mise Tasks Orchestration

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

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

Post-Execution Reflection

After this skill completes, check before closing:

• Did the command succeed? — If not, fix the instruction or error table that caused the failure.

• Did parameters or output change? — If the underlying tool's interface drifted, update Usage examples and Parameters table to match.

• 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.