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vault.yml

The vault.yml configuration file is not required but can be used to define additional metadata for a project, override inherited tasks, and more at the project-level. When used, this file must exist in a project's root, as configured in projects.

vault.yml
$schema: 'https://vaultrepo.dev/schemas/project.json'

dependsOn​

Explicitly defines other projects that this project depends on, primarily when generating the project and task graphs. The most common use case for this is building those projects before building this one. When defined, this setting requires an array of project names, which are the keys found in the projects map.

vault.yml
dependsOn:
  - 'apiClients'
  - 'designSystem'

A dependency object can also be defined, where a specific scope can be assigned, which accepts "production" (default), "development", or "peer".

vault.yml
dependsOn:
  - id: 'apiClients'
    scope: 'production'
  - id: 'designSystem'
    scope: 'peer'

Learn more about implicit and explicit dependencies.

Metadata​

language​

The primary programming language the project is written in. This setting is required for task inheritance, editor extensions, and more. Supports the following values:

  • bash - A Bash based project (Unix only).
  • batch - A Batch/PowerShell based project (Windows only).
  • go - A Go based project.
  • javascript - A JavaScript based project.
  • php - A PHP based project.
  • python - A Python based project.
  • ruby - A Ruby based project.
  • rust - A Rust based project.
  • typescript - A TypeScript based project.
  • unknown (default) - When not configured or inferred.
  • * - A custom language. Values will be converted to kebab-case.
vault.yml
language: 'javascript'

# Custom
language: 'kotlin'

For convenience, when this setting is not defined, vault will attempt to detect the language based on configuration files found in the project root. This only applies to non-custom languages!

project​

The project setting defines metadata about the project itself.

vault.yml
project:
  name: 'vault'
  description: 'A monorepo management tool.'
  channel: '#vault'
  owner: 'infra.platform'
  maintainers: ['miles.johnson']

The information listed within project is purely informational and primarily displayed within the CLI. However, this setting exists for you, your team, and your company, as a means to identify and organize all projects. Feel free to build your own tooling around these settings!

channel​

The Slack, Discord, Teams, IRC, etc channel name (with leading #) in which to discuss the project.

descriptionRequired​

A description of what the project does and aims to achieve. Be as descriptive as possible, as this is the kind of information search engines would index on.

maintainers​

A list of people/developers that maintain the project, review code changes, and can provide support. Can be a name, email, LDAP name, GitHub username, etc, the choice is yours.

name​

A human readable name of the project. This is different from the unique project name configured in projects.

owner​

The team or organization that owns the project. Can be a title, LDAP name, GitHub team, etc. We suggest not listing people/developers as the owner, use maintainers instead.

tags​

Tags are a simple mechanism for categorizing projects. They can be used to group projects together for easier querying, enforcing of project boundaries and constraints, task inheritance, and more.

vault.yml
tags:
  - 'react'
  - 'prisma'

type​

The type of project. Supports the following values:

  • application - A backend, frontend, or CLI application.
  • library - A self-contained, shareable, and publishable set of code.
  • tool - An internal tool, one-off script, etc.
  • unknown (default) - When not configured.
vault.yml
type: 'application'

Project type is used in task inheritance, constraints and boundaries, editor extensions, and more!

Tasks​

env​

The env field is map of strings that are passed as environment variables to all tasks within the current project. Project-level variables will not override task-level variables of the same name.

vault.yml
env:
  NODE_ENV: 'production'

View the task env setting for more usage examples and information.

fileGroups​

Defines file groups to be used by local tasks. By default, this setting is not required for the following reasons:

  • File groups are an optional feature, and are designed for advanced use cases.
  • File groups defined in .vault/tasks.yml will be inherited by all projects.

When defined this setting requires a map, where the key is the file group name, and the value is a list of globs or paths. Globs and paths are relative to a project (even when defined globally.

vault.yml
fileGroups:
  configs:
    - '*.config.{js,cjs,mjs}'
    - '*.json'
  sources:
    - 'src/**/*'
    - 'types/**/*'
  tests:
    - 'tests/**/*'
    - '**/__tests__/**/*'
  assets:
    - 'assets/**/*'
    - 'images/**/*'
    - 'static/**/*'
    - '**/*.{scss,css}'

The code snippet above is merely an example of file groups. Feel free to use those groups as-is, modify the glob lists, add and remove groups, or implement completely new groups. The choice is yours!

platform​

The default platform for all task's within the current project. When a task's platform has not been explicitly configured, the platform will fallback to this configured value, otherwise the platform will be detected from the project's environment.

vault.yml
platform: 'node'

tasks​

Tasks are actions that are ran within the context of a project, and commonly wrap an npm binary or system command. This setting requires a map, where the key is a unique name for the task, and the value is an object of task parameters.

vault.yml
tasks:
  format:
    command: 'prettier'
  lint:
    command: 'eslint'
  test:
    command: 'jest'
  typecheck:
    command: 'tsc'

commandRequired​

The command field is the command line to run for the task, including the command name (must be first) and any optional arguments. This field is required when not inheriting a global task of the same name.

vault.yml
tasks:
  format:
    # Using a string
    command: 'prettier --check .'
    # Using an array
    command:
      - 'prettier'
      - '--check'
      - '.'

By default a task assumes the command name is an npm binary, and if you'd like to reference a system command, you'll also need to set the platform to "system". We do our best to automatically detect this, but it's not accurate in all scenarios.

vault.yml
tasks:
  clean:
    command: 'rm -rf ./dist'
    platform: 'system'

Special commands​

For interoperability reasons, the following command names have special handling.

  • noop, no-op, nop - Marks the task as a "no operation". Will not execute a command in the action pipeline but can define dependencies.
  • When platform is "deno":
    • Will execute with deno binary.
  • When platform is "node":
    • node, npm, pnpm, yarn - Uses the binaries from the toolchain.

args​

The args field is a collection of additional arguments to pass to the command line when executing the task. This field exists purely to provide arguments for inherited tasks.

This setting can be defined using a string, or an array of strings. We suggest using arrays when dealing with many args, or the args string cannot be parsed easily.

vault.yml
tasks:
  test:
    command: 'jest'
    # Using a string
    args: '--color --maxWorkers 3'
    # Using an array
    args:
      - '--color'
      - '--maxWorkers'
      - '3'

However, for the array approach to work correctly, each argument must be its own distinct item, including argument values. For example:

vault.yml
tasks:
  test:
    command: 'jest'
    args:
      # Valid
      - '--maxWorkers'
      - '3'
      # Also valid
      - '--maxWorkers=3'
      # Invalid
      - '--maxWorkers 3'

deps​

The deps field is a list of other tasks (known as targets, either within this project or found in another project, that will be executed before this task. It achieves this by generating a directed task graph based on the project graph.

vault.yml
tasks:
  build:
    command: 'webpack'
    deps:
      - 'apiClients:build'
      - 'designSystem:build'
      # A task within the current project
      - 'codegen'

env​

The env field is map of strings that are passed as environment variables when running the command. Variables defined here will take precedence over those loaded with envFile.

vault.yml
tasks:
  build:
    command: 'webpack'
    env:
      NODE_ENV: 'production'

Variables also support substitution using the syntax ${VAR_NAME}. When using substitution, only variables in the current process can be referenced, and not those currently defined in env.

vault.yml
tasks:
  build:
    command: 'webpack'
    env:
      APP_TARGET: '${REGION}-${ENVIRONMENT}'

inputs​

The inputs field is a list of sources that calculate whether to execute this task based on the environment and files that have been touched since the last time the task has been ran. If not defined or inherited, then all files within a project are considered an input (**/*).

Inputs support the following source types:

vault.yml
tasks:
  lint:
    command: 'eslint'
    inputs:
      # Config files anywhere within the project
      - '**/.eslintignore'
      - '**/.eslintrc.js'
      # Config files at the workspace root
      - '/.eslintignore'
      - '/.eslintrc.js'
      # Environment variables
      - '$ESLINT_CACHE'
caution

When using an environment variable, we assume it's not defined by default, and will trigger an affected state when it is defined. If the environment variable always exists, then the task will always run and bypass the cache.

danger

When using globs, be aware that files that match the glob, but are ignored via .gitignore (or similar), will not be considered an input. To work around this, use explicit file inputs.

local​

Marks the task as local only. This should primarily be enabled for long-running or never-ending tasks, like development servers and watch mode. Defaults to true if the task name is "dev", "start", or "serve", and false otherwise.

This is a convenience setting for local development that sets the following task options:

vault.yml
tasks:
  dev:
    command: 'webpack server'
    local: true

outputs​

The outputs field is a list of files and folders (using project relative file patterns that are created as a result of executing this task, typically from a build or compilation related task. Outputs are necessary for incremental caching and hydration. If you'd prefer to avoid that functionality, omit this field.

vault.yml
tasks:
  build:
    command: 'webpack'
    outputs:
      # Relative from project root
      - 'build/'

Globs can also be used if you'd like to restrict which files are cached. For example, when building a JavaScript project, you may want to include .js files, but exclude .map and other files.

vault.yml
tasks:
  build:
    command: 'webpack'
    outputs:
      - 'build/**/*.js'
caution

When using globs and vault hydrates an output (a cache hit), all files not matching the glob will be deleted. Ensure that all files critical for the build to function correctly are included.

platform​

The platform field defines the platform (language runtime) the command runs on, where to locate its executable, and which tool to execute it with. By default vault will set to a value based on the project's language or default platform.

  • deno - Command is executed with Deno.
  • node - Command is a binary within node_modules and will be executed with Node.js.
  • system - Command is expected to exist within the system's environment / user's shell.
  • unknown - When not configured or inferred.
vault.yml
tasks:
  env:
    command: 'printenv'
    platform: 'system'

This field exists because of our toolchain, and vault ensuring the correct command is ran.

options​

The options field is an object of configurable options that can be used to modify the task and its execution. The following fields can be provided, with merge related fields supporting all merge strategies.

vault.yml
tasks:
  typecheck:
    command: 'tsc --noEmit'
    options:
      mergeArgs: 'replace'
      runFromWorkspaceRoot: true

affectedFiles​

When enabled and the --affected option is provided, all affected files that match this task's inputs will be passed as relative file paths as command line arguments, and as a vault_AFFECTED_FILES environment variable. If there are no affected files, . (current directory) will be passed instead for arguments, and an empty value for the environment variable.

vault.yml
tasks:
  lint:
    command: 'eslint'
    options:
      affectedFiles: true
      # Only pass args
      affectedFiles: 'args'
      # Only set env var
      affectedFiles: 'env'
caution

When using this option, ensure that explicit files or . are not present in the args list. Furthermore, this functionality will only work if the task's command supports an arbitrary list of files being passed as arguments.

cache​

Whether to cache the task's execution result using our smart hashing system. If disabled, will not create a cache hash, and will not persist a task's outputs. Defaults to true.

We suggest disabling caching when defining cleanup tasks, one-off scripts, or file system heavy operations.

vault.yml
tasks:
  clean:
    command: 'rm -rf ./temp'
    options:
      cache: false

envFile​

A boolean or path to a .env file (also know as dotenv file) that defines a collection of environment variables for the current task. Variables will be loaded on project creation, but will not override those defined in env.

Variables defined in the file support value substitution/expansion by wrapping the variable name in curly brackets, such as ${VAR_NAME}.

vault.yml
tasks:
  build:
    command: 'webpack'
    options:
      # Defaults to .env
      envFile: true
      # Or
      envFile: '.env.production'
      # Or from the workspace root
      envFile: '/.env.shared'
caution

File parsing is done using the Rust dotenvy crate, which is different than the Node.js dotenv package. The biggest differences are around quote handling and variable substitution, so be aware of this!

mergeArgs​

The strategy list with an inherited task. Defaults to "append".

mergeDeps​

The strategy list with an inherited task. Defaults to "append".

mergeEnv​

The strategy map with an inherited task. Defaults to "append".

mergeInputs​

The strategy list with an inherited task. Defaults to "append".

mergeOutputs​

The strategy list with an inherited task. Defaults to "append".

outputStyle​

Controls how stdout/stderr is displayed when the task is ran as a transitive target. By default, this setting is not defined and defers to the action pipeline, but can be overridden with one of the following values:

  • buffer - Buffers output and displays after the task has exited (either success or failure).

  • buffer-only-failure - Like buffer, but only displays on failures.

  • hash - Ignores output and only displays the generated hash.

  • none - Ignores output.

  • stream - Streams output directly to the terminal. Will prefix each line of output with the target.

vault.yml
tasks:
  test:
    # ...
    options:
      outputStyle: 'stream'

retryCount​

The number of attempts the task will retry execution before returning a failure. This is especially useful for flaky tasks. Defaults to 0.

vault.yml
tasks:
  test:
    # ...
    options:
      retryCount: 3

runDepsInParallel​

Whether to run the task's deps in parallel or serial (in order). Defaults to true.

vault.yml
tasks:
  start:
    # ...
    deps:
      - '~:clean'
      - '~:build'
    options:
      runDepsInParallel: false

runInCI​

Whether to run the task automatically in a CI (continuous integration) environment when affected by touched files, typically through the vault ci command. Defaults to true unless the local setting is disabled, but is always true when a task defines outputs.

vault.yml
tasks:
  build:
    # ...
    options:
      runInCI: false

runFromWorkspaceRoot​

Whether to use the workspace root as the working directory when executing a task. Defaults to false and runs from the task's project root.

vault.yml
tasks:
  typecheck:
    # ...
    options:
      runFromWorkspaceRoot: true

shell​

For system tasks, whether to run the command within a shell or not. Defaults to true.

  • On Unix, will derive the shell from the SHELL environment variable, or default to /bin/sh. The shell will be ran using the -c option.
  • On Windows, will use pwsh.exe or powershell.exe. The shell will be ran using the -Command option, coupled with -, so that args are passed via stdin.
vault.yml
tasks:
  native:
    command: 'echo $SHELL'
    options:
      shell: true

If you'd like to use a different shell, or customize the shell's arguments, you can set shell to false and configure a fully qualified command.

vault.yml
tasks:
  native:
    command: '/bin/zsh -c "echo $SHELL"'
    options:
      shell: false

Overrides​

Dictates how a project interacts with settings defined at the top-level.

toolchain​

node​

Configures Node.js for this project and overrides the top-level node setting. Currently, only the Node.js version can be overridden per-project, not the package manager.

version​

Defines the explicit Node.js version to use when running tasks for this project.

vault.yml
toolchain:
  node:
    version: '12.12.0'

typescript​

disabled​

Disables TypeScript support entirely for this project. Defaults to false.

vault.yml
toolchain:
  typescript:
    disabled: true

routeOutDirToCache​

Overrides the workspace-level routeOutDirToCache setting. Defaults to undefined.

vault.yml
toolchain:
  typescript:
    routeOutDirToCache: false

syncProjectReferences​

Overrides the workspace-level syncProjectReferences setting. Defaults to undefined.

vault.yml
toolchain:
  typescript:
    syncProjectReferences: false

syncProjectReferencesToPaths​

Overrides the workspace-level syncProjectReferencesToPaths setting. Defaults to undefined.

vault.yml
toolchain:
  typescript:
    syncProjectReferencesToPaths: false

workspace​

inheritedTasks​

Provides a layer of control when inheriting tasks from .vault/tasks.yml.

exclude​

The optional exclude setting permits a project to exclude specific tasks from being inherited. It accepts a list of strings, where each string is the name of a global task to exclude.

vault.yml
workspace:
  inheritedTasks:
    # Exclude the inherited `test` task for this project
    exclude: ['test']

Exclusion is applied after inclusion and before renaming.

include​

The optional include setting permits a project to only include specific inherited tasks (works like an allow/white list). It accepts a list of strings, where each string is the name of a global task to include.

When this field is not defined, the project will inherit all tasks from the global project config.

vault.yml
workspace:
  inheritedTasks:
    # Include *no* tasks (works like a full exclude)
    include: []

    # Only include the `lint` and `test` tasks for this project
    include:
      - 'lint'
      - 'test'

Inclusion is applied before exclusion and renaming.

rename​

The optional rename setting permits a project to rename the inherited task within the current project. It accepts a map of strings, where the key is the original name (found in the global project config), and the value is the new name to use.

For example, say we have 2 tasks in the global project config called buildPackage and buildApplication, but we only need 1, and since we're an application, we should omit and rename.

vault.yml
workspace:
  inheritedTasks:
    exclude: ['buildPackage']
    rename:
      buildApplication: 'build'

Renaming occurs after inclusion and exclusion.