Getting started

Install

From source (requires Go 1.25 or newer):

go install github.com/clintmod/rite/cmd/rite@latest

Binary releases, Homebrew, and Linux packages are on the roadmap — see the releases page.

Your first Ritefile

mkdir hello && cd hello
rite --init          # writes Ritefile.yml

The generated file:

version: '3'

vars:
  GREETING: Hello, world!

tasks:
  default:
    desc: Print a greeting message
    cmds:
      - echo "{{.GREETING}}"
    silent: true

Run it:

rite                 # runs the default task → Hello, world!

Core commands

Command	What it does
rite <task>	Run a task
rite	Run default
rite --list	Show tasks with descriptions
rite --list-all	Show all tasks, including undescribed
rite --init	Create a starter Ritefile.yml
rite --migrate Taskfile.yml	Convert a go-task Taskfile to a Ritefile (warnings to stderr)
rite --watch <task>	Rerun on file changes

Passing variables

Three ways, in precedence order (highest wins):

FOO=bar rite build             # 1. Shell env — tier 1
rite build FOO=bar             # 2. CLI arg   — tier 2
# 3. rite build --set FOO=bar  #    explicit flag form of #2

For variables declared inside a Ritefile, see the precedence model for all eight tiers.

A more interesting example

version: '3'
vars:
  IMAGE: myapp
  TAG: "{{.RITE_VERSION}}"

tasks:
  build:
    desc: Build the container image
    cmds:
      - docker build -t ${IMAGE}:${TAG} .

  push:
    desc: Push the image
    deps: [build]
    cmds:
      - docker push ${IMAGE}:${TAG}

Note both ${VAR} and {{.VAR}} reference variables. They're interchangeable — both resolve against the same set with identical precedence. See syntax for the full rules.

Next

• Variable precedence — the eight-tier model, one table.
• Syntax reference — what goes where in a Ritefile.
• Migration from go-task — what's different and why.