GitHub - aleyan/dela: A task runner that delegates the work to other tools

Dela is a task runner that provides discovery for task definitions in various formats, and lets you execute tasks without specifying the runner while delegating their execution to your existing tools like make, npm, uv, and others.

Installation

Install dela from crates.io and initialize it to set up shell integration:

$ cargo install dela
$ dela init

The dela init command will:

• Add shell integration to handle "command not found" events
• Create a ~/.dela directory for configuration

Usage

Discovering tasks

List all available tasks in the current directory:

Running tasks

You can invoke a task just by its name from the shell via <task>. For example here build task is defined in Makefile and is invoked directly.

If you are running dela in a directory for the first time, it will ask you to put the task or the task definition file or the directory itself on the allowed list. This is because you might want to run dela in non fully trusted directories and cause inadvertent execution.

$ build
Running build from ~/Projects/dela/Makefile for the first time. Allow?
0) Allow one time
1) Allow build from ~/Projects/dela/Makefile
2) Allow any command from ~/Projects/dela/Makefile
3) Allow any command from ~/Projects/dela
4) Deny

You can also use dr to explicitly invoke dela:

Or use dela run for subshell execution:

MCP Server

Dela includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows AI assistants and editors to discover and execute tasks programmatically.

Setting Up MCP in Your Editor

$ dela mcp --init-cursor       # Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
$ dela mcp --init-vscode       # VSCode: ~/.vscode/mcp.json
$ dela mcp --init-codex        # OpenAI Codex: ~/.codex/config.toml
$ dela mcp --init-gemini       # Gemini CLI: ~/.gemini/settings.json
$ dela mcp --init-claude-code  # Claude Code: ~/.claude-code/settings.json

Starting the MCP Server Manually

$ dela mcp [--cwd <directory>]

The server communicates over stdio using JSON-RPC 2.0 and streams task output via logging notifications.

Available Tools

Tool names are stable, and list_tasks exposes a stable wire format (including unique_name with suffixes like test-m).

Security

The MCP server uses the same allowlist as the CLI (~/.dela/allowlist.toml). Tasks must be explicitly allowlisted to be executed via MCP. Use the regular dela CLI commands to manage allowlists.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does dela work?

dela uses your shell's command_not_found_handler to detect when you are trying to run a command that doesn't exist. It then scans the current working directory for task definition files and executes the appropriate task runner.

What happens if a task shares the same name with a command?

Then the bare command will be executed instead of the task. Tasks shadowed by shell builtins and conflicting with other tasks get a unique suffixed name (for example test from a Makefile becomes test-m), so you can run the task via its suffixed name; dr <task_name> also works.

How do I add a new task?

You add tasks to your existing task definition files (like Makefile, package.json, or pyproject.toml), and dela will discover them automatically.

What shell environment are tasks executed in?

When executing bare tasks or via dr, tasks are executed in the current shell environment. When running tasks via dela run, tasks are executed in a subshell environment.

Which shell integrations are supported?

Currently, dela supports zsh, bash, fish, and PowerShell.

Which task runners are supported?

Currently, dela supports make, npm, yarn, pnpm, bun, uv, poetry, poe (poethepoet), Maven, Gradle, GitHub Actions, Docker Compose, CMake, Travis CI, just and task.

Which platforms are supported?

Currently, dela supports macOS and Linux. There is no Windows support, powershell is for Linux only.

What is the purpose of allowlists?

Allowlists are a safety feature to prevent accidental execution (especially in untrusted directories). They’re not a sandbox, so treat tasks from downloaded repos with the same caution you would with make or npm.

Is dela production ready?

dela is not at 0.1 yet and its cli is subject to change.

What are the alternatives to dela?

Other task runners that handle multiple runners are task-keeper, ds, and rt.

Development

For local development:

$ cargo install --path .
$ source resources/zsh.sh  # or equivalent for your shell

Testing MCP with Inspector

To test the MCP server interactively with the MCP Inspector:

# Build and run with Inspector
$ cargo build --quiet
$ RUST_LOG=warn npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector ./target/debug/dela mcp

Testing

Run all tests:

Run integrations test with test_shells, it requires Make, Docker, and dela to be installed.

Note: dela is not at 0.1 yet and its CLI is subject to change.