Tasks

Task recipes always run when invoked. Use them for commands that should execute every time.

Basic Tasks

task clean:
    rm -rf dist/
    rm -rf node_modules/

task test:
    npm test

task dev:
    npm run dev

Parameters

Tasks support parameters with optional default values:

task greet name="World":
    echo "Hello, {{name}}!"

task deploy env="staging" version="latest":
    echo "Deploying {{version}} to {{env}}"
    ./deploy.sh {{env}} {{version}}

Using Parameters

$ jake greet name=Alice
Hello, Alice!

$ jake deploy env=production version=1.2.3
Deploying 1.2.3 to production

Dependencies

Tasks can depend on other recipes:

task build:
    echo "Building..."

task test: [build]
    echo "Testing after build..."

task deploy: [build, test]
    echo "Deploying after build and test..."

Positional Arguments

Pass arguments directly using {{$1}}, {{$2}}, etc:

task greet:
    echo "Hello, {{$1}}!"

$ jake greet World
Hello, World!

All Arguments

Access all arguments with {{$@}}:

task echo-all:
    echo "Arguments: {{$@}}"

$ jake echo-all a b c d
Arguments: a b c d

Metadata

Description

task deploy:
    @description "Deploy application to production server"
    ./deploy.sh

Grouping

@group build
task build-frontend:
    npm run build

@group build
task build-backend:
    cargo build

Platform-Specific

@only-os linux macos
task install-deps:
    ./install.sh

@only-os windows
task install-deps:
    install.bat

Valid OS values: linux, macos, windows

When to Use Tasks

Use task when:

• The command should run every time (tests, dev servers, deployments)
• You need parameters
• You want explicit, self-documenting syntax

Use file when:

• The recipe produces an output file
• You want incremental builds