are unquoted, works correctly

  "scripts": {
    "cy:env": "cypress run --env a=1,b=2"
  },

npm run cy:env

{ a: 1, b: 2 }

[MikeMcC399]

This issue also affects Yarn and pnpm running in Windows with PowerShell, so probably the npm PR will not fix all situations.

command	result
npx cypress run --env a=1,b=2	incorrect
npm exec -c 'cypress run --env a=1,b=2'	correct
npm run cy:env	correct
yarn cypress run --env a=1,b=2	incorrect (Classic and Modern)
pnpm cypress run --env a=1,b=2	incorrect

For Yarn and pnpm the issue is also present with Node.js 20.

These PowerShell inconsistencies are not really something that Cypress can sort out. The pragmatic solution is to use quotes if necessary.