I'm not sure that I follow: you chose options "-exc" so: XTRACE (-x, ksh: -x) Print commands and their arguments as they are executed. So if you use "zs

I'm not sure that I follow: you chose options "-exc" so: XTRACE (-x, ksh: -x) Print commands and their arguments as they are executed. So if you use "zsh -ec" does it still surprise you? -x is the most invaluable tool in my shell-debugging toolkit. It is great to see every command evaluated and run alongside the script output itself. I use it multiple times per day at work.