diff --git a/src/command_manager.cc b/src/command_manager.cc
index e1cbdfdd..e4cde2ba 100644
--- a/src/command_manager.cc
+++ b/src/command_manager.cc
@@ -17,60 +17,110 @@ bool CommandManager::command_defined(const String& command_name) const
 
 void CommandManager::register_command(const String& command_name,
                                       Command command,
-                                      unsigned flags,
                                       const CommandCompleter& completer)
 {
-    m_commands[command_name] = CommandDescriptor { command, flags, completer };
+    m_commands[command_name] = CommandDescriptor { command, completer };
 }
 
 void CommandManager::register_commands(const memoryview<String>& command_names,
                                        Command command,
-                                       unsigned flags,
                                        const CommandCompleter& completer)
 {
     for (auto command_name : command_names)
-        register_command(command_name, command, flags, completer);
+        register_command(command_name, command, completer);
 }
 
-static bool is_blank(char c)
+static bool is_horizontal_blank(char c)
 {
-   return c == ' ' or c == '\t' or c == '\n';
+   return c == ' ' or c == '\t';
 }
 
 using TokenList = std::vector<Token>;
 using TokenPosList = std::vector<std::pair<size_t, size_t>>;
 
+static bool is_command_separator(Character c)
+{
+    return c == ';' or c == '\n';
+}
+
 static TokenList parse(const String& line,
                        TokenPosList* opt_token_pos_info = NULL)
 {
     TokenList result;
 
+    size_t length = line.length();
     size_t pos = 0;
-    while (pos < line.length())
+    while (pos < length)
     {
-        while(is_blank(line[pos]) and pos != line.length())
-            ++pos;
+        while (pos != length)
+        {
+            if (is_horizontal_blank(line[pos]))
+                ++pos;
+            else if (line[pos] == '\\' and pos+1 < length and line[pos+1] == '\n')
+                pos += 2;
+            else
+                break;
+        }
 
         size_t token_start = pos;
 
         Token::Type type = Token::Type::Raw;
-        if (line[pos] == '"' or line[pos] == '\'' or line[pos] == '`')
+        if (line[pos] == '"' or line[pos] == '\'')
         {
             char delimiter = line[pos];
 
-            if (delimiter == '`')
-                type = Token::Type::ShellExpand;
-
             token_start = ++pos;
 
             while ((line[pos] != delimiter or line[pos-1] == '\\') and
-                    pos != line.length())
+                    pos != length)
                 ++pos;
+        }
+        else if (line[pos] == '%')
+        {
+            size_t type_start = ++pos;
+            while (isalpha(line[pos]))
+                ++pos;
+            String type_name = line.substr(type_start, pos - type_start);
 
+            if (type_name == "sh")
+                type = Token::Type::ShellExpand;
+
+            static const std::unordered_map<Character, Character> matching_delimiters = {
+                { '(', ')' }, { '[', ']' }, { '{', '}' }, { '<', '>' }
+            };
+
+            Character opening_delimiter = line[pos];
+            token_start = ++pos;
+
+            auto delim_it = matching_delimiters.find(opening_delimiter);
+            if (delim_it != matching_delimiters.end())
+            {
+                Character closing_delimiter = delim_it->second;
+                int level = 0;
+                while (pos != length)
+                {
+                    if (line[pos-1] != '\\' and line[pos] == opening_delimiter)
+                        ++level;
+                    if (line[pos-1] != '\\' and line[pos] == closing_delimiter)
+                    {
+                        if (level > 0)
+                            --level;
+                        else
+                            break;
+                    }
+                    ++pos;
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                while ((line[pos] != opening_delimiter or line[pos-1] == '\\') and
+                        pos != length)
+                    ++pos;
+            }
         }
         else
-            while (not is_blank(line[pos]) and pos != line.length() and
-                   (line[pos] != ';' or line[pos-1] == '\\'))
+            while (pos != length and not is_horizontal_blank(line[pos]) and
+                   (not is_command_separator(line[pos]) or line[pos-1] == '\\'))
                 ++pos;
 
         if (token_start != pos)
@@ -80,7 +130,7 @@ static TokenList parse(const String& line,
             result.push_back({type, line.substr(token_start, pos - token_start)});
         }
 
-        if (line[pos] == ';')
+        if (is_command_separator(line[pos]))
         {
             if (opt_token_pos_info)
                 opt_token_pos_info->push_back({pos, pos+1});
@@ -140,24 +190,16 @@ void CommandManager::execute(const CommandParameters& params,
             if (command_it == m_commands.end())
                 throw command_not_found(begin->content());
 
-            if (command_it->second.flags & IgnoreSemiColons)
-                end = params.end();
-
-            if (command_it->second.flags & DeferredShellEval)
-                command_it->second.command(CommandParameters(begin + 1, end), context);
-            else
+            TokenList expanded_tokens;
+            for (auto param = begin+1; param != end; ++param)
             {
-                TokenList expanded_tokens;
-                for (auto param = begin+1; param != end; ++param)
-                {
-                    if (param->type() == Token::Type::ShellExpand)
-                        shell_eval(expanded_tokens, param->content(),
-                                   context, env_vars);
-                    else
-                        expanded_tokens.push_back(*param);
-                }
-                command_it->second.command(expanded_tokens, context);
+                if (param->type() == Token::Type::ShellExpand)
+                    shell_eval(expanded_tokens, param->content(),
+                               context, env_vars);
+                else
+                    expanded_tokens.push_back(*param);
             }
+            command_it->second.command(expanded_tokens, context);
         }
 
         if (end == params.end())
diff --git a/src/command_manager.hh b/src/command_manager.hh
index 134dbd48..a0609c5e 100644
--- a/src/command_manager.hh
+++ b/src/command_manager.hh
@@ -72,13 +72,6 @@ private:
 class CommandManager : public Singleton<CommandManager>
 {
 public:
-    enum Flags
-    {
-        None = 0,
-        IgnoreSemiColons = 1,
-        DeferredShellEval = 2,
-    };
-
     void execute(const String& command_line, const Context& context,
                  const EnvVarMap& env_vars = EnvVarMap());
     void execute(const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context,
@@ -90,19 +83,16 @@ public:
 
     void register_command(const String& command_name,
                           Command command,
-                          unsigned flags = None,
                           const CommandCompleter& completer = CommandCompleter());
 
     void register_commands(const memoryview<String>& command_names,
                            Command command,
-                           unsigned flags = None,
                            const CommandCompleter& completer = CommandCompleter());
 
 private:
     struct CommandDescriptor
     {
         Command command;
-        unsigned flags;
         CommandCompleter completer;
     };
     std::unordered_map<String, CommandDescriptor> m_commands;
diff --git a/src/commands.cc b/src/commands.cc
index 5111bc25..1d83bde2 100644
--- a/src/commands.cc
+++ b/src/commands.cc
@@ -440,16 +440,16 @@ void rm_filter(const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
 
 void add_hook(const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
 {
-    if (params.size() < 4)
+    if (params.size() != 4)
         throw wrong_argument_count();
 
+    // copy so that the lambda gets a copy as well
     String regex = params[2].content();
-    std::vector<Token> hook_params(params.begin()+3, params.end());
-
+    String command = params[3].content();
     auto hook_func = [=](const String& param, const Context& context) {
         if (boost::regex_match(param.begin(), param.end(),
                                Regex(regex.begin(), regex.end())))
-            CommandManager::instance().execute(hook_params, context);
+            CommandManager::instance().execute(command, context);
     };
 
     const String& scope = params[0].content();
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ void define_command(const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
                               { "allow-override", false },
                               { "shell-completion", true } });
 
-    if (parser.positional_count() < 2)
+    if (parser.positional_count() != 2)
         throw wrong_argument_count();
 
     auto begin = parser.begin();
@@ -494,30 +494,21 @@ void define_command(const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
         not parser.has_option("allow-override"))
         throw runtime_error("command '" + cmd_name + "' already defined");
 
-    std::vector<Token> cmd_params(++begin, parser.end());
+    String commands = parser[1].content();
     Command cmd;
     if (parser.has_option("env-params"))
     {
         cmd = [=](const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context) {
-            CommandManager::instance().execute(cmd_params, context,
+            CommandManager::instance().execute(commands, context,
                                                params_to_env_var_map(params));
         };
     }
-    else if (parser.has_option("append-params"))
-    {
-         cmd = [=](const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context) {
-            std::vector<Token> merged_params = cmd_params;
-            for (auto& param : params)
-                merged_params.push_back(param);
-            CommandManager::instance().execute(merged_params, context);
-        };
-    }
     else
     {
          cmd = [=](const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context) {
              if (not params.empty())
                  throw wrong_argument_count();
-            CommandManager::instance().execute(cmd_params, context);
+            CommandManager::instance().execute(commands, context);
         };
     }
 
@@ -533,9 +524,7 @@ void define_command(const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
            String output = ShellManager::instance().eval(shell_cmd, context, vars);
            return split(output, '\n');
         };
-        CommandManager::instance().register_command(cmd_name, cmd,
-                                                    CommandManager::None,
-                                                    completer);
+        CommandManager::instance().register_command(cmd_name, cmd, completer);
     }
     else
         CommandManager::instance().register_command(cmd_name, cmd);
@@ -556,61 +545,7 @@ void exec_commands_in_file(const CommandParameters& params,
         throw wrong_argument_count();
 
     String file_content = read_file(parse_filename(params[0].content()));
-    CommandManager& cmd_manager = CommandManager::instance();
-
-    size_t pos = 0;
-    size_t length = file_content.length();
-    bool   cat_with_previous = false;
-    String command_line;
-    while (true)
-    {
-         if (not cat_with_previous)
-             command_line = String();
-
-         size_t end_pos = pos;
-
-         while (file_content[end_pos] != '\n' and end_pos != length)
-         {
-             if (file_content[end_pos] == '"' or file_content[end_pos] == '\'' or
-                 file_content[end_pos] == '`')
-             {
-                 char delimiter = file_content[end_pos];
-                 ++end_pos;
-                 while ((file_content[end_pos] != delimiter or
-                         file_content[end_pos-1] == '\\') and end_pos != length)
-                     ++end_pos;
-
-                 if (end_pos == length)
-                     throw(String("unterminated '") + delimiter + "' string");
-
-                 ++end_pos;
-             }
-
-             if (end_pos != length)
-                 ++end_pos;
-         }
-         if (end_pos != pos and end_pos != length and
-             file_content[end_pos - 1] == '\\')
-         {
- 	     command_line += file_content.substr(pos, end_pos - pos - 1);
-             cat_with_previous = true;
-         }
-         else
-         {
- 	     command_line += file_content.substr(pos, end_pos - pos);
- 	     cmd_manager.execute(command_line, context);
-             cat_with_previous = false;
- 	 }
-         if (end_pos == length)
-         {
-             if (cat_with_previous)
-                 throw runtime_error("while executing commands in \"" +
-                                     params[0].content() +
-                                     "\": last command not complete");
-             break;
-         }
-         pos = end_pos + 1;
-    }
+    CommandManager::instance().execute(file_content, context);
 }
 
 void exec_commands_in_runtime_file(const CommandParameters& params,
@@ -803,24 +738,19 @@ void menu(const CommandParameters& params,
 void try_catch(const CommandParameters& params,
                const Context& context)
 {
-    size_t i = 0;
-    for (; i < params.size(); ++i)
-    {
-        if (params[i].content() == "catch")
-            break;
-    }
-
-    if (i == 0 or i == params.size())
+    if (params.size() != 3)
         throw wrong_argument_count();
+    if (params[1].content() != "catch")
+        throw runtime_error("try needs a catch");
 
     CommandManager& command_manager = CommandManager::instance();
     try
     {
-        command_manager.execute(params.subrange(0, i), context);
+        command_manager.execute(params[0].content(), context);
     }
     catch (Kakoune::runtime_error& e)
     {
-        command_manager.execute(params.subrange(i+1, params.size() - i - 1), context);
+        command_manager.execute(params[2].content(), context);
     }
 }
 
@@ -831,12 +761,9 @@ void register_commands()
     CommandManager& cm = CommandManager::instance();
 
     PerArgumentCommandCompleter filename_completer({ complete_filename });
-    cm.register_commands({ "e", "edit" }, edit<false>,
-                         CommandManager::None, filename_completer);
-    cm.register_commands({ "e!", "edit!" }, edit<true>,
-                         CommandManager::None, filename_completer);
-    cm.register_commands({ "w", "write" }, write_buffer,
-                         CommandManager::None, filename_completer);
+    cm.register_commands({ "e", "edit" }, edit<false>, filename_completer);
+    cm.register_commands({ "e!", "edit!" }, edit<true>, filename_completer);
+    cm.register_commands({ "w", "write" }, write_buffer, filename_completer);
     cm.register_commands({ "q", "quit" }, quit<false>);
     cm.register_commands({ "q!", "quit!" }, quit<true>);
     cm.register_command("wq", write_and_quit<false>);
@@ -846,13 +773,10 @@ void register_commands()
         [](const String& prefix, size_t cursor_pos)
         { return BufferManager::instance().complete_buffername(prefix, cursor_pos); }
     });
-    cm.register_commands({ "b", "buffer" }, show_buffer,
-                         CommandManager::None, buffer_completer);
-    cm.register_commands({ "db", "delbuf" }, delete_buffer,
-                         CommandManager::None, buffer_completer);
+    cm.register_commands({ "b", "buffer" }, show_buffer, buffer_completer);
+    cm.register_commands({ "db", "delbuf" }, delete_buffer, buffer_completer);
 
     cm.register_commands({ "ah", "addhl" }, add_highlighter,
-                         CommandManager::None,
                          [](const CommandParameters& params, size_t token_to_complete, size_t pos_in_token)
                          {
                              Window& w = main_context.window();
@@ -866,7 +790,6 @@ void register_commands()
                                  return CandidateList();
                          });
     cm.register_commands({ "rh", "rmhl" }, rm_highlighter,
-                         CommandManager::None,
                          [](const CommandParameters& params, size_t token_to_complete, size_t pos_in_token)
                          {
                              Window& w = main_context.window();
@@ -880,7 +803,6 @@ void register_commands()
                                  return w.highlighters().complete_id(arg, pos_in_token);
                          });
     cm.register_commands({ "af", "addfilter" }, add_filter,
-                         CommandManager::None,
                          [](const CommandParameters& params, size_t token_to_complete, size_t pos_in_token)
                          {
                              Window& w = main_context.window();
@@ -894,7 +816,6 @@ void register_commands()
                                  return CandidateList();
                          });
     cm.register_commands({ "rf", "rmfilter" }, rm_filter,
-                         CommandManager::None,
                          [](const CommandParameters& params, size_t token_to_complete, size_t pos_in_token)
                          {
                              Window& w = main_context.window();
@@ -908,24 +829,22 @@ void register_commands()
                                  return w.filters().complete_id(arg, pos_in_token);
                          });
 
-    cm.register_command("hook", add_hook, CommandManager::IgnoreSemiColons | CommandManager::DeferredShellEval);
+    cm.register_command("hook", add_hook);
 
-    cm.register_command("source", exec_commands_in_file,
-                         CommandManager::None, filename_completer);
+    cm.register_command("source", exec_commands_in_file, filename_completer);
     cm.register_command("runtime", exec_commands_in_runtime_file);
 
     cm.register_command("exec", exec_string);
     cm.register_command("eval", eval_string);
     cm.register_command("menu", menu);
-    cm.register_command("try",  try_catch, CommandManager::IgnoreSemiColons | CommandManager::DeferredShellEval);
+    cm.register_command("try",  try_catch);
 
-    cm.register_command("def",  define_command, CommandManager::IgnoreSemiColons | CommandManager::DeferredShellEval);
+    cm.register_command("def",  define_command);
     cm.register_command("echo", echo_message);
 
     cm.register_commands({ "setg", "setglobal" },
                          [](const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
                          { set_option(GlobalOptionManager::instance(), params, context); },
-                         CommandManager::None,
                          PerArgumentCommandCompleter({
                              [](const String& prefix, size_t cursor_pos)
                              { return GlobalOptionManager::instance().complete_option_name(prefix, cursor_pos); }
@@ -933,7 +852,6 @@ void register_commands()
     cm.register_commands({ "setb", "setbuffer" },
                          [](const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
                          { set_option(context.buffer().option_manager(), params, context); },
-                         CommandManager::None,
                          PerArgumentCommandCompleter({
                              [](const String& prefix, size_t cursor_pos)
                              { return main_context.buffer().option_manager().complete_option_name(prefix, cursor_pos); }
@@ -941,7 +859,6 @@ void register_commands()
     cm.register_commands({ "setw", "setwindow" },
                          [](const CommandParameters& params, const Context& context)
                          { set_option(context.window().option_manager(), params, context); },
-                         CommandManager::None,
                          PerArgumentCommandCompleter({
                              [](const String& prefix, size_t cursor_pos)
                              { return main_context.window().option_manager().complete_option_name(prefix, cursor_pos); }
diff --git a/src/kakrc b/src/kakrc
index 4fc8cd37..27e4e289 100644
--- a/src/kakrc
+++ b/src/kakrc
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-hook global WinCreate .* addhl regex \h+(?=\n) default red
-hook global WinCreate .* addhl number_lines
+hook global WinCreate .* %{ addhl regex \h+(?=\n) default red }
+hook global WinCreate .* %{ addhl number_lines }
 
 runtime rc/cpp.kak
 runtime rc/kakrc.kak
diff --git a/src/rc/cpp.kak b/src/rc/cpp.kak
index 82b9e9bf..f3e4dec9 100644
--- a/src/rc/cpp.kak
+++ b/src/rc/cpp.kak
@@ -1,29 +1,33 @@
-hook global BufCreate .*\.(c|cc|cpp|cxx|C|h|hh|hpp|hxx|H) \
+hook global BufCreate .*\.(c|cc|cpp|cxx|C|h|hh|hpp|hxx|H) %{
     setb filetype cpp
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=cpp \
-    addhl group cpp-highlight; \
-    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(this|true|false|NULL|nullptr|)\>|\<-?\d+[fdiu]?|'((\\.)?|[^'\\])'" red default; \
-    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(void|int|char|unsigned|float|bool|size_t)\>" yellow default; \
-    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(while|for|if|else|do|switch|case|default|goto|break|continue|return|using|try|catch|throw|new|delete|and|or|not)\>" blue default; \
-    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(const|auto|namespace|inline|static|volatile|class|struct|enum|union|public|protected|private|template|typedef|virtual|friend|extern|typename)\>" green default; \
-    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "(?<!')\"(\\\"|[^\"])*\"" magenta default; \
-    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "(\`|(?<=\n))\h*#\h*[^\n]*" magenta default; \
-    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "(//[^\n]*\n)|(/\*.*?(\*/|\'))" cyan default; \
-    addfilter group cpp-filters; \
-    addfilter -group cpp-filters preserve_indent; \
-    addfilter -group cpp-filters cleanup_whitespaces; \
-    hook window InsertEnd .* exec xs\h+(?=\n)<ret>d
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=cpp %{
+    addhl group cpp-highlight;
+    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(this|true|false|NULL|nullptr|)\>|\<-?\d+[fdiu]?|'((\\.)?|[^'\\])'" red default;
+    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(void|int|char|unsigned|float|bool|size_t)\>" yellow default;
+    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(while|for|if|else|do|switch|case|default|goto|break|continue|return|using|try|catch|throw|new|delete|and|or|not)\>" blue default;
+    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "\<(const|auto|namespace|inline|static|volatile|class|struct|enum|union|public|protected|private|template|typedef|virtual|friend|extern|typename)\>" green default;
+    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "(?<!')\"(\\\"|[^\"])*\"" magenta default;
+    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "(\`|(?<=\n))\h*#\h*[^\n]*" magenta default;
+    addhl -group cpp-highlight regex "(//[^\n]*\n)|(/\*.*?(\*/|\'))" cyan default;
+    addfilter group cpp-filters;
+    addfilter -group cpp-filters preserve_indent;
+    addfilter -group cpp-filters cleanup_whitespaces;
+    hook window InsertEnd .* %{ exec xs\h+(?=\n)<ret>d }
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!cpp).* \
-    rmhl cpp-highlight; \
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!cpp).* %{
+    rmhl cpp-highlight;
     rmfilter cpp-filters
+}
 
-hook global BufNew .*\.(h|hh|hpp|hxx|H) \
+hook global BufNew .*\.(h|hh|hpp|hxx|H) %{
     exec ggi<c-r>%<ret><esc>ggxs\.<ret>c_<esc><space>A_INCLUDED<esc>xyppI#ifndef<space><esc>jI#define<space><esc>jI#endif<space>//<space><esc>O<esc>
+}
 
-def alt edit \
-    `case ${kak_bufname} in
+def alt %{ edit %sh{
+    case ${kak_bufname} in
          *.c) echo ${kak_bufname/%c/h} ;;
          *.cc) echo ${kak_bufname/%cc/hh} ;;
          *.cpp) echo ${kak_bufname/%cpp/hpp} ;;
@@ -34,4 +38,5 @@ def alt edit \
          *.hpp) echo ${kak_bufname/%hpp/cpp} ;;
          *.hxx) echo ${kak_bufname/%hxx/cxx} ;;
          *.H) echo ${kak_bufname/%H/C} ;;
-    esac` 
\ No newline at end of file
+    esac
+}} 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/rc/diff.kak b/src/rc/diff.kak
index 8a9a390f..434026ab 100644
--- a/src/rc/diff.kak
+++ b/src/rc/diff.kak
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
-hook global BufCreate .*\.(diff|patch) \
+hook global BufCreate .*\.(diff|patch) %{
     setb filetype diff
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=diff \
-    addhl group diff-highlight; \
-    addhl -group diff-highlight regex "^\+[^\n]*\n" green default; \
-    addhl -group diff-highlight regex "^-[^\n]*\n" red default; \
-    addhl -group diff-highlight regex "^@@[^\n]*@@" cyan default;
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=diff %{
+    addhl group diff-highlight
+    addhl -group diff-highlight regex "^\+[^\n]*\n" green default
+    addhl -group diff-highlight regex "^-[^\n]*\n" red default
+    addhl -group diff-highlight regex "^@@[^\n]*@@" cyan default
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!diff).* \
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!diff).* %{
     rmhl diff-highlight
+}
diff --git a/src/rc/git.kak b/src/rc/git.kak
index 8b391ce5..14fa37c3 100644
--- a/src/rc/git.kak
+++ b/src/rc/git.kak
@@ -1,23 +1,29 @@
-hook global BufCreate .*COMMIT_EDITMSG \
+hook global BufCreate .*COMMIT_EDITMSG %{
     setb filetype git-commit
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=git-commit \
-    addhl group git-commit-highlight; \
-    addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "#[^\n]*\n" cyan default; \
-    addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "\<(modified|deleted|new file):[^\n]*\n" magenta default; \
-    addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "\<(modified|deleted|new file):" red default;
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=git-commit %{
+    addhl group git-commit-highlight
+    addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "#[^\n]*\n" cyan default
+    addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "\<(modified|deleted|new file):[^\n]*\n" magenta default
+    addhl -group git-commit-highlight regex "\<(modified|deleted|new file):" red default
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!git-commit).* \
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!git-commit).* %{
     rmhl git-commit-highlight
+}
 
-hook global BufCreate .*git-rebase-todo \
+hook global BufCreate .*git-rebase-todo %{
     setb filetype git-rebase
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=git-rebase \
-    addhl group git-rebase-highlight; \
-    addhl -group git-rebase-highlight regex "#[^\n]*\n" cyan default; \
-    addhl -group git-rebase-highlight regex "^(pick|edit|reword|squash|fixup|exec|[persfx]) \w+" magenta default; \
-    addhl -group git-rebase-highlight regex "^(pick|edit|reword|squash|fixup|exec|[persfx])" green default;
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=git-rebase %{
+    addhl group git-rebase-highlight
+    addhl -group git-rebase-highlight regex "#[^\n]*\n" cyan default
+    addhl -group git-rebase-highlight regex "^(pick|edit|reword|squash|fixup|exec|[persfx]) \w+" magenta default
+    addhl -group git-rebase-highlight regex "^(pick|edit|reword|squash|fixup|exec|[persfx])" green default
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!git-rebase).* \
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!git-rebase).* %{
     rmhl git-rebase-highlight
+}
diff --git a/src/rc/global.kak b/src/rc/global.kak
index 4f8da202..983a420b 100644
--- a/src/rc/global.kak
+++ b/src/rc/global.kak
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 def -env-params \
-    -shell-completion 'global -c ${kak_param0}' \
-    tag eval \
-   `if [[ ${kak_param0} != "" ]]; then
+    -shell-completion %{ global -c ${kak_param0} } \
+    tag %{ eval %sh{
+    if [[ ${kak_param0} != "" ]]; then
        tagname=${kak_param0}
     else
        tagname=${kak_selection}
     fi
-    params=$(global --result grep ${tagname} | sed "s/\([^:]*\):\([0-9]*\):\(.*\)/'\1:\2 \3' 'edit \1 \2; try exec \"20k41Xs\\\\Q\3<ret>\" catch echo \"could not find [\3] near \1:\2\"; exec \2g'/")
+    params=$(global --result grep ${tagname} | sed "s/\([^:]*\):\([0-9]*\):\(.*\)/'\1:\2 \3' 'edit \1 \2; try %{ exec \"20k41Xs\\\\Q\3<ret>\" } catch %{ echo \"could not find [\3] near \1:\2\"; exec \2g }'/")
     if [[ ${params} != "" ]]; then
-       echo "menu -auto-single $params"
+       echo "menu -auto-single ${params//$'\n'/ }"
     else
        echo echo tag ${tagname} not found
-    fi`
+    fi
+}}
diff --git a/src/rc/kakrc.kak b/src/rc/kakrc.kak
index a2f3c668..a7ab8b31 100644
--- a/src/rc/kakrc.kak
+++ b/src/rc/kakrc.kak
@@ -1,17 +1,20 @@
-hook global BufCreate (.*/)?(kakrc|.*.kak) \
+hook global BufCreate (.*/)?(kakrc|.*.kak) %{
     setb filetype kak
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=kak \
-    addhl group kak-highlight; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex \<(hook|addhl|rmhl|addfilter|rmfilter|exec|source|runtime|def|echo|edit|set[gbw])\> green default; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex \<(default|black|red|green|yellow|blue|magenta|cyan|white)\> yellow default; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+\w+){2}\h+\H+ magenta default; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+\w+){2} cyan default; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+\w+) red default; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+(global|buffer|window)) blue default; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<regex)\h+\S+ magenta default; \
-    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<set[gbw])\h+\S+\h+\S+ magenta default; \
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=kak %{
+    addhl group kak-highlight
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex \<(hook|addhl|rmhl|addfilter|rmfilter|exec|source|runtime|def|echo|edit|set[gbw])\> green default
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex \<(default|black|red|green|yellow|blue|magenta|cyan|white)\> yellow default
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+\w+){2}\h+\H+ magenta default
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+\w+){2} cyan default
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+\w+) red default
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<hook)(\h+(global|buffer|window)) blue default
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<regex)\h+\S+ magenta default
+    addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<set[gbw])\h+\S+\h+\S+ magenta default
     addhl -group kak-highlight regex (?<=\<set[gbw])\h+\S+ red default
+}
 
-hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!kak).* \
+hook global WinSetOption filetype=(?!kak).* %{
     rmhl kak-highlight
+}