35.7k stars · CC0-1.0 · 1.58.0 (2026-08-03)
Named recipes in a justfile — 'just backup', 'just normalize' — so the command is never the thing that gets lost.
▶Repo detailsthe review · specs · pros & cons · install
What it is
A command runner. You put a file called justfile in a project with named recipes, then run them by name from anywhere in that project.
Why it matters
You build through Claude Code rather than as a profession. The thing that stops you using a tool is almost never that the tool is hard. It is that the command is lost. A justfile turns the ffmpeg-normalize command, the restic backup, the whisper.cpp transcribe and the deploy into one word each. They live in the repository where Claude Code can read them. It is the cheapest thing on this page and the only one that gets more useful with every past edition.
Stars35.7k
LicenceCC0-1.0
Latest1.58.0 (2026-08-03)checked 7 Sep 2026
Written inRust
NeedsDocker and Rust and cargo
RunsLocally, on your own machine
Setup effort
1 / 5
Payoff
4 / 5
Good
- One small program. No runtime, nothing to host.
just --listprints every recipe with its comment, so the documentation writes itself.- CC0 licence: public domain, so there is never a licence question.
Watch for
- It is not a build system. It does not track what changed, so it re-runs everything you ask for.
- A justfile that goes out of date is worse than none, because it fails while looking correct.
- Another small syntax to learn, and it handles shell commands slightly differently from a plain script.
Install
brew install just just --list
Screenshots
