diff --git a/rc/base/ctags.kak b/rc/base/ctags.kak
index 50b73233..4e77e2a1 100644
--- a/rc/base/ctags.kak
+++ b/rc/base/ctags.kak
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
 # This script requires the readtags command available in ctags source but
 # not installed by default
 
-declare-option -docstring "colon separated list of paths to tag files to parse when looking up a symbol" \
+declare-option -docstring "list of paths to tag files to parse when looking up a symbol" \
     str-list ctagsfiles 'tags'
 
 define-command -params ..1 \
     -shell-candidates %{
         realpath() { ( path=$(readlink "$1"); cd "$(dirname "$1")"; printf "%s/%s\n" "$(pwd -P)" "$(basename "$1")" ) }
-        printf %s\\n "$kak_opt_ctagsfiles" | tr ':' '\n' |
-        while read -r candidate; do
+        eval "set -- $kak_opt_ctagsfiles"
+        for candidate in "$@"; do
             [ -f "$candidate" ] && realpath "$candidate"
         done | awk '!x[$0]++' | # remove duplicates
         while read -r tags; do
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ If no symbol is passed then the current selection is used as symbol name} \
     %{ evaluate-commands %sh{
         realpath() { ( path=$(readlink "$1"); cd "$(dirname "$1")"; printf "%s/%s\n" "$(pwd -P)" "$(basename "$1")" ) }
         export tagname=${1:-${kak_selection}}
-        printf %s\\n "$kak_opt_ctagsfiles" | tr ':' '\n' |
-        while read -r candidate; do
+        eval "set -- $kak_opt_ctagsfiles"
+        for candidate in "$@"; do
             [ -f "$candidate" ] && realpath "$candidate"
         done | awk '!x[$0]++' | # remove duplicates
         while read -r tags; do
diff --git a/rc/core/c-family.kak b/rc/core/c-family.kak
index 9cdd5c49..2b888f70 100644
--- a/rc/core/c-family.kak
+++ b/rc/core/c-family.kak
@@ -330,17 +330,19 @@ define-command -hidden c-family-insert-include-guards %{
 hook -group c-family-insert global BufNewFile .*\.(h|hh|hpp|hxx|H) c-family-insert-include-guards
 
 declare-option -docstring "colon separated list of path in which header files will be looked for" \
-    str-list alt_dirs ".:.."
+    str-list alt_dirs '.' '..'
 
 define-command c-family-alternative-file -docstring "Jump to the alternate file (header/implementation)" %{ evaluate-commands %sh{
-    alt_dirs=$(printf %s\\n "${kak_opt_alt_dirs}" | tr ':' '\n')
     file="${kak_buffile##*/}"
     file_noext="${file%.*}"
     dir=$(dirname "${kak_buffile}")
 
+    # Set $@ to alt_dirs
+    eval "set -- ${kak_opt_alt_dirs}"
+
     case ${file} in
         *.c|*.cc|*.cpp|*.cxx|*.C|*.inl|*.m)
-            for alt_dir in ${alt_dirs}; do
+            for alt_dir in "$@"; do
                 for ext in h hh hpp hxx H; do
                     altname="${dir}/${alt_dir}/${file_noext}.${ext}"
                     if [ -f ${altname} ]; then
@@ -351,7 +353,7 @@ define-command c-family-alternative-file -docstring "Jump to the alternate file
             done
         ;;
         *.h|*.hh|*.hpp|*.hxx|*.H)
-            for alt_dir in ${alt_dirs}; do
+            for alt_dir in "$@"; do
                 for ext in c cc cpp cxx C m; do
                     altname="${dir}/${alt_dir}/${file_noext}.${ext}"
                     if [ -f ${altname} ]; then
diff --git a/rc/core/kakrc.kak b/rc/core/kakrc.kak
index 80e45a1b..05a26fb8 100644
--- a/rc/core/kakrc.kak
+++ b/rc/core/kakrc.kak
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ evaluate-commands %sh{
 
     # Add the language's grammar to the static completion list
     printf '%s\n' "hook global WinSetOption filetype=kak %{
-        set-option window static_words '$(join "${keywords}:${attributes}:${types}:${values}" ':')'
+        set-option window static_words $(join "${keywords} ${attributes} ${types} ${values}" ' ')'
         set-option -- window extra_word_chars '-'
     }"
 
diff --git a/rc/extra/clang.kak b/rc/extra/clang.kak
index e5c1b9ff..85cbb219 100644
--- a/rc/extra/clang.kak
+++ b/rc/extra/clang.kak
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ The syntaxic errors detected during parsing are shown when auto-diagnostics are
                             /^COMPLETION:/ && ! /\(Hidden\)/ {
                                  id=$2
                                  gsub(/ +$/, "", id)
-                                 gsub(/:/, "\\:", id)
+                                 gsub(/~/, "~~", id)
                                  gsub(/\|/, "\\|", id)
 
                                  gsub(/[[{<]#|#[}>]/, "", $3)
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ The syntaxic errors detected during parsing are shown when auto-diagnostics are
                                  gsub(/ +$/, "", $3)
                                  desc=$4 ? $3 "\\n" $4 : $3
 
-                                 gsub(/:/, "\\:", desc)
+                                 gsub(/~/, "~~", desc)
                                  gsub(/\|/, "\\|", desc)
                                  if (id in docstrings)
-                                     docstrings[id]=docstrings[id] "\\n" desc
+                                     docstrings[id]=docstrings[id] "\n" desc
                                  else
                                      docstrings[id]=desc
                             }
@@ -72,31 +72,30 @@ The syntaxic errors detected during parsing are shown when auto-diagnostics are
                                     gsub(/(^|[^[:alnum:]_])(operator|new|delete)($|[^{}_[:alnum:]]+)/, "{keyword}&{}", menu)
                                     gsub(/(^|[[:space:]])(int|size_t|bool|char|unsigned|signed|long)($|[[:space:]])/, "{type}&{}", menu)
                                     gsub(/[^{}_[:alnum:]]+/, "{operator}&{}", menu)
-                                    print id  "|" docstrings[id] "|" menu
+                                    printf "%%~%s|%s|%s~ ", id, docstrings[id], menu
                                 }
-                            }' | paste -s -d ':' - | sed -e "s/\\\\n/\\n/g; s/'/\\\\'/g")
+                            }')
                 printf %s\\n "evaluate-commands -client ${kak_client} echo 'clang completion done'
-                      set-option 'buffer=${kak_buffile}' clang_completions '${header}:${compl}'" | kak -p ${kak_session}
+                      set-option 'buffer=${kak_buffile}' clang_completions ${header} ${compl}" | kak -p ${kak_session}
             else
                 clang++ -x ${ft} -fsyntax-only ${kak_opt_clang_options} - < ${dir}/buf 2> ${dir}/stderr
                 printf %s\\n "evaluate-commands -client ${kak_client} echo 'clang parsing done'" | kak -p ${kak_session}
             fi
 
             flags=$(cat ${dir}/stderr | sed -rne "
-                        /^<stdin>:[0-9]+:([0-9]+:)? (fatal )?error/ { s/^<stdin>:([0-9]+):.*/\1|{red}█/; p }
-                        /^<stdin>:[0-9]+:([0-9]+:)? warning/ { s/^<stdin>:([0-9]+):.*/\1|{yellow}█/; p }
-                    " | paste -s -d ':' -)
+                        /^<stdin>:[0-9]+:([0-9]+:)? (fatal )?error/ { s/^<stdin>:([0-9]+):.*/'\1|{red}█'/; p }
+                        /^<stdin>:[0-9]+:([0-9]+:)? warning/ { s/^<stdin>:([0-9]+):.*/'\1|{yellow}█'/; p }
+                    " | paste -s -d ' ' -)
 
             errors=$(cat ${dir}/stderr | sed -rne "
                         /^<stdin>:[0-9]+:([0-9]+:)? ((fatal )?error|warning)/ {
-                            s/^<stdin>:([0-9]+):([0-9]+:)? (.*)/\1|\3/
-                            s/'/\\\\'/g; s/:/\\\\:/g; p
-                        }" | sort -n | paste -s -d ':' -)
+                            s/'/''/g; s/^<stdin>:([0-9]+):([0-9]+:)? (.*)/'\1|\3'/; p
+                        }" | sort -n | paste -s -d ' ' -)
 
             sed -e "s|<stdin>|${kak_bufname}|g" < ${dir}/stderr > ${dir}/fifo
 
-            printf %s\\n "set-option 'buffer=${kak_buffile}' clang_flags %{${kak_timestamp}:${flags}}
-                  set-option 'buffer=${kak_buffile}' clang_errors '${kak_timestamp}:${errors}'" | kak -p ${kak_session}
+            printf %s\\n "set-option 'buffer=${kak_buffile}' clang_flags ${kak_timestamp} ${flags}
+                  set-option 'buffer=${kak_buffile}' clang_errors ${kak_timestamp} ${errors}" | kak -p ${kak_session}
         ) > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null &
     }
 }
@@ -115,7 +114,7 @@ define-command -hidden clang-show-completion-info %[ try %[
 ] ]
 
 define-command clang-enable-autocomplete -docstring "Enable automatic clang completion" %{
-    set-option window completers "option=clang_completions:%opt{completers}"
+    set-option window completers "option=clang_completions" %opt{completers}
     hook window -group clang-autocomplete InsertIdle .* %{
         try %{
             execute-keys -draft <a-h><a-k>(\.|->|::).\z<ret>
@@ -128,7 +127,7 @@ define-command clang-enable-autocomplete -docstring "Enable automatic clang comp
 }
 
 define-command clang-disable-autocomplete -docstring "Disable automatic clang completion" %{
-    set-option window completers %sh{ printf %s\\n "'${kak_opt_completers}'" | sed -e 's/option=clang_completions://g' }
+    evaluate-commands %sh{ printf "set-option window completers "; printf %s\\n "'${kak_opt_completers}'" | sed -e "s/'option=clang_completions'//g" }
     remove-hooks window clang-autocomplete
     unalias window complete clang-complete
 }
@@ -136,11 +135,15 @@ define-command clang-disable-autocomplete -docstring "Disable automatic clang co
 define-command -hidden clang-show-error-info %{
     update-option buffer clang_errors # Ensure we are up to date with buffer changes
     evaluate-commands %sh{
-        desc=$(printf %s\\n "${kak_opt_clang_errors}" |
-               sed -e "s/\([^\\]\):/\1\n/g" |
-               sed -ne "/^${kak_cursor_line}|.*/ { s/^[[:digit:]]\+|//g; s/'/\\\\'/g; s/\\\\:/:/g; p }")
+        eval "set -- ${kak_opt_clang_errors}"
+        shift # skip timestamp
+        for error in "$@"; do
+            if [ "${error%%|*}" == "$kak_cursor_line" ]; then
+                desc=$(printf '%s%s\n' "$desc" "${error##*|}")
+            fi
+        done
         if [ -n "$desc" ]; then
-            printf %s\\n "info -anchor ${kak_cursor_line}.${kak_cursor_column} '${desc}'"
+            printf %s\\n "info -anchor ${kak_cursor_line}.${kak_cursor_column} '$desc'"
         fi
     } }
 
@@ -160,19 +163,20 @@ define-command clang-disable-diagnostics -docstring "Disable automatic error rep
 define-command clang-diagnostics-next -docstring "Jump to the next line that contains an error" %{
     update-option buffer clang_errors # Ensure we are up to date with buffer changes
     evaluate-commands %sh{
-        printf "%s\n" "${kak_opt_clang_errors}" | sed -e 's/\([^\\]\):/\1\n/g' | tail -n +2 | (
-            while IFS='|' read candidate rest; do
-                first_line=${first_line-$candidate}
-                if [ "$candidate" -gt $kak_cursor_line ]; then
-                    line=$candidate
-                    break
-                fi
-            done
-            line=${line-$first_line}
-            if [ -n "$line" ]; then
-                printf %s\\n "execute-keys ${line} g"
-            else
-                echo "echo -markup '{Error}no next clang diagnostic'"
+        eval "set -- ${kak_opt_clang_errors}"
+        shift # skip timestamp
+        for error in "$@"; do
+            candidate=${error%%|*}
+            first_line=${first_line-$candidate}
+            if [ "$candidate" -gt $kak_cursor_line ]; then
+                line=$candidate
+                break
             fi
-        )
+        done
+        line=${line-$first_line}
+        if [ -n "$line" ]; then
+            printf %s\\n "execute-keys ${line} g"
+        else
+            echo "echo -markup '{Error}no next clang diagnostic'"
+        fi
     } }
diff --git a/rc/extra/git-tools.kak b/rc/extra/git-tools.kak
index 3c73a981..6d400bb8 100644
--- a/rc/extra/git-tools.kak
+++ b/rc/extra/git-tools.kak
@@ -70,14 +70,14 @@ Available commands:\n  add\n  rm\n  blame\n  commit\n  checkout\n  diff\n  hide-
                   function send_flags(text, flag, i) {
                       if (line == "") { return; }
                       text=substr(sha,1,8) " " dates[sha] " " authors[sha]
-                      gsub(":", "\\:", text)
                       # gsub("|", "\\|", text)
-                      flag=line "|" text
+                      gsub("~", "~~", text)
+                      flag="%~" line "|" text "~"
                       for ( i=1; i < count; i++ ) {
-                          flag=flag ":" line+i "|" text
+                          flag=flag " %~" line+i "|" text "~"
                       }
                       cmd = "kak -p " ENVIRON["kak_session"]
-                      print "set-option -add buffer=" ENVIRON["kak_bufname"] " git_blame_flags %{" flag "}" | cmd
+                      print "set-option -add buffer=" ENVIRON["kak_bufname"] " git_blame_flags " flag | cmd
                       close(cmd)
                   }
                   /^([0-9a-f]{40}) ([0-9]+) ([0-9]+) ([0-9]+)/ {
@@ -109,39 +109,39 @@ Available commands:\n  add\n  rm\n  blame\n  commit\n  checkout\n  diff\n  hide-
                     if ($from_count == 0 and $to_count > 0) {
                         for $i (0..$to_count - 1) {
                             $line = $to_line + $i;
-                            $flags .= ":$line|\{green\}+";
+                            $flags .= " $line|\{green\}+";
                         }
                     }
                     elsif ($from_count > 0 and $to_count == 0) {
                         if ($to_line == 0) {
-                            $flags .= ":1|\{red\}‾";
+                            $flags .= " 1|\{red\}‾";
                         } else {
-                            $flags .= ":$to_line|\{red\}_";
+                            $flags .= " $to_line|\{red\}_";
                         }
                     }
                     elsif ($from_count > 0 and $from_count == $to_count) {
                         for $i (0..$to_count - 1) {
                             $line = $to_line + $i;
-                            $flags .= ":$line|\{blue\}~";
+                            $flags .= " $line|\{blue\}~";
                         }
                     }
                     elsif ($from_count > 0 and $from_count < $to_count) {
                         for $i (0..$from_count - 1) {
                             $line = $to_line + $i;
-                            $flags .= ":$line|\{blue\}~";
+                            $flags .= " $line|\{blue\}~";
                         }
                         for $i ($from_count..$to_count - 1) {
                             $line = $to_line + $i;
-                            $flags .= ":$line|\{green\}+";
+                            $flags .= " $line|\{green\}+";
                         }
                     }
                     elsif ($to_count > 0 and $from_count > $to_count) {
                         for $i (0..$to_count - 2) {
                             $line = $to_line + $i;
-                            $flags .= ":$line|\{blue\}~";
+                            $flags .= " $line|\{blue\}~";
                         }
                         $last = $to_line + $to_count - 1;
-                        $flags .= ":$last|\{blue+u\}~";
+                        $flags .= " $last|\{blue+u\}~";
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/rc/extra/jedi.kak b/rc/extra/jedi.kak
index df259ead..317ea555 100644
--- a/rc/extra/jedi.kak
+++ b/rc/extra/jedi.kak
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 declare-option -hidden str jedi_tmp_dir
 declare-option -hidden completions jedi_completions
 declare-option -docstring "colon separated list of path added to `python`'s $PYTHONPATH environment variable" \
-    str-list jedi_python_path
+    str jedi_python_path
 
 define-command jedi-complete -docstring "Complete the current selection" %{
     evaluate-commands %sh{