From #tools-deps and the new cli tools release: How about a "general propose, string, linear, EDN representation"? In bash: my-app :a 42 :b c :d "#sym e" "[:f :g]" 43 "#in[:h :i]" 44 "#vector[:k]" 45 In clojure:

(sh-edn [":a" "42"
         ":b" "c"
         ":d" "#sym e"
         "[:f :g]" "43"
         "#in[:h :i]" "44"
         "#vector[:k]" "45"])
=> {:a      42
    :b      "c"
    [:f :g] 43
    :h      {:i 44}
    :k      [45]}