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doc: remove spawn with shell example from bat/cmd section #62243

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doc: remove spawn with shell example from bat/cmd section
kovan Mar 13, 2026
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Update doc/api/child_process.md
kovan Mar 14, 2026
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19 changes: 7 additions & 12 deletions doc/api/child_process.md
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Expand Up @@ -120,23 +120,21 @@ however, `.bat` and `.cmd` files are not executable on their own without a
terminal, and therefore cannot be launched using [`child_process.execFile()`][].
When running on Windows, `.bat` and `.cmd` files can be invoked by:

* using [`child_process.spawn()`][] with the `shell` option set, or
* using [`child_process.exec()`][], or
* spawning `cmd.exe` and passing the `.bat` or `.cmd` file as an argument
(which is what the `shell` option and [`child_process.exec()`][] do).
(which is what [`child_process.exec()`][] does internally).

In any case, if the script filename contains spaces, it needs to be quoted.

Using [`child_process.spawn()`][] with the `shell` option is not recommended
because passing arguments that way is deprecated ([DEP0190][]).

```cjs
const { exec, spawn } = require('node:child_process');

// 1. child_process.spawn() with the shell option set
const myBat = spawn('my.bat', { shell: true });

// 2. child_process.exec()
exec('my.bat', (err, stdout, stderr) => { /* ... */ });

// 3. spawning cmd.exe and passing the .bat or .cmd file as an argument
// Or, spawning cmd.exe directly:
const bat = spawn('cmd.exe', ['/c', 'my.bat']);

// If the script filename contains spaces, it needs to be quoted
Expand All @@ -146,13 +144,9 @@ exec('"my script.cmd" a b', (err, stdout, stderr) => { /* ... */ });
```mjs
import { exec, spawn } from 'node:child_process';

// 1. child_process.spawn() with the shell option set
const myBat = spawn('my.bat', { shell: true });

// 2. child_process.exec()
exec('my.bat', (err, stdout, stderr) => { /* ... */ });

// 3. spawning cmd.exe and passing the .bat or .cmd file as an argument
// Or, spawning cmd.exe directly:
const bat = spawn('cmd.exe', ['/c', 'my.bat']);

// If the script filename contains spaces, it needs to be quoted
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -2364,6 +2358,7 @@ Therefore, this feature requires opting in by setting the
or [`child_process.fork()`][].

[Advanced serialization]: #advanced-serialization
[DEP0190]: deprecations.md#DEP0190
[Default Windows shell]: #default-windows-shell
[HTML structured clone algorithm]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Workers_API/Structured_clone_algorithm
[Shell requirements]: #shell-requirements
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