diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d24ceb5..6d7e7d9 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "testscript-rs"
-version = "0.2.9"
+version = "0.2.10"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "arbitrary",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d02a40e..67c8aec 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "testscript-rs"
-version = "0.2.9"
+version = "0.2.10"
 edition = "2021"
 authors = ["Jason Hall"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/src/parser.rs b/src/parser.rs
index c68e645..e625e53 100644
--- a/src/parser.rs
+++ b/src/parser.rs
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ fn parse_command_tokens(input: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>> {
     let mut current_token = String::new();
     let mut in_quotes = false;
     let mut quote_char = '"';
+    let mut just_closed_quotes = false;
     let mut chars = input.chars().peekable();
 
     while let Some(ch) = chars.next() {
@@ -208,21 +209,26 @@ fn parse_command_tokens(input: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>> {
                 if in_quotes && ch == quote_char {
                     // End of quoted string
                     in_quotes = false;
+                    just_closed_quotes = true;
                 } else if !in_quotes {
                     // Start of quoted string
                     in_quotes = true;
                     quote_char = ch;
+                    just_closed_quotes = false;
                 } else {
                     // Different quote type inside quotes - treat as literal
                     current_token.push(ch);
+                    just_closed_quotes = false;
                 }
             }
             ' ' | '\t' => {
                 if in_quotes {
                     current_token.push(ch);
-                } else if !current_token.is_empty() {
+                    just_closed_quotes = false;
+                } else if !current_token.is_empty() || just_closed_quotes {
                     tokens.push(current_token.clone());
                     current_token.clear();
+                    just_closed_quotes = false;
                 }
             }
             '\\' => {
@@ -262,12 +268,13 @@ fn parse_command_tokens(input: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>> {
             }
             _ => {
                 current_token.push(ch);
+                just_closed_quotes = false;
             }
         }
     }
 
-    // Add final token if any
-    if !current_token.is_empty() {
+    // Add final token if any (including empty tokens that were quoted)
+    if !current_token.is_empty() || just_closed_quotes {
         tokens.push(current_token);
     }
 
@@ -305,6 +312,17 @@ mod tests {
 
         let tokens = parse_command_tokens("stdout 'hello world\\n'").unwrap();
         assert_eq!(tokens, vec!["stdout", "hello world\n"]);
+
+        // Test empty quoted strings
+        let tokens = parse_command_tokens("stdout \"\"").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tokens, vec!["stdout", ""]);
+
+        let tokens = parse_command_tokens("stdout ''").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tokens, vec!["stdout", ""]);
+
+        // Test mixed empty and non-empty tokens
+        let tokens = parse_command_tokens("exec echo \"\" \"hello\" \"\"").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tokens, vec!["exec", "echo", "", "hello", ""]);
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/src/run/environment.rs b/src/run/environment.rs
index b7ef0ad..41b15f4 100644
--- a/src/run/environment.rs
+++ b/src/run/environment.rs
@@ -261,6 +261,64 @@ impl TestEnvironment {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    /// Compare command output with expected content and count matches
+    pub fn compare_output_with_count(
+        &self,
+        output_type: &str,
+        expected: &str,
+        expected_count: usize,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        let actual = match self.last_output {
+            Some(ref output) => match output_type {
+                "stdout" => String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout)
+                    .trim_end()
+                    .to_string(),
+                "stderr" => String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr)
+                    .trim_end()
+                    .to_string(),
+                _ => return Err(Error::command_error(output_type, "Unknown output type")),
+            },
+            None => {
+                return Err(Error::command_error(
+                    output_type,
+                    "No command output available",
+                ))
+            }
+        };
+
+        // Substitute environment variables in the expected pattern
+        let expected_substituted = self.substitute_env_vars(expected);
+
+        // Use regex to count matches
+        let regex_pattern = if expected_substituted.contains('^')
+            || expected_substituted.contains('$')
+            || expected_substituted.contains('[')
+            || expected_substituted.contains('(')
+            || expected_substituted.contains('*')
+            || expected_substituted.contains('.')
+        {
+            // Already a regex pattern
+            format!("(?su){}", expected_substituted)
+        } else {
+            // Treat as literal string and escape for regex
+            format!("(?su){}", regex::escape(&expected_substituted))
+        };
+
+        let regex = Regex::new(&regex_pattern)
+            .map_err(|e| Error::command_error(output_type, format!("Invalid regex: {}", e)))?;
+
+        let match_count = regex.find_iter(&actual).count();
+
+        if match_count != expected_count {
+            return Err(Error::OutputCompare {
+                expected: format!("{} (count: {})", expected_substituted, expected_count),
+                actual: format!("{} (count: {})", actual, match_count),
+            });
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// Set environment variable
     pub fn set_env_var(&mut self, key: &str, value: &str) {
         self.env_vars.insert(key.to_string(), value.to_string());
@@ -316,7 +374,17 @@ impl TestEnvironment {
     pub fn substitute_env_vars(&self, input: &str) -> String {
         let mut result = input.to_string();
 
-        // Handle $VAR and ${VAR} patterns
+        // First handle ${VAR@R} patterns for regex quoting
+        for (key, value) in &self.env_vars {
+            let regex_quoted_pattern = format!("${{{}@R}}", key);
+            if result.contains(&regex_quoted_pattern) {
+                // Escape regex metacharacters in the value
+                let escaped_value = regex::escape(value);
+                result = result.replace(&regex_quoted_pattern, &escaped_value);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Then handle normal $VAR and ${VAR} patterns
         for (key, value) in &self.env_vars {
             let patterns = [
                 format!("${{{}}}", key), // ${VAR}
diff --git a/src/run/execution.rs b/src/run/execution.rs
index 95c8731..65a25e9 100644
--- a/src/run/execution.rs
+++ b/src/run/execution.rs
@@ -310,14 +310,26 @@ fn execute_command_inner(
             env.compare_files_with_env(&command.args[0], &command.args[1])?;
         }
         "stdout" | "stderr" => {
-            if command.args.len() != 1 {
-                return Err(Error::command_error(
-                    &command.name,
-                    "Expected exactly 1 argument",
-                ));
+            // Parse arguments to handle -count=N option
+            let mut count_option: Option<usize> = None;
+            let mut pattern_arg = None;
+
+            for arg in &command.args {
+                if arg.starts_with("-count=") {
+                    let count_str = &arg[7..]; // Skip "-count="
+                    count_option =
+                        Some(count_str.parse::<usize>().map_err(|_| {
+                            Error::command_error(&command.name, "Invalid count value")
+                        })?);
+                } else if pattern_arg.is_none() {
+                    pattern_arg = Some(arg);
+                } else {
+                    return Err(Error::command_error(&command.name, "Too many arguments"));
+                }
             }
 
-            let expected = &command.args[0];
+            let expected = pattern_arg
+                .ok_or_else(|| Error::command_error(&command.name, "Expected pattern argument"))?;
 
             // Check if argument is a filename or literal text
             let expected_content = if expected == "-" {
@@ -328,10 +340,14 @@ fn execute_command_inner(
                 file_content.trim_end().to_string()
             } else {
                 // It's literal text
-                expected.clone()
+                expected.to_string()
             };
 
-            env.compare_output(&command.name, &expected_content)?;
+            if let Some(count) = count_option {
+                env.compare_output_with_count(&command.name, &expected_content, count)?;
+            } else {
+                env.compare_output(&command.name, &expected_content)?;
+            }
         }
         "cd" => {
             if command.args.len() != 1 {