When I pass a parameter on the command line certain characters (like @) are transformed to X+hexadecimal. Is this some sort of sanitization step? Would using a config file (https://wiki.galaxyproject.org/Admin/Tools/ToolConfigSyntax#A.3Cconfigfile.3E_tag_set) avoid that sort of mess?

I'm not sure I've seen this documented (I could be wrong though).

Thanks,
Jim