Task Configuration

This is an exhaustive list of all the configuration options available for tasks in mise.toml or as file tasks.

Task properties

All examples are in toml-task format instead of file, however they apply in both except where otherwise noted.

run

• Type: string | (string | { task: string, args?: string[], env?: { [key]: string } } | { tasks: string[] })[]

The command(s) to run. This is the only required property for a task.

You can mix scripts with task references, and pass optional args and env to referenced tasks:

[tasks.grouped]
run = [
  { task = "t1" },          # run t1 (with its dependencies)
  { task = "build", args = ["--release"], env = { RUSTFLAGS = "-C opt-level=3" } },
  { tasks = ["t2", "t3"] }, # run t2 and t3 in parallel (with their dependencies)
  "echo end",               # then run a script
]

Simple forms still work and are equivalent:

tasks.a = "echo hello"
tasks.b = ["echo hello"]
tasks.c.run = "echo hello"
[tasks.d]
run = "echo hello"
[tasks.e]
run = ["echo hello"]

run_windows

• Type: string | (string | { task: string, args?: string[], env?: { [key]: string } } | { tasks: string[] })[]

Windows-specific variant of run supporting the same structured syntax:

[tasks.build]
run = "cargo build"
run_windows = "cargo build --features windows"

description

• Type: string

A description of the task. This is used in (among other places) the help output, completions, mise run (without arguments), and mise tasks.

[tasks.build]
description = "Build the CLI"
run = "cargo build"

alias

• Type: string | string[]

An alias for the task so you can run it with mise run <alias> instead of the full task name.

[tasks.build]
alias = "b" # run with `mise run b`
run = "cargo build"

depends

• Type: string | string[] | { task: string, args?: string[], env?: { [key]: string } }[]

Tasks that must be run before this task. This is a list of task names or aliases. Arguments can be passed to the task, e.g.: depends = ["build --release"]. If multiple tasks have the same dependency, that dependency will only be run once. mise will run whatever it can in parallel (up to --jobs) through the use of depends and related properties.

[tasks.build]
run = "cargo build"
[tasks.test]
depends = ["build"]
run = "cargo test"

Passing environment variables to dependencies

You can pass environment variables to specific dependencies using two syntaxes:

Shell-style inline:

[tasks.test]
depends = ["NODE_ENV=test setup"]
run = "npm test"

[tasks.setup]
run = 'echo "Setting up for $NODE_ENV"'

Structured object format:

[tasks.test]
depends = [
  { task = "setup", env = { NODE_ENV = "test", DEBUG = "true" } }
]
run = "npm test"

The structured format also supports combining env vars with arguments:

[tasks.deploy]
depends = [
  { task = "build", args = ["--release"],
    env = { RUSTFLAGS = "-C opt-level=3" } }
]
run = "./deploy.sh"

Note: These environment variables are passed only to the specified dependency, not to the current task or other dependencies.

Passing parent task arguments to dependencies

You can forward a parent task's arguments to its dependencies using <span v-pre>{{usage.*}}</span> templates. Both the parent and child tasks must define a usage spec for the arguments they accept:

[tasks.build]
usage = 'arg "<app>"'
run = 'echo "building {{usage.app}}"'

[tasks.deploy]
usage = 'arg "<app>"'
depends = [{ task = "build", args = ["{{usage.app}}"] }]
run = 'echo "deploying {{usage.app}}"'

Running mise run deploy myapp passes "myapp" to both deploy and its build dependency.

This also works with the string syntax:

[tasks.deploy]
usage = 'arg "<app>"'
depends = ["build {{usage.app}}"]
run = 'echo "deploying {{usage.app}}"'

And with flags:

[tasks.compile]
usage = 'flag "--target <target>"'
run = 'echo "compiling for $usage_target"'

[tasks.package]
usage = 'flag "--target <target>"'
depends = [{ task = "compile", args = ["--target", "{{usage.target}}"] }]
run = 'echo "packaging for $usage_target"'

Arguments flow through dependency chains — if A depends on B which depends on C, each task can forward its resolved arguments to its own dependencies.

depends_post

• Type: string | string[] | { task: string, args?: string[], env?: { [key]: string } }[]

Like depends but these tasks run after this task and its dependencies complete. For example, you may want a postlint task that you can run individually without also running lint:

[tasks.lint]
run = "eslint ."
depends_post = ["postlint"]
[tasks.postlint]
run = "echo 'linting complete'"

Supports the same argument and environment variable syntax as depends.

wait_for

• Type: string | string[] | { task: string, args?: string[], env?: { [key]: string } }[]

Similar to depends, it will wait for these tasks to complete before running however they won't be added to the list of tasks to run. This is essentially optional dependencies.

[tasks.lint]
wait_for = ["render"] # creates some js files, so if it's running, wait for it to finish
run = "eslint ."

Supports the same argument and environment variable syntax as depends.

wait_for matches tasks differently depending on whether args or env vars are specified:

• wait_for = ["setup"] — matches by name, regardless of args or env overrides. If another task runs depends = ["DEBUG=1 setup"], this will still match and wait for it.
• wait_for = ["setup arg1"] or wait_for = ["DEBUG=1 setup"] — matches only tasks running with that exact args/env configuration.

env

• Type: { [key]: string | int | bool }

Environment variables specific to this task. These will not be passed to depends tasks.

[tasks.test]
env.TEST_ENV_VAR = "ABC"
run = [
    "echo $TEST_ENV_VAR",
    "mise run some-other-task", # running tasks like this _will_ have TEST_ENV_VAR set of course
]

tools

• Type: { [key]: string }

Tools to install and activate before running the task. This is useful for tasks that require a specific tool to be installed or a tool with a different version. It will only be used for that task, not dependencies.

[tasks.build]
tools.rust = "1.50.0"
run = "cargo build"

dir

• Type: string
• Default: <code v-pre>"{{ config_root }}"</code> - the directory containing mise.toml, or in the case of something like ~/src/myproj/.config/mise.toml, it will be ~/src/myproj.

The directory to run the task from. The most common way this is used is when you want the task to execute in the user's current directory:

[tasks.test]
dir = "{{cwd}}"
run = "cargo test"

hide

• Type: bool
• Default: false

Hide the task from help, completion, and other output like mise tasks. Useful for deprecated or internal tasks you don't want others to easily see.

[tasks.internal]
hide = true
run = "echo my internal task"

confirm

• Type: string | { message: string, default: string }

A message to show before running the task. This is useful for tasks that are destructive or take a long time to run. The user will be prompted to confirm before the task's own run command executes.

::: warning confirm only guards the task's own run command. Dependencies (depends) will execute before the confirmation prompt appears. If you need confirmation before dependencies run, add confirm to the dependency tasks themselves, or use run = [{ task = "..." }] instead of depends. :::

[tasks.release]
confirm = { message = "Are you sure you want to cut a release?", default = "no" }
description = 'Cut a new release'
file = 'scripts/release.sh'

The confirm message supports Tera templates and can reference usage arguments:

[tasks.deploy]
usage = '''
arg "<environment>" help="Environment to deploy to"
flag "--force" help="Force deployment"
'''
confirm = "Deploy to {{ usage.environment }}?{% if usage.force %} (forced){% endif %}"
run = "deploy.sh ${usage_environment}"

raw

• Type: bool
• Default: false

Connects the task directly to the shell's stdin/stdout/stderr. This is useful for tasks that need to accept input or output in a way that mise's normal task handling doesn't support. This is not recommended to use because it really screws up the output whenever mise runs tasks in parallel. Ensure when using this that no other tasks are running at the same time.

In the future we could have a property like single = true or something that prevents multiple tasks from running at the same time. If that sounds useful, search/file a ticket.

raw_args

• Type: bool
• Default: false

When true, mise does not parse arguments to the task at all — every argument is passed through verbatim to the underlying command, including --help/-h. Use this for tasks that act as a thin proxy for a tool which already has its own argument parser (e.g. next build, Django manage.py, Python scripts using argparse):

[tasks.manage]
raw_args = true
run = 'python manage.py'

mise run manage --help          # forwarded to manage.py, not intercepted by mise
mise run manage migrate --fake  # all flags reach manage.py unchanged

Without raw_args, mise intercepts --help and prints its own task help. As an ad-hoc alternative for individual invocations, you can also use mise run task -- --help — the -- separator now bypasses mise's usage parser specifically for --help/-h. Arguments after that separator belong to the task, so mise run task -- -- --help forwards -- --help to the task.

interactive

• Type: bool
• Default: false

Connects the task directly to the shell's stdin/stdout/stderr. Interactive tasks acquire an exclusive lock, ensuring sole access to standard I/O — while an interactive task is running, all other tasks (both interactive and non-interactive) are blocked. Non-interactive tasks can still run in parallel with each other. This is more targeted than the broad raw setting which forces single-threaded execution globally (by setting jobs = 1).

sources

• Type: string | string[]

Files or directories that this task uses as input, if this and outputs is defined, mise will skip executing tasks where the modification time of the oldest output file is newer than the modification time of the newest source file. This is useful for tasks that are expensive to run and only need to be run when their inputs change.

The task itself will be automatically added as a source, so if you edit the definition that will also cause the task to be run.

This is also used in mise watch to know which files/directories to watch.

This can be specified with relative paths to the config file and/or with glob patterns, e.g.: src/**/*.rs. Ensure you don't go crazy with adding a ton of files in a glob though—mise has to scan each and every one to check the timestamp.

[tasks.build]
run = "cargo build"
sources = ["Cargo.toml", "src/**/*.rs"]
outputs = ["target/debug/mycli"]

Running the above will only execute cargo build if mise.toml, Cargo.toml, or any ".rs" file in the src directory has changed since the last build.

The task_source_files function can be used to iterate over a task's sources within its template context.

Excluding sources

Entries in sources prefixed with ! are excluded, matching the convention used by gitignore, watchexec, and rsync. Exclusions affect the freshness check, the task_source_files template function, and which files mise watch watches for changes.

[tasks.build]
sources = ["src/**/*.ts", "!src/**/*.test.ts", "!src/**/*.spec.ts", "tsconfig.json"]
run = "npm run build"

Entries are evaluated in order, and the latest matching entry wins. A later non-negated entry can re-include a file an earlier ! excluded — for example, ["src/**/*.ts", "!src/**/*.test.ts", "src/keep.test.ts"] excludes all *.test.ts files except src/keep.test.ts.

To include a literal path that begins with !, escape the prefix as \! (e.g. "\\!important.txt" in TOML).

Dependency invalidation

When a task depends on another task that also has sources defined, and the dependency runs because its sources changed, the dependent task will also re-run — even if the dependent's own sources haven't changed. This is useful for monorepo workflows where downstream tasks should be invalidated by upstream changes:

[tasks."core:build"]
run = "tsc -p packages/core"
sources = ["packages/core/src/**/*.ts"]
outputs = ["packages/core/dist/**/*.js"]

[tasks."frontend:build"]
run = "tsc -p packages/frontend"
sources = ["packages/frontend/src/**/*.ts"]
outputs = ["packages/frontend/dist/**/*.js"]
depends = ["core:build"]

If a file in packages/core/src/ changes, both core:build and frontend:build will run. If nothing changes, both are skipped.

Note that dependencies without sources (which always run) do not trigger this invalidation — otherwise sources on the dependent task would be effectively useless.

outputs

• Type: string | string[] | { auto = true }
• Default: { auto = true }

The counterpart to sources, these are the files or directories that the task will create/modify after it executes.

auto = true is an alternative to specifying output files manually. In that case, mise will touch an internally tracked file based on the hash of the task definition (stored in ~/.local/state/mise/task-outputs/<hash> if you're curious). This is useful if you want mise run to execute when sources change but don't want to have to manually touch a file for sources to work.

[tasks.build]
run = "cargo build"
sources = ["Cargo.toml", "src/**/*.rs"]
outputs = { auto = true } # this is the default when sources is defined

shell

• Type: string
• Default: unix_default_inline_shell_args or windows_default_inline_shell_args
• Note: Only applies to toml-tasks.

The shell to use to run the task. This is useful if you want to run a task with a different shell than the default such as fish, zsh, or pwsh. Generally though, it's recommended to use a shebang instead because that will allow IDEs with mise support to show syntax highlighting and linting for the script.

[tasks.hello]
run = '''
#!/usr/bin/env node
console.log('hello world')
'''

quiet

• Type: bool
• Default: false

Suppress mise's output for the task such as showing the command that is run, e.g.: [build] $ cargo build. When this is set, mise won't show any output other than what the script itself outputs. If you'd also like to hide even the output that the task emits, use silent.

silent

• Type: bool | "stdout" | "stderr"
• Default: false

Suppress all output from the task. If set to "stdout" or "stderr", only that stream will be suppressed.

usage

• Type: string

::: tip For comprehensive information about task arguments and the usage field, see the dedicated Task Arguments page. :::

More advanced usage specs can be added to the task's usage field. This only applies to toml-tasks.

[tasks.test]
usage = '''
arg "<file>" help="The file to test" default="src/main.rs"
'''
run = 'cargo test ${usage_file?}'

Environment Variable Support for Args and Flags

Both args and flags in usage specs can specify an environment variable as an alternative source for their value. This allows task arguments to be provided through environment variables when not specified on the command line.

The precedence order is:

1. CLI arguments/flags (highest priority)
2. Environment variables (middle priority)
3. Default values (lowest priority)

For positional arguments:

[tasks.deploy]
usage = '''
arg "<environment>" env="DEPLOY_ENV" help="Target environment" default="staging"
arg "<region>" env="AWS_REGION" help="AWS region" default="us-east-1"
'''

run = '''
echo "Deploying to ${usage_environment?} in ${usage_region?}"
'''

Usage examples:

# Using CLI args (highest priority)
mise run deploy production us-west-2

# Using environment variables
export DEPLOY_ENV=production
export AWS_REGION=us-west-2
mise run deploy

# Using defaults (lowest priority)
mise run deploy  # deploys to staging in us-east-1

# CLI overrides environment variable
export DEPLOY_ENV=staging
mise run deploy production  # deploys to production

For flags:

[tasks.build]
usage = '''
flag "-p --profile <profile>" env="BUILD_PROFILE" help="Build profile" default="dev"
flag "-v --verbose" env="VERBOSE" help="Verbose output"
'''

run = '''
echo "Building with profile: ${usage_profile?}"
echo "Verbose: ${usage_verbose:-false}"
'''

Usage examples:

# Using CLI flags
mise run build --profile release --verbose

# Using environment variables
export BUILD_PROFILE=release
export VERBOSE=true
mise run build

# Mixed usage - env var provides one, CLI provides another
export BUILD_PROFILE=release
mise run build --verbose

File tasks (tasks defined as executable files in mise-tasks/ or .mise/tasks/) also support the env attribute:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
#USAGE arg "<input>" env="INPUT_FILE" help="Input file to process"
#USAGE flag "-o --output <file>" env="OUTPUT_FILE" help="Output file" default="out.txt"

echo "Processing ${usage_input?} -> ${usage_output?}"

Required arguments:

Environment variables can satisfy required argument checks. If an argument is marked as required (using angle brackets <arg>), providing its value through the environment variable specified in the env attribute fulfills that requirement:

[tasks.deploy]
usage = '''
arg "<api-key>" env="API_KEY" help="API key for deployment"
'''
run = 'deploy --api-key ${usage_api_key?}'

# This will fail - no API_KEY provided
mise run deploy

# This succeeds - API_KEY provided via environment
export API_KEY=secret123
mise run deploy

# This also succeeds - provided via CLI
mise run deploy secret123

Vars

Vars are variables that can be shared between tasks like environment variables but they are not passed as environment variables to the scripts. They are defined in the vars section of the mise.toml file.

[vars]
e2e_args = '--headless'

[tasks.test]
run = './scripts/test-e2e.sh {{vars.e2e_args}}'

Tasks can also define task-local vars that override config vars for that task:

[tasks.test]
vars = { e2e_args = "--headed" }
run = './scripts/test-e2e.sh {{vars.e2e_args}}'

Like most configuration in mise, vars can be defined across several files. So for example, you could put some vars in your global mise config ~/.config/mise/config.toml, use them in a task at ~/src/work/myproject/mise.toml. You can also override those vars in "later" config files such as ~/src/work/myproject/mise.local.toml and they will be used inside tasks of any config file.

As of this writing vars are only supported in TOML tasks. I want to add support for file tasks, but I don't want to turn all file tasks into tera templates just for this feature.

[task_config] options

Options available in the top-level mise.toml [task_config] section. These apply to all tasks which are included by that config file or use the same root directory, e.g.: ~/src/myprojec/mise.toml's [task_config] applies to file tasks like ~/src/myproject/mise-tasks/mytask but not to tasks in ~/src/myproject/subproj/mise.toml.

task_config.dir

Change the default directory tasks are run from.

[task_config]
dir = "{{cwd}}"

task_config.includes

Set the toml files and file-task directories mise should search when looking for tasks.

[task_config]
includes = [
    "tasks.toml", # a task toml file
    "mytasks"     # a directory containing file tasks
]

When task_config.includes is set, it replaces the default file-task directories for that config scope instead of adding to them.

The default file-task directories are:

• mise-tasks
• .mise-tasks
• .mise/tasks
• .config/mise/tasks
• mise/tasks

If you want to keep the defaults and add another directory, include the defaults explicitly:

[task_config]
includes = [
    "mise-tasks",
    ".mise-tasks",
    ".mise/tasks",
    ".config/mise/tasks",
    "mise/tasks",
    "mytasks",
    "tasks.toml",
]

For local and monorepo task discovery, mise uses the nearest config file that defines task_config.includes. That means a child config's includes replaces both the defaults and any includes defined by parent configs for that directory. Global config files are loaded independently, so each global config file uses its own task_config.includes or the default directories if includes is unset.

If using included task toml files, note that they have a different format than the mise.toml file. They are just a list of tasks. The file should be the same format as the [tasks] section of mise.toml but without the [task] prefix:

::: code-group

task1 = "echo task1"
task2 = "echo task2"
task3 = "echo task3"

[task4]
run = "echo task4"
vars = { target = "linux" }

:::

If you want auto-completion/validation in included toml tasks files, you can use the following JSON schema: https://mise.en.dev/schema/mise-task.json

Remote Git Includes <Badge type="warning" text="experimental" />

You can include directories of tasks from git repositories using the git:: URL syntax:

::: code-group

[task_config]
includes = [
    "git::ssh://[email protected]/myorg/shared-tasks.git//tasks?ref=v1.0.0"
]

[task_config]
includes = [
    "git::https://github.com/myorg/shared-tasks.git//tasks?ref=main"
]

:::

URL format: git::<protocol>://<url>//<path>?<ref>

Required fields:

• protocol: The git protocol (ssh or https).
• url: The git repository URL.
• path: The path to the directory in the repository.

Optional fields:

• ref: The git reference (branch, tag, commit). Defaults to the repository's default branch.

The repository will be cloned and cached in MISE_CACHE_DIR/remote-git-tasks-cache. Tasks from the included directory will be loaded as if they were local file tasks. You can disable caching with MISE_TASK_REMOTE_NO_CACHE=true or the --no-cache flag.

Monorepo Support <Badge type="warning" text="experimental" />

mise supports monorepo-style task organization with target path syntax. Enable it by setting experimental_monorepo_root = true in your root mise.toml.

For complete documentation on monorepo tasks including:

• Task path syntax and wildcards
• Tool layering from parent configs
• Performance tuning
• Best practices and troubleshooting

See the dedicated Monorepo Tasks documentation.

redactions <Badge type="warning" text="experimental" />

• Type: string[]

Redactions are a way to hide sensitive information from the output of tasks. This is useful for things like API keys, passwords, or other sensitive information that you don't want to accidentally leak in logs or other output.

A list of environment variables to redact from the output.

redactions = ["API_KEY", "PASSWORD"]

Running the above task will output echo [redacted] instead.

You can also specify these as a glob pattern, e.g.: redactions.env = ["SECRETS_*"].

[vars] options

Vars are variables that can be shared between tasks like environment variables but they are not passed as environment variables to the scripts. They are defined in the vars section of the mise.toml file.

[vars]
e2e_args = '--headless'
[tasks.test]
run = './scripts/test-e2e.sh {{vars.e2e_args}}'
vars = { e2e_args = '--headed' }

The task-level vars override any config-level vars with the same name. In the example above, e2e_args resolves to '--headed' instead of the config-level '--headless'.

Like [env], vars can also be read in as a file:

[vars]
_.file = ".env"

Secrets are also supported as vars.

Task Configuration Settings

The following settings control task behavior. These can be set globally in ~/.config/mise/config.toml or per-project in mise.toml: