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https://github.com/jakedeichert/mask

🎭 A CLI task runner defined by a simple markdown file
https://github.com/jakedeichert/mask

make task-runner

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🎭 A CLI task runner defined by a simple markdown file

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README 

        


  




[![build status](https://github.com/jacobdeichert/mask/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg?branch=master)][github_ci]

[![mask version](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/mask.svg)][crate]

[![mask crate downloads](https://img.shields.io/crates/d/mask.svg)][crate]



`mask` is a CLI task runner which is defined by a simple markdown file. It searches for a `maskfile.md` in the current directory which it then parses for commands and arguments.



A `maskfile.md` is both a **human-readable document** and a **command definition**! Being documentation focused allows others to easily get started with your project's development setup by simply reading your `maskfile.md`. A nice advantage of using markdown is that syntax highlighting for code blocks is built-in to many editors and renderers like GitHub itself.



Here's the [maskfile.md](/maskfile.md) that `mask` itself uses as an example!



To get started, follow the guide below or check out the more [advanced features](#features) `mask` has like **positional args**, **optional flags**, **subcommands**, other **scripting runtimes** and more!



## Installation



### Precompiled binaries



Head to the [Releases page][releases] and look for the latest published version. Under **Assets** you'll see zips available for download for linux, macOS and Windows. Once downloaded, you can unzip them and then move the `mask` binary to somewhere accessible in your `$PATH` like `mv mask /usr/local/bin`.



### Homebrew



`mask` is available in [Homebrew][homebrew] which allows you to install it via `brew install mask`.



### Cargo



`mask` is published to [crates.io][crate] which allows you to install it via `cargo install mask`.



### From source



If you prefer to build from source, clone this repo and then run `cargo build --release`



## Getting started



First, define a simple `maskfile.md` in your project.



```markdown

# Tasks For My Project



## build



> Builds my project



~~~sh

echo "building project..."

~~~



## test



> Tests my project



You can also write documentation anywhere you want. Only certain types of markdown patterns

are parsed to determine the command structure.



This code block below is defined as js which means it will be ran with node. Mask also

supports other scripting runtimes including python, ruby and php!



~~~js

console.log("running tests...")

~~~

```



Then, try running one of your commands!



~~~sh

mask build

mask test

~~~



## Features



### Positional arguments



These are defined beside the command name within `(round_brackets)`. They are required arguments that must be supplied for the command to run. [Optional args][2] are coming soon. The argument name is injected into the script's scope as an environment variable.



**Example:**



```markdown

## test (file) (test_case)



> Run tests



~~~bash

echo "Testing $test_case in $file"

~~~

```



### Named flags



You can define a list of named flags for your commands. The flag name is injected into the script's scope as an environment variable.



**Example:**



```markdown

## serve



> Serve this directory



**OPTIONS**

* port

    * flags: -p --port

    * type: string

    * desc: Which port to serve on



~~~sh

PORT=${port:-8080} # Set a fallback port if not supplied



if [[ "$verbose" == "true" ]]; then

    echo "Starting an http server on PORT: $PORT"

fi

python -m SimpleHTTPServer $PORT

~~~

```



You can also make your flag expect a numerical value by setting its `type` to `number`. This means `mask` will automatically validate it as a number for you. If it fails to validate, `mask` will exit with a helpful error message.



**Example:**



```markdown

## purchase (price)



> Calculate the total price of something.



**OPTIONS**

* tax

    * flags: -t --tax

    * type: number

    * desc: What's the tax?



~~~sh

TAX=${tax:-1} # Fallback to 1 if not supplied

echo "Total: $(($price * $TAX))"

~~~

```



Coming in v0.11.5: If you add a `choices` list, `mask` will validate if the flag value is one of them.



**Example:**



```markdown

## print (text)



> Print text with color



**OPTIONS**

* color

    * flags: -c --color

    * type: string

    * choices: RED, BLUE, GREEN

    * desc: Color of the text.



~~~sh

COLOR=${color:RED} # Fallback to RED if not supplied

echo "$COLOR: $text"

~~~

```



If you exclude the `type` field, `mask` will treat it as a `boolean` flag. If the flag is passed, its environment variable will be `"true"`, otherwise it will be unset/non-existent.



Important to note that `mask` auto injects a very common `boolean` flag called `verbose` into every single command even if it's not used, which saves a bit of typing for you. This means every command implicitly has a `-v` and `--verbose` flag already.



**Example:**



```markdown

## test



> Run the test suite



**OPTIONS**

* watch

    * flags: -w --watch

    * desc: Run tests on file change



~~~bash

[[ "$watch" == "true" ]] && echo "Starting in watch mode..."

[[ "$verbose" == "true" ]] && echo "Running with extra logs..."

~~~

```



Flags are optional by default. If you add `required` to your flag definition, `mask` will error if it isn't supplied by the user.



**Example:**



```markdown

## ping



**OPTIONS**

* domain

    * flags: -d --domain

    * type: string

    * desc: Which domain to ping

    * required



~~~sh

ping $domain

~~~

```



### Subcommands



Nested command structures can easily be created since they are simply defined by the level of markdown heading. H2 (`##`) is where you define your top-level commands. Every level after that is a subcommand.



**Example:**

```markdown

## services



> Commands related to starting and stopping services



### services start (service_name)



> Start a service.



~~~bash

echo "Starting service $service_name"

~~~



### services stop (service_name)



> Stop a service.



~~~bash

echo "Stopping service $service_name"

~~~

```



You may notice above that the `start` and `stop` commands are prefixed with their parent command `services`. Prefixing subcommands with their ancestor commands may help readability in some cases, however, it is completely optional. The example below is the same as above, but without prefixing.



**Example:**

```markdown

## services



> Commands related to starting and stopping services



### start (service_name)



> Start a service.



~~~bash

echo "Starting service $service_name"

~~~



### stop (service_name)



> Stop a service.



~~~bash

echo "Stopping service $service_name"

~~~

```



### Support for other scripting runtimes



On top of shell/bash scripts, `mask` also supports using node, python, ruby and php as scripting runtimes. This gives you the freedom to choose the right tool for the specific task at hand. For example, let's say you have a `serve` command and a `snapshot` command. You could choose python to `serve` a simple directory and maybe node to run a puppeteer script that generates a png `snapshot` of each page.



**Example:**



```markdown

## shell (name)



> An example shell script



Valid lang codes: sh, bash, zsh, fish... any shell that supports -c



~~~zsh

echo "Hello, $name!"

~~~



## node (name)



> An example node script



Valid lang codes: js, javascript



~~~js

const { name } = process.env;

console.log(`Hello, ${name}!`);

~~~



## python (name)



> An example python script



Valid lang codes: py, python



~~~python

import os

name = os.getenv("name", "WORLD")

print("Hello, " + name + "!")

~~~



## ruby (name)



> An example ruby script



Valid lang codes: rb, ruby



~~~ruby

name = ENV["name"] || "WORLD"

puts "Hello, #{name}!"

~~~



## php (name)



> An example php script



~~~php

$name = getenv("name") ?: "WORLD";

echo "Hello, " . $name . "!\n";

~~~

```



#### Windows support



You can even add powershell or batch code blocks alongside linux/macOS ones. Depending on which platform this runs on, the correct code block will be executed.



**Example:**



```markdown

## link



> Build and link the binary globally



~~~bash

cargo install --force --path .

~~~



~~~powershell

[Diagnostics.Process]::Start("cargo", "install --force --path .").WaitForExit()

~~~

```



### Automatic help and usage output



You don't have to spend time writing out help info manually. `mask` uses your command descriptions and options to automatically generate help output. For every command, it adds `-h, --help` flags and an alternative `help ` command.



**Example:**

~~~sh

mask services start -h

mask services start --help

mask services help start

mask help services start

~~~



All output the same help info:



~~~txt

mask-services-start

Start or restart a service.



USAGE:

    mask services start [FLAGS] 



FLAGS:

    -h, --help       Prints help information

    -V, --version    Prints version information

    -v, --verbose    Sets the level of verbosity

    -r, --restart    Restart this service if it's already running

    -w, --watch      Restart a service on file change



ARGS:

    

~~~



### Running mask from within a script



You can easily call `mask` within scripts if you need to chain commands together. However, if you plan on [running mask with a different maskfile](#running-mask-with-a-different-maskfile), you should consider using the `$MASK` utility instead which allows your scripts to be location-agnostic.



**Example:**



```markdown

## bootstrap



> Installs deps, builds, links, migrates the db and then starts the app



~~~sh

mask install

mask build

mask link

# $MASK also works. It's an alias variable for `mask --maskfile `

# which guarantees your scripts will still work even if they are called from

# another directory.

$MASK db migrate

$MASK start

~~~

```



### Inherits the script's exit code



If your command exits with an error, `mask` will exit with its status code. This allows you to chain commands which will exit on the first error.



**Example:**



```markdown

## ci



> Runs tests and checks for lint and formatting errors



~~~sh

mask test \

    && mask lint \

    && mask format --check

~~~

```



### Running mask with a different maskfile



If you're in a directory that doesn't have a `maskfile.md` but you want to reference one somewhere else, you can with the `--maskfile ` option.



**Example:**



~~~sh

mask --maskfile ~/maskfile.md 

~~~



**Tip:** Make a bash alias for this so you can call it anywhere easily



~~~bash

# Call it something fun

alias wask="mask --maskfile ~/maskfile.md"



# You can run this from anywhere

wask 

~~~



### Environment variable utilities



Inside of each script's execution environment, `mask` injects a few environment variable helpers that might come in handy.



**`$MASK`**



This is useful when [running mask within a script](#running-mask-from-within-a-script). This variable allows us to call `$MASK command` instead of `mask --maskfile  command` inside scripts so that they can be location-agnostic (not care where they are called from). This is especially handy for global maskfiles which you may call from anywhere.



**`$MASKFILE_DIR`**



This variable is an absolute path to the maskfile's parent directory. Having the parent directory available allows us to load files relative to the maskfile itself which can be useful when you have commands that depend on other external files.



### Documentation sections



If a heading doesn't have a code block, it will be treated as documentation and completely ignored.



**Example:**



~~~markdown

## This is a heading with no script



It's useful as a place to document things like a setup guide or required dependencies

or tools that your commands may rely on.

~~~



## Use cases



Here's some example scenarios where `mask` might be handy.



### Project specific tasks



You have a project with a bunch of random build and development scripts or an unwieldy `Makefile`. You want to simplify by having a single, readable file for your team members to add and modify existing tasks.



### Global system utility



You want a global utility CLI for a variety of system tasks such as backing up directories or renaming a bunch of files. This is easily possible by making a bash alias for `mask --maskfile ~/my-global-maskfile.md`.



## FAQ



### Is `mask` available as a lib?



The [mask-parser][mask_parser] crate is available. However, it's not yet documented nor considered stable.



### Where did the inspiration come from?



I'm definitely not the first to come up with this idea of using markdown as a CLI structure definition.



My frustrations with `make`'s syntax is what led me to search for other options. I landed on [just][just] for awhile which was a pretty nice improvement. My favourite feature of `just` is its support for other language runtimes, which is why `mask` also has this ability! However, it still didn't have some features I wanted like nested subcommands and multiple optional flags.



At some point in my searching, I came across [maid][maid] which is where most of the inspiration for `mask` comes from. I thought it was brilliant that markdown could be used as a command definition format while still being so readable.



So why did I choose to rebuild the wheel instead of using `maid`? For one, I preferred installing a single binary, like `just` is, rather than installing an npm package with hundreds of deps. I also had a few ideas on how I could improve upon `maid` which is why `mask` supports multiple levels of nested subcommands as well as optional flags and positional args. Also... I just really wanted to build another thing with Rust :)



I also need to mention [clap][clap] and [pulldown-cmark][cmark] which are really the core parts of `mask` that made it so easy to create.



## Contributing



Check out our [Contribution Guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md) before creating an issue or submitting a PR 🙌



Also, please review and follow the rules within our [Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) 🙂



## Author



Jacob Deichert with the help of contributors.



[github_ci]: https://github.com/jacobdeichert/mask/actions?query=workflow%3ACI

[mask_parser]: https://crates.io/crates/mask-parser

[homebrew]: https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/mask

[crate]: https://crates.io/crates/mask

[releases]: https://github.com/jacobdeichert/mask/releases

[2]: https://github.com/jacobdeichert/mask/issues/5

[maid]: https://github.com/egoist/maid

[just]: https://github.com/casey/just

[clap]: https://github.com/clap-rs/clap

[cmark]: https://github.com/raphlinus/pulldown-cmark