Bash error: "unexpected EOF while looking for matching `)`"

Error String

bash: unexpected EOF while looking for matching `)'

Tldr

This parse error means Bash hit end-of-input while still inside a $(...) command substitution because a quote or parenthesis inside it was never closed. Count your quotes carefully, or switch the inner string to a different quote style so it does not collide with the outer one.

Cause

Command substitution $(...) is parsed as a nested command, so quotes inside it must balance independently, but a stray unescaped quote character anywhere in the surrounding line can confuse the parser into treating text after it as still being inside the substitution, so it never finds a matching close-paren before EOF. The classic trigger is mixing single quotes inside a $() that is itself inside single quotes, or an unescaped apostrophe inside a single-quoted string.

Repro

#!/usr/bin/env bash
echo "Result: $(echo 'it's broken)"
# bash: -c: line 1: unexpected EOF while looking for matching `)'

Fix

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# Use double quotes inside, since the outer text is double-quoted
echo "Result: $(echo "it's fine")"

# Or escape the apostrophe within single quotes: close, escaped quote, reopen
echo "Result: $(echo 'it'\''s fine')"

# Or use 
#39;' ANSI-C quoting to avoid the collision entirely
echo "Result: $(echo 
#39;it\'s fine')"

Explanation

Bash parses quotes left to right without understanding intent — an apostrophe used as punctuation inside single quotes closes the quoted string early. Prefer double quotes for strings containing apostrophes, or run the substitution through `bash -n` to catch the imbalance before running the full script.

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