mk (Make)
Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things. This tool helps you do both. One task runner to rule them all.
Yet another simple task runner.
mk is a powerful and flexible task runner designed to help you automate and manage your tasks efficiently. It supports running commands both locally and inside containers, making it versatile for various environments and use cases. Running tasks in containers is a first-class citizen, ensuring seamless integration with containerized workflows.

Features
- Simple Configuration: Define your tasks in a straightforward YAML file.
- Flexible Execution: Run tasks locally, in containers, or as nested tasks.
- Error Handling: Control how errors are handled with
ignore_errors. - Verbose Output: Enable verbose output for detailed logs.
Installation
Binary for different OS distribution can be downloaded here. Linux, macOS, and Windows are supported.
Install using script
mk runs on most major platforms. If your platform isn't listed below, please open an issue.
The recommended way to install mk is via the install script:
|
The recommended way to install mk is via the install script:
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From source
If you're into Rust, then mk can be installed with cargo. The minimum supported version of Rust is 1.37.0. The binaries produce may be bigger than expected as it contains debug symbols.
Manual installation
Follow the instruction below to install and use mk on your system.
- Download the binary for your OS distribution here.
- Copy it to your system binary directory (
/usr/local/bin) or to your userspace binary directory ($HOME/.local/bin).
Usage
Using CLI
)
Here is a sample command line usage of mk.
Both commands above are equivalent. The config file can be omitted as mk defaults to file tasks.yaml.
Sample taskfile yaml
Let's create a sample yaml file called tasks.yaml.
tasks:
task1:
commands:
- command: |
echo $FOO
echo $BAR
shell: bash
ignore_errors: false
verbose: true
- command: 'true'
shell: zsh
ignore_errors: true
verbose: true
- command: echo $BAR
ignore_errors: false
verbose: true
depends_on:
- name: task1
description: This is a task
labels:
environment:
FOO: bar
env_file:
- test.env
Here's the test.env that needed by the yaml file:
BAR=foo
This yaml task named task1 can be run on mk with the command below:
Here's a longer version Yaml that utilize container run on task5:
tasks:
task1:
depends_on:
- name: task4
preconditions:
- command: echo "Precondition 1"
- command: echo "Precondition 2"
commands:
- command: |
echo $FOO
echo $BAR
verbose: true
- command: echo fubar
verbose: true
- command: echo $BAR
verbose: true
- task: task3
description: This is a task
labels:
- label=1
- label=2
environment:
FOO: bar
env_file:
- test.env
task2:
commands:
- command: echo $FOO
verbose: true
depends_on:
- name: task1
description: This is a task
labels:
environment:
FOO: bar
env_file:
- test.env
task3:
commands:
- command: echo $FOO
verbose: true
description: This is a task
labels:
environment:
FOO: bar
env_file:
- test.env
task4:
commands:
- command: echo $FOO
verbose: true
description: This is a task
labels:
environment:
FOO: fubar
env_file:
- test.env
task5:
commands:
- container_command:
- bash
- -c
- echo $FOO
image: docker.io/library/bash:latest
verbose: true
description: This is a task
labels:
environment:
FOO: fubar
env_file:
- test.env
Handling Cyclic Dependencies
Cyclic dependencies occur when a task depends on itself, either directly or indirectly, creating a loop that can cause the system to run indefinitely. To prevent this, the system detects cyclic dependencies and exits immediately with an error message.
Example of Cyclic Dependency
Consider the following tasks:
tasks:
task_a:
depends_on:
- task_b
commands:
- command: "echo 'Running task A'"
shell: "sh"
ignore_errors: false
verbose: true
task_b:
depends_on:
- task_c
commands:
- command: "echo 'Running task B'"
shell: "sh"
ignore_errors: false
verbose: true
task_c:
depends_on:
- task_a
commands:
- command: "echo 'Running task C'"
shell: "sh"
ignore_errors: false
verbose: true
In this example, task_a depends on task_b, task_b depends on task_c, and task_c depends on task_a, creating a cyclic dependency.
How the System Handles Cyclic Dependencies
When the system detects a cyclic dependency, it exits immediately with an error message indicating the cycle. This prevents the system from entering an infinite loop.
Config Schema
The docs can be found here.
What's on the roadmap?
- Add support for saving and reusing command output (output can be reused on other command inside a task)
- Add secrets env storage that use GPG storage
- Add proper documentation
- Add support for cargo env
- Add support for trigger reload when on cargo run
- Add fuzzy finder for tasks
- Add unit tests and benchmarks
- Add support for npm scripts
- Import and include yaml from local and remote sources
- Make sure to support windows and macOS
- Make use of labels
- Proper prop argument drilling so ignore_errors on defined on task would go down properly on child commands
- Support for lima and nerdctrl
- There's still a lot of unknown, if you found a bug please report.
License
Licensed under either of
- Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
- MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
at your option.
Contribution
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
References
- https://taskfile.dev/ - Taskfile
- https://compose-spec.github.io/compose-spec/ - Docker Compose
- https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/playbook_guide/playbooks_intro.html - Ansible