---
layout: layouts/base.njk
permalink: /
---

<hgroup>
  <h1>./task</h1>
  <p>Run any project.</p>
</hgroup>

![Vercel](https://vercelbadge.vercel.app/api/janikvonrotz/taskfile.build)

---

The task file is a simple bash script and standardized interface for all software projects.

It is to be understood as a software development pattern to standardize the installation, configuration and execution of different software frameworks.

## Specification

The specification is a short guide to set up a task file for a Python project.

Create a file `task` in your project.

```bash
touch task
```

Ensure it is executable.

```bash
chmod +x task
```

First add the bash shebang.

```bash
#!/usr/bin/env bash
```

Then append the abort on error setting.

```bash
set -e
```

Load environment variables from the `.env` file.

```bash
if [[ -a ".env" ]]; then
    source .env
fi
```

Add a help function.

```bash
help-table() {
    local cmd_width=10
    local opt_width=6
    local desc_width=40
    local column="| %-${cmd_width}s | %-${opt_width}s | %-${desc_width}s |\n"

    printf "$column" 'Command' 'Option' 'Description'
    echo "|$(printf '%*s' $((cmd_width + 2)) '' | tr ' ' '-')|$(printf '%*s' $((opt_width + 2)) '' | tr ' ' '-')|$(printf '%*s' $((desc_width + 2)) '' | tr ' ' '-')|"
    printf "$column" 'help' '[grep]' 'Show help for commands.'
    printf "$column" 'install' '' 'Setup the local environment.'
    printf "$column" 'lint' '' 'Run pre-commit and update index.html.'
    printf "$column" 'version' '' 'Show version of required tools.'
}

help() {
    echo
    if [[ -n "$1" ]]; then
        help-table | grep -i "$1" | column -t -s'|'
    else
        echo 'task <command> [options]'
        echo
        echo 'commands:'
        echo
        help-table
    fi
    echo
}
```

Setup the command functions.

```bash
install() {
    echo 'Setup venv and install python dependencies'
    uv venv env
    source env/bin/activate
    uv pip install pre-commit
}

lint() {
    source env/bin/activate

    echo 'Run pre-commit'
    pre-commit run --all-file
}

version() {
    uv --version
}
```

Finish the task file with command switch cases.

```bash
if declare -f "$1" > /dev/null; then
    "$1" "${@:2}"
else
    case "$1" in
        all)
            install
            lint
            ;;
        *)
            echo "Unknown command: $1"
            help
            exit 1
            ;;
    esac
fi
```

These are the main parts of every task file script.

Now see [usage](/usage) on how to use the task file.

## Naming

The naming of functions is important. There are basically two styles:

1. Action + Object
2. Object + Action

The task file functions use the first style. The name of the function starts with an action followed by an object. The object name can be singular or plural.

**Examples for actions**: <span id="actions">activate, install, dev, develop, init, build, start, update, remove, delete, enable, disable, template, convert, create, edit, change, get, set, patch, fetch, generate, push, pull, import, export, list, publish, release, test, setup, prepare, restart, stop, store, restore, translate, upgrade, zip, visualize, sync, switch, run, reset, load, dump, checkout, commit, drop, deploy, handle, trigger, render, lint, uninstall, split, parse, fix, refactor, transform, cat, ls, rm, serve, help, show, filter, login, logout, encrypt, decrypt, upload, download, analyse, transpile, compile, minify, copy</span>

**Examples for objects**: <span id="objects">env, venv, submodule, container, database, snippet, model, module, repo, mail, doc, dependency, view, user, vault, file, host, node, log, password, hash, script, requirement, part, component, system, workspace, image, process, state, platform, dir, folder, readme, overview, lang, level, request, response, result, worker, server, proxy, workflow, volume, network, package, field, value, secret, chart, node, edge, function, method, firewall, html, css, image, svg, style, query, native, group, notebook</span>

**Objects can be tools**: <span id="object-tools">odoo, vupress, nodejs, zsh, bash, fish, podman, kind, minikube, helm, nvim, docker, podman, rust, python, tmux, vim, helix, system, git, pass, llm, sql, dotenv, javascript, vue, vite, astro, typescript, turbo, pnpm, eslint, jenkins, k8s, nextcloud, postgres, metabase, ansible, prometheus, grafana, hugo, deno, bun, babel, panda, gulp, grunt, electron, react, express, mongodb, angular, ionic, meteor, webpack, bower, jupyter</span>

<button id="generate-function-names">Generate Function Names</button> <ul id="function-names"> <!-- Random function names will be inserted here by JS --> </ul>

## Style

The bash scripts follow the [Bash Style Guide | ysap.sh](https://style.ysap.sh/). Have a look at the [AGENTS.md](/AGENTS) for details on the applied styling.