Cc-skills mise-tasks

Orchestrate multi-step project workflows using mise task definitions with dependency management and argument handling. Use whenever the user wants to create, edit, or debug mise tasks, wire up task dependencies with depends/depends_post, or run workflows via 'mise run'. Also use when setting up task runners or automating build pipelines through mise. Do NOT use for mise environment variable configuration (use mise-configuration instead) or for general shell scripting unrelated to mise.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/terrylica/cc-skills
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/terrylica/cc-skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/plugins/itp/skills/mise-tasks" ~/.claude/skills/terrylica-cc-skills-mise-tasks && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: plugins/itp/skills/mise-tasks/SKILL.md
source content

mise Tasks Orchestration

<!-- ADR: 2025-12-08-mise-tasks-skill -->

Orchestrate multi-step project workflows using mise

[tasks]
section with dependency management, argument handling, and file tracking.

Self-Evolving Skill: This skill improves through use. If instructions are wrong, parameters drifted, or a workaround was needed — fix this file immediately, don't defer. Only update for real, reproducible issues.

When to Use This Skill

Explicit triggers:

  • User mentions
    mise tasks
    ,
    mise run
    ,
    [tasks]
    section
  • User needs task dependencies:
    depends
    ,
    depends_post
  • User wants workflow automation in
    .mise.toml
  • User mentions task arguments or
    usage
    spec

AI Discovery trigger (prescriptive):

When

mise-configuration
skill detects multi-step workflows (test suites, build pipelines, migrations), prescriptively invoke this skill to generate appropriate
[tasks]
definitions.

Quick Reference

Task Definition

[tasks.build]
description = "Build the project"
run = "cargo build --release"

Running Tasks

mise run build          # Run single task
mise run test build     # Run multiple tasks
mise run test ::: build # Run in parallel
mise r build            # Short form

Dependency Types

TypeSyntaxWhen
depends
depends = ["lint", "test"]
Run BEFORE task
depends_post
depends_post = ["notify"]
Run AFTER task succeeds
wait_for
wait_for = ["db"]
Wait only if running

Key Task Properties

PropertyPurposeExample
description
AI-agent discoverability (CRITICAL)
"Run pytest with coverage. Exits non-zero on failure."
alias
Short name
alias = "t"
dir
Working directory
dir = "packages/frontend"
env
Task-specific env vars (NOT passed to deps)
env = { LOG_LEVEL = "debug" }
hide
Hidden from
mise tasks
output
hide = true
sources
File tracking for caching
sources = ["src/**/*.rs"]
outputs
Skip if newer than sources
outputs = ["target/release/myapp"]
confirm
Prompt before execution
confirm = "Delete all data?"
quiet
Suppress mise output
quiet = true
silent
Suppress ALL output
silent = true
raw
Direct stdin/stdout (disables parallelism)
raw = true
tools
Task-specific tool versions
tools = { python = "3.9" }
shell
Custom shell
shell = "pwsh -c"
usage
Argument spec (preferred over Tera)See Task Arguments

Namespacing

mise run 'test:*'      # All tasks starting with test:
mise run 'db:**'       # Nested: db:migrate:up, db:seed:test
mise tasks --hidden    # View hidden tasks (prefixed with _)

For detailed examples and patterns for all levels, see Task Levels Reference.


Level 10: Monorepo (Experimental)

Requires:

MISE_EXPERIMENTAL=1
and
experimental_monorepo_root = true

mise run //projects/frontend:build    # Absolute from root
mise run :build                       # Current config_root
mise run //...:test                   # All projects
mise run '//projects/...:build'       # Build all under projects/

Tasks in subdirectories are auto-discovered with path prefix (

packages/api/.mise.toml
tasks become
packages/api:taskname
).

For complete monorepo documentation, see: advanced.md


Level 11: Polyglot Monorepo with Pants + mise

For Python-heavy polyglot monorepos (10-50 packages), combine mise for runtime management with Pants for build orchestration and native affected detection.

ToolResponsibility
miseRuntime versions (Python, Node, Rust) + environment variables
PantsBuild orchestration + native affected detection + dependency inference
# Native affected detection (no manual git scripts)
pants --changed-since=origin/main test
pants --changed-since=origin/main lint
pants --changed-since=origin/main package
ScaleRecommendation
< 10 packagesmise + custom affected (Level 10 patterns)
10-50 packages (Python-heavy)Pants + mise (this section)
50+ packagesConsider Bazel

See polyglot-affected.md for complete Pants + mise integration guide and tool comparison.


Integration with [env]

Tasks automatically inherit

[env]
values. Use
_.file
for external env files and
redact = true
for secrets.

[env]
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://localhost/mydb"
_.file = { path = ".env.secrets", redact = true }

[tasks._check-env]
hide = true
run = '[ -n "$API_KEY" ] || { echo "Missing API_KEY"; exit 1; }'

[tasks.deploy]
depends = ["_check-env"]
run = "deploy.sh"  # $DATABASE_URL and $API_KEY available

For full env integration patterns, see Environment Integration.


Anti-Patterns

Anti-PatternWhy BadInstead
Replace /itp:go with mise tasksNo TodoWrite, no ADR tracking, no checkpointsUse mise tasks for project workflows, /itp:go for ADR-driven development
Hardcode secrets in tasksSecurity riskUse
_.file = ".env.secrets"
with
redact = true
Giant monolithic tasksHard to debug, no reuseBreak into small tasks with dependencies
Skip or minimal
description
AI agents cannot infer task purpose from name aloneWrite rich descriptions: what it does, requires, produces, when to run
Publish without build
depends
Runtime failure instead of DAG preventionAdd
depends = ["build"]
to publish tasks
Orchestrator without all phases"Run X next" messages get ignoredInclude all phases in
release:full
depends array

For release-specific anti-patterns and patterns, see Release Workflow Patterns.


Cross-Reference: mise-configuration

Prerequisites: Before defining tasks, ensure

[env]
section is configured.

PRESCRIPTIVE: After defining tasks, invoke

mise-configuration
skill to ensure [env] SSoT patterns are applied.

The

mise-configuration
skill covers:

  • [env]
    - Environment variables with defaults
  • [settings]
    - mise behavior configuration
  • [tools]
    - Version pinning
  • Special directives:
    _.file
    ,
    _.path
    ,
    _.python.venv

Additional Resources


Troubleshooting

IssueCauseSolution
Task not foundTypo or wrong mise.tomlRun
mise tasks
to list available tasks
Dependencies not runCircular dependencyCheck task depends arrays for cycles
Sources not workingWrong glob patternUse relative paths from mise.toml location
Watch not triggeringFile outside sources listAdd file pattern to sources array
Env vars not availableTask in wrong directoryEnsure mise.toml is in cwd or parent
Run fails with errorScript path issueUse absolute path or relative to mise.toml

Post-Execution Reflection

After this skill completes, check before closing:

  1. Did the command succeed? — If not, fix the instruction or error table that caused the failure.
  2. Did parameters or output change? — If the underlying tool's interface drifted, update Usage examples and Parameters table to match.
  3. Was a workaround needed? — If you had to improvise (different flags, extra steps), update this SKILL.md so the next invocation doesn't need the same workaround.

Only update if the issue is real and reproducible — not speculative.