conda-tasks

The missing task runner for conda, inspired by pixi.

Define tasks in your project, wire up dependencies between them, and run everything through conda task. Works with your existing conda environments -- no new package manager required.

Quick start

Create a conda-tasks.yml in your project root:

tasks:
  build:
    cmd: "python -m build"
  test:
    cmd: "pytest tests/ -v"
    depends-on: [build]
  lint:
    cmd: "ruff check ."
  check:
    depends-on: [test, lint]

Running check resolves its dependencies and runs them in order:

$ conda task run check
  [run] build: python -m build
  [run] lint: ruff check .
  [run] test: pytest tests/ -v
  [done] check

Why?

Conda handles environments and packages. But there's no built-in way to define project tasks -- the kind of thing you'd otherwise put in a Makefile, tox.ini, or a pile of shell scripts. pixi solved this well, but it's a separate tool with its own environment management.

conda-tasks brings the task runner part to conda as a plugin. You keep using conda for environments, and get a proper task system on top.

What it does

• Task dependencies with topological ordering (depends-on)
• Jinja2 templates in commands ({{ conda.platform }}, conditionals)
• Task arguments with defaults
• Input/output caching -- skip tasks when nothing changed
• Per-platform overrides for cross-platform projects
• Run tasks in any conda environment (-n myenv)
• Reads from conda-tasks.yml, conda-tasks.toml, pixi.toml, pyproject.toml, or .condarc

Installation

conda install -c conda-forge conda-tasks

What it doesn't do

conda-tasks is a task runner, not a package manager. It does not create environments or install dependencies -- that's conda's job. If you're coming from pixi where pixi run handles both, see the migration guide.

Documentation

https://conda-incubator.github.io/conda-tasks/

Acknowledgements

The task system in conda-tasks is directly inspired by the work of the prefix.dev team on pixi. Their design of task definitions, dependency graphs, platform overrides, and caching provided the blueprint for this plugin. conda-tasks exists because pixi demonstrated that a good task runner belongs in every project workflow.

License

BSD 3-Clause. See LICENSE.