mise Tasks Orchestration

Orchestrate multi-step project workflows using mise [tasks] section with dependency management, argument handling, and file tracking.

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

| Type | Syntax | When | | -------------- | ---------------------------- | ----------------------- | | 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

| Property | Purpose | Example | | ------------- | ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | 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.

| Tool | Responsibility | | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | mise | Runtime versions (Python, Node, Rust) + environment variables | | Pants | Build 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

| Scale | Recommendation | | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | < 10 packages | mise + custom affected (Level 10 patterns) | | 10-50 packages (Python-heavy) | Pants + mise (this section) | | 50+ packages | Consider 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-Pattern | Why Bad | Instead | | ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Replace /itp:go with mise tasks | No TodoWrite, no ADR tracking, no checkpoints | Use mise tasks for project workflows, /itp:go for ADR-driven development | | Hardcode secrets in tasks | Security risk | Use _.file = ".env.secrets" with redact = true | | Giant monolithic tasks | Hard to debug, no reuse | Break into small tasks with dependencies | | Skip or minimal description | AI agents cannot infer task purpose from name alone | Write rich descriptions: what it does, requires, produces, when to run | | Publish without build depends | Runtime failure instead of DAG prevention | Add depends = ["build"] to publish tasks | | Orchestrator without all phases | "Run X next" messages get ignored | Include 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

Task Levels Reference - Levels 1-9: basic tasks, dependencies, hidden tasks, arguments, file tracking, advanced execution, watch mode
Task Patterns - Real-world task examples
Task Arguments - Complete usage spec reference
Advanced Features - Monorepo, watch, experimental
Environment Integration - [env] inheritance and credential loading
Polyglot Affected - Pants + mise integration guide and tool comparison
Bootstrap Monorepo - Autonomous polyglot monorepo bootstrap meta-prompt
Release Workflow Patterns - Release task DAG patterns, build-before-publish enforcement

Troubleshooting

| Issue | Cause | Solution | | ---------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | Task not found | Typo or wrong mise.toml | Run mise tasks to list available tasks | | Dependencies not run | Circular dependency | Check task depends arrays for cycles | | Sources not working | Wrong glob pattern | Use relative paths from mise.toml location | | Watch not triggering | File outside sources list | Add file pattern to sources array | | Env vars not available | Task in wrong directory | Ensure mise.toml is in cwd or parent | | Run fails with error | Script path issue | Use absolute path or relative to mise.toml |