cargo-task

Ultra-Lightweight Zero-Dependency Rust Cargo Task Runner.

• Platform Agnostic - runs on any platform that cargo runs on.
• Zero-Dependency - the task manager itself installs almost instantly.
• Rust Task Logic - stop writing separate bash and powershell scripts.
• Take a look at the '.cargo-task' directory in this repo for examples.

cargo install -f cargo-task
cargo help task

Creating cargo-task automation tasks.

cargo task ct-init
cd .cargo-task
cargo new --bin my-task
cd ..
cargo task my-task

• cargo task ct-init - creates the .cargo-task directory and .gitignore.
• cargo task my-task - runs the crate named my-task defined in the .cargo-task directory.

It's that simple!

Customizing how tasks are executed.

cargo-task uses a metadata format called AtAt - because it uses @ signs:

/*
@ct-default@ true @@
@ct-task-deps@
one
two
@@
*/

Some things to know about AtAt:

• protocol: @key@ value @@.
• the first @ for the key must be the first character on a line.
• the value is terminated by a two ats, "@@".
• the value can contain newlines or be on a single line.
• you probably want it in a rust comment block : )

These directives will be read from your main.rs file when parsing the .cargo-task crates.

Default tasks.

/*
@ct-default@ true @@
*/

Default tasks will be executed if the task list is empty on cargo task invocations.

Bootstrap tasks.

/*
@ct-bootstrap@ true @@
*/

Bootstrap tasks will always be executed before any task-list tasks. Also, the cargo-task metadata will be reloaded after bootstrap tasks are executed. You can use this to download / install / configure additional tasks.

Task dependencies.

/*
@ct-task-deps@
my-first-dependency
my-second-dependency
@@
*/

A whitespace delimited list of tasks that must be run prior to the current task. Can be on a single line or multiple lines.

The magic cargo_task_util module.

• cargo_task_util on docs.rs

This module will be available at the root of your crate during build time. To include it, simply add a mod directive in your main.rs file.

/*
@ct-default@ true @@
*/

mod cargo_task_util;
use cargo_task_util::*;

fn main() {
    // cargo task metadata env helper
    let env = ct_env();

    // print out some cool cargo-task metadata
    // (this does the same thing as `cargo task ct-meta`)
    println!("{:#?}", env);

    // also includes cargo-task special log helpers
    ct_warn!("ahh, a warning! {:?}", std::time::SystemTime::now());
}

Exporting environment variables to configure other tasks.

cargo_task_util::CTEnv also includes a utility for exporting environment variables.

If you just use the rust std::env::set_var function, the variable will be set for the current task execution, but no other tasks will see it.

Instead you can use cargo_task_util::CTEnv::set_env function.

You probably want to do this in a "bootstrap" task so it is available to other tasks that are run later.

/*
@ct-bootstrap@ true @@
*/

mod cargo_task_util;
use cargo_task_util::*;

fn main() {
    // cargo task metadata env helper
    let env = ct_env();

    // set a variable that will be available in other tasks.
    env.set_env("MY_VARIABLE", "MY_VALUE");
}