bazel run fails on long argument list
- Dominant language
- Java
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Description
### Description of the bug:
When I run `git ls-files | xargs bazel run //:my_script` in a large repo, Bazel errors with:
```
FATAL: execv of '/bin/bash' failed: (error: 7): Argument list too long
```
This happens with both `py_binary` and `sh_binary` on a minimal script. It only seems to happen on Linux, not MacOS.
The only workaround I can see is to write a bash script that pushes arguments into a response file and invoke `bazel run //:my_script -- @args.txt`. But it would be nice to just pass the arguments without a wrapper bash script.
### Which category does this issue belong to?
Core
### What's the simplest, easiest way to reproduce this bug? Please provide a minimal example if possible.
```py
genrule(
name = "foo_src",
outs = ["foo.sh"],
cmd = """echo 'echo $$#; SUM=0; for arg in "$$@"; do SUM=$$((SUM + $${#arg})); done; echo $$SUM' > $@""",
)
sh_binary(
name = "foo",
srcs = ["foo_src"],
)
```
```shell
git clone git@github.com:bazelbuild/bazel /tmp/bazel
git -C /tmp/bazel ls-files | xargs bazel run //:foo --
```
### Which operating system are you running Bazel on?
Rocky 9 + Centos 7
### What is the output of `bazel info release`?
8.4.2
### If `bazel info release` returns `development version` or `(@non-git)`, tell us how you built Bazel.
_No response_
### What's the output of `git remote get-url origin; git rev-parse HEAD` ?
```text
```
### If this is a regression, please try to identify the Bazel commit where the bug was introduced with bazelisk --bisect.
_No response_
### Have you found anything relevant by searching the web?
No
### Any other information, logs, or outputs that you want to share?
_No response_
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by reproducing the reported `bazel run //:foo --` command from the minimal `genrule` and `sh_binary` example on Linux, comparing it with MacOS behavior. Trace the `bazel run` argument-handling entry point and add or locate coverage for a long argument list; done means `py_binary` and `sh_binary` accept the arguments without a wrapper script.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- linux, shell
- Domain
- build-system, cli, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100