Handling File Paths and Special Characters in YAML for CI Pipelines

When writing YAML scripts for CI/CD pipelines, it's important to use the correct file path format and handle special characters properly. A common issue developers face is using Windows-style backslashes (\) in paths, which YAML and many tools like Visual Studio interpret as escape characters. Another is forgetting to quote paths that contain special characters like *.

To avoid these issues, follow these simple practices.

Use Forward Slashes Instead of Backslashes

Always use forward slashes / in your paths. This format works on all platforms and avoids YAML parsing errors.

Instead of: {project}\publish\bin

Use:

{project}/publish/bin

Quote Paths with Special Characters

If your path includes special characters such as *, wrap the string in double quotes. This tells YAML to treat the entire string as a literal value, not as a command or reference.

Correct usage:

"{project}/publish/bin/*"

General Tips for YAML Paths

• Use forward slashes for compatibility and readability
• Double-quote strings that include wildcards, colons, hashes, or spaces
• Avoid trailing slashes unless required by the tool

These small adjustments help make your YAML files more robust and portable.