diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d503818..947db85 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -95,13 +95,13 @@ Examples:
 _**Note:** Single quotes in commands are normalized so they work cross-platform and avoid the errors often encountered on Microsoft Windows._
 
 ### 4. Skip a command
-To _comment out_ a command prepend a dash (`-`) to the command.
+To _comment out_ a command prepend two slashes (`//`) to the command.
 
 In the example below, the first `tsc` command will be skipped while the `tsc --verbose` command will be executed:
  ```json
 "runScriptsConfig": {
    "compile": [
-      "- tsc",
+      "//tsc",
       "tsc --verbose",
       "lessc src/web-app/style.less build/web-app/style.css"
    ]
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 57e2935..3d0d952 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
    "runScriptsConfig": {
       "spec-a": [
          "copy-folder bin spec/fixtures/target/a",
-         "- echo 'This command will be skipped.'",
+         "//echo 'This command will be skipped.'",
          "copy-file spec/fixtures/target/a/cli.js spec/fixtures/target/a/cli2.js",
          "copy-folder .github/workflows spec/fixtures/target/a"
       ],
@@ -112,15 +112,15 @@
    "devDependencies": {
       "@types/fancy-log": "~2.0",
       "@types/node": "~20.11",
-      "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "~6.19",
-      "@typescript-eslint/parser": "~6.19",
-      "add-dist-header": "~1.3",
-      "assert-deep-strict-equal": "~1.1",
+      "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "~7.0",
+      "@typescript-eslint/parser": "~7.0",
+      "add-dist-header": "~1.4",
+      "assert-deep-strict-equal": "~1.2",
       "copy-file-util": "~1.1",
       "copy-folder-util": "~1.1",
       "eslint": "~8.56",
       "jshint": "~2.13",
-      "mocha": "~10.2",
+      "mocha": "~10.3",
       "npm-run-all2": "~6.1",
       "rimraf": "~5.0",
       "typescript": "~5.3"
diff --git a/run-scripts.ts b/run-scripts.ts
index c760867..42011c8 100644
--- a/run-scripts.ts
+++ b/run-scripts.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ const runScripts = {
          };
       const skip = (step: number, command: string) => {
          const active =       settings.only === null || step === settings.only;
-         const commentedOut = command.startsWith('-');
+         const commentedOut = command.startsWith('//') || command.startsWith('-');  //DEPRECATED: single dash comments
          if (commentedOut)
             logger(chalk.yellow('skipping:'), command);
          return !active || commentedOut;