yamlANYyamlstringplain
yaml
message: Hello worldPlain scalars are concise, but they can be misread when values look like booleans, dates, or special tokens.
YAML Scalars, Strings, and Multiline Blocks
Plain scalars, quoted strings, literal and folded blocks, and the quoting rules that prevent common YAML mistakes.
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Strings and quoting
How plain, single-quoted, and double-quoted strings behave in YAML.
yamlANYyamlstringsingle-quotes
yaml
path: 'C:\Users\jonathan
otes'Single quotes reduce escaping needs. To include a single quote, double it.
yamlANYyamlstringdouble-quotesescapes
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message: "Line 1
Line 2"Double quotes support common escape sequences and are useful for values needing explicit escaping.
yamlANYyamlmultilineliteral-block
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body: |
Thanks for your patience.
Please find attached the executed agreement.Literal blocks preserve newlines and are ideal for emails, certificates, Markdown, or shell scripts.
yamlANYyamlmultilinefolded-block
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summary: >
ExpressYou helps people communicate with
more clarity, confidence, and connection.Folded blocks convert line breaks into spaces, which is useful for longer prose values.
Scalar gotchas
Examples that prevent hard-to-debug YAML parsing surprises.
yamlANYyamlbooleansquoting
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answer: "yes"
feature_flag: trueIn some parsers or older YAML variants, words like yes/no/on/off may be interpreted as booleans.
yamlANYyamldatesquoting
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release: "2026-03-28"Quote values when you need them treated as strings instead of dates or timestamps.
bashANYyamlyqquery
bash
yq '.app.name' app.yamlUseful in scripts and CI jobs that need one config value.
bashANYyamlyqedit
bash
yq -i '.app.version = "1.2.0"' app.yamlA convenient way to bump versions or toggle config values automatically.
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