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taskfile

PyPI version Python version License: Apache-2.0 Build Status Codecov Documentation Status

Universal task runner with multi-environment deploy support.

Write your deploy logic once in Taskfile.yml, run it from your terminal, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Gitea, Jenkins — or any other pipeline. Zero CI/CD lock-in.

Table of Contents

The Problem This Solves

You have one project with multiple deployment stages:

local   → Docker Compose + Traefik  (dev on laptop)
staging → Docker Compose over SSH   (test server)
prod    → Podman Quadlet + Traefik  (512MB VPS)
fleet   → 20× Raspberry Pi kiosks   (edge deploy)

Without taskfile, you maintain separate scripts, CI configs, and fleet tools for each. With taskfile:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Taskfile.yml                        │
│  (environments + tasks + groups = one file)      │
│                                                  │
│  taskfile --env local run dev                    │
│  taskfile --env prod run deploy                  │
│  taskfile -G kiosks run deploy-kiosk             │
│  taskfile fleet status                           │
│  taskfile auth setup                             │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

One YAML file. All environments, platforms, device groups, and deploy tasks in one place.

Install

pip install taskfile

Short alias tf is also available after install:

tf --env prod run deploy

Quick Start

# 1. Create project from template
taskfile init --template full

# 2. See available tasks
taskfile list

# 3. Local development
taskfile --env local run dev

# 4. Deploy to production
taskfile --env prod run deploy

# 5. Dry run — see what would happen
taskfile --env prod --dry-run run deploy

Taskfile.yml Reference

A complete Taskfile.yml can contain these top-level sections:

version: "1"
name: my-project
description: Project description
default_env: local
default_platform: web

# ─── Global variables ────────────────────────────
variables:
  APP_NAME: my-project
  IMAGE: ghcr.io/myorg/my-project
  TAG: latest

# ─── Hosts (compact environment declaration) ─────
# Extra keys (region, role) become uppercase variables.
hosts:
  _defaults:
    user: deploy
    key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    runtime: podman
  prod-eu:   { host: eu.example.com, region: eu-west-1 }
  prod-us:   { host: us.example.com, region: us-east-1 }
  _groups:
    all-prod: { members: [prod-eu, prod-us], strategy: canary }

# ─── Environments (WHERE to deploy) ──────────────
# Smart defaults: ssh_host → podman/quadlet/~/.ssh/id_ed25519
# env_file defaults to .env.{env_name}
environments:
  local: {}                        # docker/compose auto-detected

  staging:
    ssh_host: staging.example.com  # → podman, quadlet, .env.staging
    variables:
      DOMAIN: staging.example.com

# ─── Deploy recipe (auto-generates tasks) ────────
deploy:
  strategy: quadlet                # compose | quadlet | ssh-push
  images:
    api: services/api/Dockerfile
    web: services/web/Dockerfile
  registry: ${REGISTRY}
  health_check: /health

# ─── Addons (pluggable task generators) ──────────
addons:
  - postgres: { db_name: myapp }
  - monitoring: { grafana: http://grafana:3000 }
  - redis: { url: redis://localhost:6379 }

# ─── Platforms (WHAT to deploy) ───────────────────
platforms:
  web:
    desc: Web application
    variables:
      BUILD_DIR: dist/web
  desktop:
    desc: Electron desktop app
    variables:
      BUILD_DIR: dist/desktop

# ─── Tasks ────────────────────────────────────────
tasks:
  build:
    desc: Build the application
    cmds:
      - docker build -t ${IMAGE}:${TAG} .

  deploy:
    desc: Deploy to target environment
    deps: [build, push]          # run dependencies first
    parallel: true               # run deps concurrently
    env: [prod]                  # only run on prod
    platform: [web]              # only run for web platform
    condition: "test -f Dockerfile"  # skip if condition fails
    continue_on_error: true      # don't stop on failure
    retries: 3                   # retry on failure (Ansible-inspired)
    retry_delay: 10              # seconds between retries
    timeout: 300                 # abort after 300 seconds
    tags: [deploy, ci]           # selective execution with --tags
    register: DEPLOY_OUTPUT      # capture stdout into variable
    cmds:
      - "@remote podman pull ${IMAGE}:${TAG}"
      - "@remote systemctl --user restart ${APP_NAME}"
      - "@fn notify Deployed ${APP_NAME}"   # call embedded function
      - "@python print('done')"             # inline Python

# ─── Embedded Functions ───────────────────────────────
functions:
  notify:
    lang: python                 # shell | python | node | binary
    code: |                      # inline code
      import os; print(f"Deployed {os.environ['APP_NAME']}")
  health-check:
    lang: shell
    file: scripts/health.sh      # external file

Key Concepts

  • hosts — compact environment + group declaration with _defaults and _groups
  • environments — WHERE to deploy (local machine, remote server via SSH)
  • Smart defaults — ssh_host present → podman/quadlet/~/.ssh/id_ed25519; absent → docker/compose; env_file → .env.{name}
  • environment_defaults — shared SSH/runtime config applied to all environments
  • deploy — recipe that auto-generates build/push/deploy/rollback/health tasks
  • addons — pluggable task generators (postgres, monitoring, redis)
  • platforms — WHAT to deploy (web, desktop, mobile)
  • environment_groups — batch of environments for fleet/group deploy
  • tasks — commands to execute, with deps, filters, conditions
  • variables — cascade: global → environment → platform → --var CLI overrides
  • functions — embed Python/shell/Node/binary as callable @fn from tasks
  • @remote prefix — command runs via SSH on the target environment's host
  • @fn prefix — call an embedded function: @fn notify arg1
  • @python prefix — run inline Python: @python print('hello')
  • retries / timeout / tags / register — Ansible-inspired robustness
  • include — split Taskfile.yml into multiple files for better organization
  • pipeline — define CI/CD stages for automated generation
  • compose — Docker Compose integration with override support

New Syntax Features

Smart Defaults

When ssh_host is present, taskfile auto-detects remote deploy settings — no need to repeat boilerplate:

# Before (verbose):
environments:
  prod:
    ssh_host: prod.example.com
    ssh_user: deploy
    ssh_key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    container_runtime: podman
    service_manager: quadlet
    env_file: .env.prod
    quadlet_dir: deploy/quadlet
    quadlet_remote_dir: ~/.config/containers/systemd

# After (smart defaults):
environments:
  prod:
    ssh_host: prod.example.com
Condition Default
ssh_host present container_runtime: podman, service_manager: quadlet, ssh_key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
ssh_host absent container_runtime: docker, compose_command: docker compose
Always env_file: .env.{env_name}, ssh_user: deploy

Explicit values always override defaults.

hosts: — Compact Environment Declaration

Declare fleets and multi-region deploys in a fraction of the YAML:

# Before (50+ lines):
environments:
  prod-eu:
    ssh_host: eu.example.com
    ssh_user: deploy
    ssh_key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    container_runtime: podman
    service_manager: quadlet
    variables: { REGION: eu-west-1 }
  prod-us:
    ssh_host: us.example.com
    ssh_user: deploy
    ssh_key: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    container_runtime: podman
    service_manager: quadlet
    variables: { REGION: us-east-1 }
environment_groups:
  all-prod:
    members: [prod-eu, prod-us]
    strategy: canary

# After (10 lines):
hosts:
  _defaults: { user: deploy, runtime: podman }
  prod-eu:   { host: eu.example.com, region: eu-west-1 }
  prod-us:   { host: us.example.com, region: us-east-1 }
  _groups:
    all-prod: { members: [prod-eu, prod-us], strategy: canary }
  • _defaults — shared config for all hosts (short aliases: host, user, key, port, runtime, manager)
  • Extra keys (like region, role) automatically become uppercase variables (REGION, ROLE)
  • _groups — same format as environment_groups
  • Works alongside environments: — both are merged

deploy: — Recipe-Based Task Generation

Auto-generate build, push, deploy, rollback, and health tasks from a recipe:

deploy:
  strategy: quadlet       # compose | quadlet | ssh-push
  images:
    api: services/api/Dockerfile
    web: services/web/Dockerfile
  registry: ${REGISTRY}
  health_check: /health
  health_retries: 5
  rollback: auto

This generates: build-api, build-web, build-all, push-api, push-web, push-all, deploy, health, rollback. User-defined tasks with the same names override generated ones.

addons: — Pluggable Infrastructure Tasks

Add common operations in one line instead of writing 20+ tasks manually:

addons:
  - postgres: { db_name: myapp, backup_dir: /tmp/bak }
  - monitoring: { grafana: http://grafana:3000 }
  - redis: { url: redis://redis:6379 }
Addon Generated tasks
postgres db-status, db-size, db-migrate, db-backup, db-restore, db-vacuum, db-prune-backups
monitoring mon-status, mon-alerts, mon-metrics, mon-dashboard-export, mon-setup
redis redis-status, redis-info, redis-flush, redis-monitor

String shorthand also works: addons: ["postgres"] (uses all defaults).

taskfile explain <task> — Execution Plan Preview

See exactly what a task will do without running it:

$ taskfile --env prod-eu explain deploy

📋 deploy (env: prod-eu)
   Deploy via Podman Quadlet

  Steps:
    1. 💻 docker build -t ghcr.io/org/api:latest ...
    2. 💻 docker push ghcr.io/org/api:latest
    3. 🌐 @remote systemctl --user daemon-reload
    4. 🌐 @remote podman pull ghcr.io/org/api:latest
    ...

  Variables:  APP_NAME=myapp  REGION=eu-west-1  TAG=latest
  Requires:   Docker, SSH to eu.example.com

Embedded Functions

Define reusable functions in Python, Shell, Node.js, or binary executables:

functions:
  notify:
    lang: python
    desc: Send Slack notification
    code: |
      import os, json, urllib.request
      webhook = os.environ.get("SLACK_WEBHOOK")
      msg = os.environ.get("FN_ARGS", "Done")
      # ... send notification

  health-check:
    lang: shell
    file: scripts/health.sh  # External file

tasks:
  deploy:
    cmds:
      - "@fn notify Deployment started"
      - "@fn health-check"

Enhanced Task Properties

New Ansible-inspired features for robust automation:

tasks:
  deploy:
    desc: Deploy with retry logic
    retries: 3              # Retry on failure
    retry_delay: 10         # Seconds between retries
    timeout: 300            # Abort after 5 minutes
    tags: [deploy, ci]      # Selective execution
    register: DEPLOY_ID     # Capture output
    continue_on_error: true # Don't stop on failure
    cmds:
      - "@fn deploy-service"
      - echo "Deploy ID: {{DEPLOY_ID}}"

Run with tags:

taskfile run --tags deploy  # Only run tasks with 'deploy' tag

Include — Split Taskfile into Multiple Files

Organize large Taskfiles by splitting them:

# Taskfile.yml
include:
  - path: ./tasks/build.yml
  - path: ./tasks/deploy.yml
    prefix: deploy    # Tasks become: deploy-local, deploy-prod
  - ./tasks/test.yml  # String shorthand

variables:
  APP: myapp

tasks:
  all:
    deps: [lint, test, build, deploy-prod]
# tasks/deploy.yml
environments:
  prod:
    ssh_host: prod.example.com

tasks:
  prod:
    cmds: ["@remote systemctl restart myapp"]

Pipeline Section — CI/CD Generation

Define CI/CD stages that generate GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc:

pipeline:
  python_version: "3.12"
  docker_in_docker: true
  secrets: [GHCR_TOKEN, DEPLOY_KEY]
  cache: [~/.cache/pip, node_modules]
  
  stages:
    - name: test
      tasks: [lint, test]
      cache: [~/.cache/pip]
      
    - name: build
      tasks: [build, push]
      docker_in_docker: true
      
    - name: deploy
      tasks: [deploy]
      env: prod
      when: manual  # or "branch:main"

Generate CI configs:

taskfile ci generate --target github   # GitHub Actions
taskfile ci generate --target gitlab   # GitLab CI
taskfile ci run --stage test          # Run locally

Compose Section — Docker Compose Integration

Enhanced Docker Compose support with overrides:

compose:
  file: docker-compose.yml
  override_files:
    - docker-compose.override.yml
    - docker-compose.prod.yml
  network: proxy
  auto_update: true

environments:
  prod:
    compose_file: docker-compose.prod.yml
    env_file: .env.prod

Global Options

taskfile [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS...]

Options:
  --version                Show version
  -f, --file PATH          Path to Taskfile.yml
  -e, --env ENV            Target environment (default: local)
  -G, --env-group GROUP    Target environment group (fleet deploy)
  -p, --platform PLATFORM  Target platform (e.g. desktop, web)
  --var KEY=VALUE           Override variable (repeatable)
  --dry-run                Show commands without executing
  -v, --verbose            Verbose output

Core Commands

Command Description
taskfile <tasks...> Run one or more tasks
taskfile <tasks...> --tags ci Run only tasks matching tags
taskfile list List tasks, environments, groups, platforms, variables
taskfile info <task> Show detailed info about a task (incl. tags, retries, timeout)
taskfile validate Check Taskfile.yml for errors
taskfile explain <task> Show detailed execution plan without running
taskfile init [--template T] Create Taskfile.yml from template
taskfile import <file> Import CI/CD config, Makefile, or script INTO Taskfile.yml
taskfile export <format> Export Taskfile.yml to other formats (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI)

Deploy & Release

Command Description
taskfile deploy Smart deploy — auto-detects strategy per environment
taskfile release [--tag v1.0] Full release pipeline: tag → build → deploy → health
taskfile rollback [--target TAG] Rollback to previous version
taskfile setup <IP> One-command VPS provisioning + deploy
taskfile version bump Bump version (patch/minor/major)
taskfile version show Show current version
taskfile version set <version> Set specific version

Fleet Management

Command Description
taskfile fleet status SSH health check on all remote environments
taskfile fleet status --group kiosks Check only devices in a group
taskfile fleet list List remote environments and groups
taskfile fleet repair <env> 8-point diagnostics + auto-fix
taskfile -G kiosks run deploy Deploy to all devices in a group

Registry Auth

Command Description
taskfile auth setup Interactive token setup for registries
taskfile auth setup --registry pypi Setup for one registry only
taskfile auth verify Test all configured credentials

Infrastructure

Command Description
taskfile quadlet generate Generate Podman Quadlet from docker-compose.yml
taskfile quadlet upload Upload Quadlet files to server via SSH
taskfile ci generate Generate CI/CD config (GitHub Actions, GitLab, etc.)
taskfile health Check health of deployed services

Docker Helpers

Command Description
taskfile docker ps Show running Docker containers
taskfile docker stop-port <port> Stop containers using a specific port
taskfile docker stop-all Stop all running containers
taskfile docker compose-down Run docker compose down in directory

Diagnostics & Validation — 5-Layer Self-Healing

Command Description
taskfile doctor Full 5-layer diagnostics (preflight → validation → checks → fix → AI)
taskfile doctor --fix Auto-fix issues where possible (Layer 4)
taskfile doctor --llm Ask AI for help on unresolved issues (Layer 5, requires pip install taskfile[llm])
taskfile doctor --category config Filter by category: config, env, infra, runtime, or all
taskfile doctor --report JSON output for CI pipelines
taskfile doctor --examples Validate all examples/ directories
taskfile doctor -v Verbose — also check task commands and SSH connectivity

5 Diagnostic Layers

Layer Name What it does
1 Preflight Check if tools exist (docker, ssh, git, python3)
2 Validation Check if Taskfile.yml is correct YAML with valid references
3 Diagnostics Check environment health (ports, SSH keys, .env files, Docker)
4 Algorithmic fix Auto-fix deterministic issues (copy .env.example, init git, rename PORT)
5 LLM assist Escalate unresolved issues to AI via litellm (optional)

Error Categories (5-category system)

Category Meaning Example
taskfile_bug Bug in taskfile itself Parser crash, internal error
config_error User misconfiguration Missing task, broken dep, script not found, empty .env
dep_missing Missing tool/dependency Docker not installed, command not found
runtime_error App/command execution failure Exit code 1, process crash
external_error Network/infra problem SSH refused, VPS offline, OOM kill

Fix Strategies

Each issue has a fix strategy indicating how it can be resolved:

Strategy Behavior
auto Fixed automatically without asking
confirm Ask user before applying fix
manual Print instructions — user must act
llm Escalate to AI for suggestion (--llm flag) 
# Full diagnostics
taskfile doctor

# Auto-fix + AI suggestions
taskfile doctor --fix --llm

# JSON for CI (non-zero exit on errors)
taskfile doctor --report

Pre-Run Validation

Before executing tasks, taskfile validates the configuration and stops early with clear messages:

✗ [config_error] Missing env file for 'prod': .env.prod (copy from .env.prod.example)
  Fix your configuration — check Taskfile.yml and .env files.

Pre-run validation failed. Run taskfile doctor --fix to resolve.

Exit Code Classification

When a command fails, taskfile classifies the exit code:

Exit Code Category Hint
1 runtime Command error — check logs above
2 config Invalid arguments — check command syntax
126 config Permission denied — check script permissions
127 config Command not found — check PATH
124 infra Timeout — increase timeout or check network
137 infra Process killed (OOM?) — check resources

For complex failures, use taskfile doctor --llm for AI-assisted troubleshooting.

AI Tools Integration

Taskfile works great as an orchestration layer for AI coding tools. See examples/ai-*/ for complete Taskfile.yml configs:

Tool Example Key Tasks
Aider examples/ai-aider/ feature, tdd, review-diff, lint-fix, type-fix
Claude Code examples/ai-claude-code/ implement, review-staged, generate-tests, ai-commit
OpenAI Codex examples/ai-codex/ implement, implement-auto, sandbox, fix-tests
GitHub Copilot examples/ai-copilot/ suggest, explain, init-instructions, review-pr
Cursor examples/ai-cursor/ init-rules, init-context, composer-feature
Windsurf examples/ai-windsurf/ init-rules, init-workflows, doctor-fix
Gemini CLI examples/ai-gemini-cli/ implement, review-screenshot (multimodal!), review-staged 
# Example: AI-assisted TDD with Aider
cd examples/ai-aider/
taskfile run tdd --var SPEC="User login returns JWT token"

# Example: Claude Code review of staged changes
cd examples/ai-claude-code/
taskfile run review-staged

# Example: Generate IDE rules for Windsurf
cd examples/ai-windsurf/
taskfile run init-rules       # → .windsurfrules
taskfile run init-workflows   # → .windsurf/workflows/ (4 templates)

# Example: Pipe taskfile doctor output to AI
taskfile doctor --report | claude "Fix these issues"

Multi-Environment Deploy

Define environments in Taskfile.yml, then target them with --env:

# Local development
taskfile --env local run dev

# Staging deploy
taskfile --env staging run deploy

# Production deploy
taskfile --env prod run deploy

# Override variables per-run
taskfile --env prod run deploy --var TAG=v1.2.3 --var DOMAIN=new.example.com

Remote Commands with @remote

Any command prefixed with @remote runs on the environment's SSH host:

tasks:
  restart:
    env: [prod]
    cmds:
      - "@remote systemctl --user restart ${APP_NAME}"
      - "@remote podman ps --filter name=${APP_NAME}"

This translates to: ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 deploy@prod.example.com 'systemctl --user restart my-app'

Deploy Shortcut

taskfile deploy auto-detects the right strategy:

taskfile --env local deploy    # → docker compose up -d
taskfile --env prod deploy     # → generate Quadlet → scp → systemctl restart

Multi-Platform Deploy

Deploy to desktop and web platforms across environments:

┌──────────┬───────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│          │ local                 │ prod                     │
├──────────┼───────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ desktop  │ npm run dev:electron  │ electron-builder publish │
│ web      │ docker compose up     │ podman pull + restart    │
└──────────┴───────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘

taskfile --env local --platform desktop run deploy
taskfile --env prod --platform web run deploy
taskfile release    # all platforms at once

Variables cascade: global → environment → platform → CLI overrides.

Generate a multiplatform scaffold:

taskfile init --template multiplatform

Environment Groups & Fleet Management

Manage fleets of devices (Raspberry Pi, edge nodes, kiosks) using environment_groups in Taskfile.yml. Each device is an environment with ssh_host; groups define batch-deploy strategies.

Defining a Fleet

Using hosts: shorthand (recommended for fleets):

hosts:
  _defaults: { user: pi, runtime: podman }
  kiosk-lobby:    { host: 192.168.1.10, kiosk_id: lobby }
  kiosk-cafe:     { host: 192.168.1.11, kiosk_id: cafe }
  kiosk-entrance: { host: 192.168.1.12, kiosk_id: entrance }
  _groups:
    kiosks:
      members: [kiosk-lobby, kiosk-cafe, kiosk-entrance]
      strategy: rolling       # rolling | canary | parallel
      max_parallel: 2         # for rolling: how many at a time

Or using classic environments + environment_groups:

environment_defaults:
  ssh_user: pi
  container_runtime: podman

environments:
  kiosk-lobby:    { ssh_host: 192.168.1.10 }
  kiosk-cafe:     { ssh_host: 192.168.1.11 }
  kiosk-entrance: { ssh_host: 192.168.1.12 }

environment_groups:
  kiosks:
    members: [kiosk-lobby, kiosk-cafe, kiosk-entrance]
    strategy: rolling
    max_parallel: 2

Group Deploy Strategies

  • rolling — deploy to max_parallel devices at a time, wait for success, then next batch
  • canary — deploy to canary_count devices first, confirm, then deploy to rest
  • parallel — deploy to all devices simultaneously
# Deploy to all kiosks with rolling strategy
taskfile -G kiosks run deploy-kiosk --var TAG=v2.0

# Deploy to a single device
taskfile --env kiosk-lobby run deploy-kiosk --var TAG=v2.0

Fleet Status & Health

# Check all remote devices (parallel SSH: temp, RAM, disk, containers, uptime)
taskfile fleet status

# Check only devices in a group
taskfile fleet status --group kiosks

# List all remote environments and groups
taskfile fleet list

Example output:

┌─────────────────┬──────────────┬────────┬──────┬─────┬──────┬────────────┬─────────┐
│ Name            │ IP           │ Status │ Temp │ RAM │ Disk │ Containers │ Uptime  │
├─────────────────┼──────────────┼────────┼──────┼─────┼──────┼────────────┼─────────┤
│ kiosk-cafe      │ 192.168.1.11 │ ✅ UP  │ 52°C │ 41% │ 23%  │          3 │ up 14d  │
│ kiosk-entrance  │ 192.168.1.12 │ ✅ UP  │ 48°C │ 38% │ 19%  │          3 │ up 14d  │
│ kiosk-lobby     │ 192.168.1.10 │ ✅ UP  │ 55°C │ 45% │ 27%  │          3 │ up 14d  │
└─────────────────┴──────────────┴────────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴────────────┴─────────┘

Fleet Repair

Diagnose and auto-fix issues on a device with 8-point check: ping, SSH, disk, RAM, temperature, Podman, containers, NTP.

# Interactive repair
taskfile fleet repair kiosk-lobby

# Auto-fix without prompts
taskfile fleet repair kiosk-lobby --auto-fix

Parallel Tasks & Error Handling

Parallel Dependencies

Run task dependencies concurrently for faster builds:

tasks:
  deploy:
    deps: [test, lint, build]
    parallel: true              # test, lint, build run at the same time
    cmds:
      - echo "All deps done, deploying..."

Continue on Error

Allow tasks to continue even if a command fails:

tasks:
  lint:
    cmds:
      - ruff check .
    continue_on_error: true     # alias for ignore_errors: true

  deploy:
    deps: [lint, test]
    parallel: true
    continue_on_error: true     # failed deps won't stop the deploy
    cmds:
      - "@remote systemctl --user restart ${APP_NAME}"

Conditional Execution

Skip tasks when conditions aren't met:

tasks:
  migrate:
    condition: "test -f migrations/pending.sql"
    cmds:
      - "@remote psql < migrations/pending.sql"

Registry Authentication

Interactively configure API tokens for package registries. Tokens are saved to .env (auto-gitignored).

# Setup all registries
taskfile auth setup

# Setup one registry
taskfile auth setup --registry pypi

# Verify all configured tokens
taskfile auth verify

Supported registries:

Registry Token variable How to get
PyPI PYPI_TOKEN https://pypi.org/manage/account/token/
npm NPM_TOKEN npm token create
Docker Hub DOCKER_TOKEN https://hub.docker.com/settings/security
GitHub GITHUB_TOKEN https://github.com/settings/tokens
crates.io CARGO_TOKEN https://crates.io/settings/tokens

Multi-Registry Publishing

Generate a publish scaffold for releasing to multiple registries:

taskfile init --template publish

This creates a Taskfile.yml with tasks for:

  • PyPI — twine upload
  • npm — npm publish
  • Docker Hub / GHCR — docker push
  • GitHub Releases — gh release create
  • Landing page — build & deploy
# Publish to all registries
taskfile run publish-all --var TAG=v1.0.0

# Publish to single registry
taskfile run publish-pypi --var TAG=v1.0.0
taskfile run publish-docker --var TAG=v1.0.0

Quadlet Generator

Automatically generate Podman Quadlet .container files from your existing docker-compose.yml.

taskfile quadlet generate --env-file .env.prod -o deploy/quadlet

Reads docker-compose.yml, resolves ${VAR:-default} with .env.prod values, generates Quadlet units with:

  • [Container] — image, env, volumes, labels, ports, resource limits
  • [Unit] — After=/Requires= from depends_on
  • AutoUpdate=registry for automatic updates
  • Traefik labels preserved
  • Named volumes → .volume units
  • Networks → .network units

No podlet binary needed — pure Python.

# Generate + upload to server
taskfile quadlet generate --env-file .env.prod
taskfile --env prod quadlet upload

VPS Setup (One-Command)

Provision a fresh VPS and deploy your app in one command:

taskfile setup 123.45.67.89 --domain app.example.com

This runs:

  1. SSH key provisioning
  2. System update + Podman install
  3. Firewall configuration
  4. Deploy user creation
  5. Application deployment

Options:

taskfile setup 123.45.67.89 \
  --domain app.example.com \
  --ssh-key ~/.ssh/custom_key \
  --user admin \
  --ports 80,443,8080

# Dry run
taskfile setup 123.45.67.89 --dry-run

# Skip steps
taskfile setup 123.45.67.89 --skip-provision
taskfile setup 123.45.67.89 --skip-deploy

Release Pipeline

Full release orchestration: tag → build → deploy → health check.

# Full release
taskfile release --tag v1.0.0

# Skip desktop build
taskfile release --tag v1.0.0 --skip-desktop

# Dry run
taskfile release --tag v1.0.0 --dry-run

Steps:

  1. Create git tag
  2. Build desktop applications
  3. Build and deploy web (SaaS)
  4. Upload desktop binaries
  5. Build and deploy landing page
  6. Run health checks

Version Management

Use shorthand commands for version management:

# Bump version (creates git tag automatically)
taskfile version bump        # 0.1.0 → 0.1.1 (patch)
taskfile version bump minor  # 0.1.0 → 0.2.0
taskfile version bump major  # 0.1.0 → 1.0.0
taskfile version bump --dry-run  # Preview changes

# Show current version
taskfile version show

# Set specific version
taskfile version set 1.0.0
taskfile version set 2.0.0-rc1

Rollback:

taskfile rollback                   # rollback to previous tag
taskfile rollback --target v0.9.0   # rollback to specific tag
taskfile rollback --dry-run

CI/CD Integration

Same commands work everywhere — terminal, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Jenkins:

# Terminal
taskfile --env prod run deploy --var TAG=v1.2.3

# GitLab CI
script: taskfile --env prod run deploy --var TAG=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA

# GitHub Actions
run: taskfile --env prod run deploy --var TAG=${{ github.sha }}

# Jenkins
sh 'taskfile --env prod run deploy --var TAG=${BUILD_NUMBER}'

Generate CI configs automatically:

# Generate GitHub Actions workflow
taskfile ci generate --provider github

# Generated workflows support:
# - Tag-triggered releases (v*)
# - Secrets injection from GitHub Secrets
# - Multi-job pipelines

Scaffold Templates

Generate a Taskfile.yml from built-in templates:

taskfile init --template <name>
Template Description
minimal Basic build/deploy, 2 environments
web Web app with Docker + Traefik, 3 environments
podman Podman Quadlet + Traefik, optimized for low-RAM
full All features: multi-env, release, cleanup, quadlet
codereview 3-stage: local(Docker) → staging → prod(Podman Quadlet)
multiplatform Desktop + Web × Local + Prod deployment matrix
publish Multi-registry publishing: PyPI, npm, Docker, GitHub
saas SaaS app with hosts:, deploy:, addons:, smart defaults
kubernetes Kubernetes + Helm multi-cluster deployment
terraform Terraform IaC with multi-environment state management
iot IoT/edge fleet with rolling, canary, and parallel strategies

Templates are stored as plain YAML files and can be customized.

SSH Embedded (Optional)

For faster, connection-pooled SSH execution without subprocess overhead:

pip install taskfile[ssh]

When paramiko is installed, @remote commands use native Python SSH with connection pooling. Falls back to subprocess ssh automatically if paramiko is not available.

Include — Split Taskfile into Multiple Files

# Taskfile.yml
include:
  - path: ./tasks/build.yml
  - path: ./tasks/deploy.yml
    prefix: deploy              # tasks become: deploy-local, deploy-prod
  - ./tasks/test.yml            # string shorthand

Tasks, variables, and environments from included files are merged. Local definitions take precedence.

Project Structure

my-project/
├── Taskfile.yml                # tasks, environments, groups
├── docker-compose.yml          # container definitions (source of truth)
├── .env.local                  # local variables
├── .env.prod                   # production variables (gitignored)
├── deploy/
│   └── quadlet/                # auto-generated .container files
└── Dockerfile

Examples (24 total)

Getting Started

Example Complexity Features
minimal ⭐ test, build, run — no environments
saas-app ⭐⭐ local/staging/prod with pipeline
multiplatform ⭐⭐⭐ Web + Desktop, CI/CD generation
codereview.pl ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 6 CI platforms, Quadlet, docker-compose

Publishing

Example Registry Language
publish-pypi PyPI Python
publish-npm npm Node.js / TypeScript
publish-cargo crates.io Rust
publish-docker GHCR + Docker Hub any (multi-arch)
publish-github GitHub Releases Go (binaries + checksums)
multi-artifact 5 registries Python + Rust + Node.js + Docker

Fleet & IoT

Example Features
fleet-rpi 6 RPi, hosts: shorthand, rolling/canary groups
edge-iot IoT gateways, hosts:, ssh_port: 2200, all 3 group strategies, condition

Infrastructure & Cloud

Example Features
ci-pipeline pipeline section, stage field, taskfile ci generate/run/preview, condition, silent
kubernetes-deploy Helm, multi-cluster (staging + prod-eu + prod-us), canary groups
iac-terraform dir (working_dir), env_file, Terraform plan/apply/destroy, condition
cloud-aws Lambda + ECS + S3, multi-region, env_file, environment_groups
quadlet-podman service_manager: quadlet, compose section, ssh_port: 2222, taskfile deploy/setup

Patterns & Import

Example Features
script-extraction Split Taskfile into shell/Python scripts, mixed inline + script tasks
ci-generation pipeline section → 6 CI platforms, stage triggers (when), docker_in_docker
include-split include — import tasks/vars/envs from other YAML files, prefix support
functions-embed functions section, @fn/@python prefix, retries, timeout, tags, register
import-cicd taskfile import — GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Makefile, shell → Taskfile.yml

Advanced / All Features

Example Features
monorepo-microservices platforms, build_cmd/deploy_cmd, condition, dir, stage, platform filter
fullstack-deploy ALL CLI commands: deploy, setup, release, init, validate, info, ci, --dry-run
mega-saas-v2 hosts:, deploy:, addons:, smart defaults — 70% less YAML vs mega-saas 
# CI pipeline — generate + run locally
cd examples/ci-pipeline
taskfile ci generate --target github
taskfile ci run --stage test

# Kubernetes — multi-cluster canary
cd examples/kubernetes-deploy
taskfile -G all-prod run helm-deploy --var TAG=v1.0.0

# Terraform — multi-env IaC
cd examples/iac-terraform
taskfile --env staging run plan
taskfile --env staging run apply

# IoT fleet — all 3 strategies
cd examples/edge-iot
taskfile -G warehouse run deploy --var TAG=v2.0   # canary
taskfile -G factory run deploy --var TAG=v2.0     # parallel

# AWS — Lambda + ECS multi-region
cd examples/cloud-aws
taskfile --env prod-eu run ecs-deploy lambda-deploy --var TAG=v1.0.0

Integration with Other Tools

Taskfile is designed to complement existing tools, not replace them all. Here's how to integrate with popular alternatives:

Taskfile + Make

Use Makefile as a thin wrapper for teams that expect make:

# Makefile — delegates to taskfile
deploy:
	taskfile --env prod run deploy

test:
	taskfile run test

.PHONY: deploy test

Or use taskfile alongside Make — each handles what it does best:

  • Make — C/C++ compilation, file-based dependency graphs
  • Taskfile — multi-environment deploys, fleet management, registry auth

Taskfile + Just (casey/just)

Similar philosophy (command runner), different strengths:

  • Just — simple per-project recipes, no environments
  • Taskfile — environments, groups, fleet, @remote, registry auth

Migration: each Just recipe maps to a Taskfile task. Add environments for multi-host.

Taskfile + Task (go-task.dev)

Both use YAML, but Taskfile adds:

  • environments / environment_groups / @remote SSH
  • taskfile fleet, taskfile auth, taskfile quadlet
  • Publishing pipelines with registry integration

They can coexist — use Taskfile.yml for deploy, Taskfile.dist.yml for go-task.

Taskfile + Dagger

Complementary:

  • Dagger — containerized CI pipelines (build graph in code)
  • Taskfile — orchestration layer that calls Dagger
tasks:
  build:
    cmds:
      - dagger call build --source=.
  deploy:
    deps: [build]
    env: [prod]
    cmds:
      - "@remote podman pull ${IMAGE}:${TAG}"
      - "@remote systemctl --user restart ${APP}"

Taskfile + Ansible

For fleet management at scale:

  • Ansible — 100+ hosts, complex inventories, roles, idempotent modules
  • Taskfile — small fleets (<50), simple SSH commands, environment_groups

For hybrid: use Ansible for provisioning, Taskfile for daily operations:

tasks:
  provision:
    cmds:
      - ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml setup.yml
  deploy:
    cmds:
      - "@remote podman pull ${IMAGE}:${TAG}"
      - "@remote systemctl --user restart ${APP}"

Best Practices: Code vs Configuration

Keep Taskfile.yml declarative

Taskfile.yml is configuration — it should declare what to do, not how:

# ✅ Good — declarative, short commands
tasks:
  build:
    deps: [test]
    cmds:
      - cargo build --release

  deploy:
    env: [prod]
    cmds:
      - "@remote podman pull ${IMAGE}:${TAG}"
      - "@remote systemctl --user restart ${APP}"
# ❌ Bad — logic embedded in YAML
tasks:
  deploy:
    cmds:
      - |
        if [ "$ENV" = "prod" ]; then
          ssh deploy@prod "podman pull $IMAGE"
          ssh deploy@prod "systemctl restart $APP"
        elif [ "$ENV" = "staging" ]; then
          ...
        fi

Extract shell logic to scripts

When a task needs conditionals, loops, or error handling — put it in scripts/:

# ✅ Taskfile calls script
tasks:
  validate:
    cmds:
      - ./scripts/validate-deploy.sh ${APP_NAME} ${TAG}
# scripts/validate-deploy.sh — testable, lintable, reusable
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
docker build -t "$1-validate:$2" .
docker run -d --name "$1-validate" -p 9999:3000 "$1-validate:$2"
curl -sf http://localhost:9999/health || exit 1

Use hosts: or smart defaults to reduce duplication

# ✅ Best — hosts: shorthand (for fleets)
hosts:
  _defaults: { user: pi, key: ~/.ssh/fleet_ed25519, runtime: podman }
  node-1: { host: 192.168.1.10 }
  node-2: { host: 192.168.1.11 }
# ✅ Good — smart defaults (for 2-3 environments)
environments:
  prod:
    ssh_host: prod.example.com   # → auto: podman, quadlet, .env.prod
# ✅ Also good — environment_defaults (explicit shared config)
environment_defaults:
  ssh_user: pi
  ssh_key: ~/.ssh/fleet_ed25519
  container_runtime: podman

environments:
  node-1: { ssh_host: 192.168.1.10 }
  node-2: { ssh_host: 192.168.1.11 }
# ❌ WET — repeated on every environment
environments:
  node-1:
    ssh_host: 192.168.1.10
    ssh_user: pi
    ssh_key: ~/.ssh/fleet_ed25519
    container_runtime: podman
  node-2:
    ssh_host: 192.168.1.11
    ssh_user: pi
    ssh_key: ~/.ssh/fleet_ed25519
    container_runtime: podman

Only declare environments you actually use

# ✅ No environments needed for a simple publish pipeline
version: "1"
name: my-lib
variables:
  VERSION: "1.0.0"
tasks:
  test:
    cmds: [cargo test]
  publish:
    deps: [test]
    cmds: [cargo publish]
# ❌ Unnecessary boilerplate
environments:
  local:
    container_runtime: docker
    compose_command: docker compose
# ^ Never used — the tasks don't reference Docker Compose

Use deps + parallel instead of repeating commands

# ✅ Compose via deps
test-all:
  deps: [py-test, rs-test, js-test]
  parallel: true

# ❌ Duplicating commands from other tasks
test-all:
  cmds:
    - cd packages/python && pytest
    - cd packages/rust && cargo test
    - cd packages/node && npm test

Development

Working with the taskfile project itself:

Setup Development Environment

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/pyfunc/taskfile.git
cd taskfile

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # or: venv\Scripts\activate on Windows

# Install in editable mode with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Verify installation
taskfile --version

Running Tests

# Run all tests
pytest tests/ -v

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/test_parser.py -v

# Run with coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=taskfile --cov-report=html --cov-report=term

# Run only e2e tests
pytest tests/test_e2e_examples.py -v

# Run DSL command tests (all command types: @local, @remote, @fn, @python, globs, etc.)
pytest tests/test_dsl_commands.py -v

Code Quality

# Lint with ruff
ruff check src/taskfile/

# Format code
ruff format src/taskfile/

# Check types (optional, requires mypy)
mypy src/taskfile/ --ignore-missing-imports

Project Structure

taskfile/
├── src/taskfile/           # Main source code
│   ├── cli/               # CLI commands
│   ├── runner/            # Task execution engine
│   ├── diagnostics/       # Diagnostics & doctor
│   ├── scaffold/          # Template generation
│   └── cigen/             # CI/CD generators
├── tests/                  # Test suite
├── examples/               # Example configurations (24 examples)
├── docs/                   # Documentation
└── Taskfile.yml           # Project's own tasks

Making Changes

# 1. Create a branch
git checkout -b fix/my-feature

# 2. Make changes and run tests
pytest tests/ -v

# 3. Run project taskfile for validation
taskfile validate

# 4. Test against examples
taskfile doctor --examples

# 5. Build and install locally
pip install -e .

Debug Mode

# Verbose output
taskfile -v run <task>

# Very verbose (internal debug)
taskfile -vv run <task>

# Dry run to see commands without executing
taskfile --dry-run run <task>

Troubleshooting & Debugging

Step-by-Step Execution Tracing

Every command shows where in your Taskfile.yml it comes from:

## 🚀 Running: `deploy`
- Config: Taskfile.yml
- Environment: prod

▶ build — Build Docker images [prod] (Taskfile.yml:25)
### Step 1/1 — 💻 local `Taskfile.yml:28`
  → docker compose build

▶ deploy — Deploy to target [prod] (Taskfile.yml:30)
### Step 1/4 — 💻 local `Taskfile.yml:35`
### Step 2/4 — 🌐 remote `Taskfile.yml:36`

Use -v for full YAML snippet context at each step:

taskfile -v --env prod run deploy

Pre-Run File Validation

Before executing scp/rsync commands, taskfile checks that local files exist:

### Step 3/4 — 🌐 remote `Taskfile.yml:37`
  ⚠️ **No files match** `deploy/quadlet/*.container` — generate them first
     (e.g. `taskfile quadlet generate`)

💡 Tip: Generate Quadlet files first
Run `taskfile quadlet generate --env-file .env.prod -o deploy/quadlet`

### ❌ Pre-run validation failed for task `deploy`
**Fix:** Create the missing files, then re-run.
**Diagnose:** `taskfile doctor --fix`

This catches missing deploy artifacts before SSH/SCP fails with cryptic errors.

Learning Tips

Taskfile shows contextual tips as you work, helping you learn best practices:

Trigger Tip
scp in command Use rsync -avz instead (handles globs, resume)
quadlet in command Generate .container files first
@remote prefix Test SSH with taskfile fleet status
docker compose Validate with docker compose config
systemctl Quadlet auto-generates systemd units
.env reference Keep .env.prod gitignored, use .example templates

Tips also appear on failures with exit-code-specific advice (SSH errors, permission denied, command not found).

Quick Diagnostics

# Full system diagnostics
taskfile doctor

# Auto-fix common issues
taskfile doctor --fix

# Get AI help on unresolved issues
taskfile doctor --fix --llm

# Check specific category
taskfile doctor --category config
taskfile doctor --category runtime

Common Issues

SSH Connection Problems

# Test SSH connectivity
taskfile fleet status

# Check SSH key permissions
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# Test manual SSH
ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 user@host "echo OK"

Missing Deploy Artifacts

# Generate Quadlet files from docker-compose.yml
taskfile quadlet generate --env-file .env.prod -o deploy/quadlet

# Verify files were created
ls -la deploy/quadlet/

# Add as dependency in Taskfile.yml:
#   deploy:
#     deps: [build, quadlet-generate]

Taskfile.yml Validation Errors

# Validate configuration
taskfile validate

# Check specific task
taskfile info <task-name>

# List all tasks with their environments
taskfile list

Environment Variable Issues

# Check loaded variables
taskfile list --vars

# Override for testing
taskfile run <task> --var KEY=VALUE --var DEBUG=1

Container Runtime Issues

# Check Docker/Podman
taskfile doctor --category runtime

# Test container runtime manually
docker ps  # or: podman ps

# Check registry authentication
taskfile auth verify

Debug Output Levels

Flag Output
-v Verbose — step-by-step tracing with YAML snippets and learning tips
-vv Very verbose — internal debug info
--dry-run Show commands without executing
--report JSON output for CI/debugging

Getting Help

# Command help
taskfile --help
taskfile <command> --help

# Task help
taskfile info <task-name>

# AI-assisted debugging (requires LLM extras)
pip install taskfile[llm]
taskfile doctor --llm

Reporting Bugs

  1. Run diagnostics: taskfile doctor --report > debug.json
  2. Run with verbose: taskfile -v run <task> 2>&1 | tee debug.log
  3. Check version: taskfile --version
  4. Include:
    • debug.json and debug.log output
    • Your Taskfile.yml (redact secrets)
    • Python version: python --version
    • OS: uname -a

License

Apache License 2.0 - see LICENSE for details.

Author

Created by Tom Sapletta - tom@sapletta.com

About

Python package for running taskfile with deployment options for different environments.

pyfunc.github.io/taskfile/

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Apache-2.0 license

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