# magefile/mage

a Make/rake-like dev tool using Go

Repository: https://github.com/magefile/mage
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mage
Homepage: https://magefile.org
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: make, buildscript, go, golang, mage, magefile
Last push: 2026-04-23T01:14:40+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 83/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 78, release rhythm 80, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3269, "days_push": 133, "days_rel": 133, "gap_med": 17, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4690, forks 279 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:57.040889+00:00)

## What it is
Mage is a Make/rake-like build tool for Go where build targets are plain Go functions in magefiles. It compiles and runs those targets with no dependencies beyond the Go standard library and works on all major operating systems.

## Use cases
- replace Makefiles with Go-based build scripts
- define cross-platform build tasks that work on Windows
- run project tasks like build, test, and deploy from Go functions
- write build automation without bash or make syntax
- compile a static binary containing build tasks for CI

## When to choose
- your team writes Go and wants build scripts in the same language
- you need build tasks that run consistently on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- you find Makefiles hard to read and maintain
- you want zero-install task running via go run from a vendor directory

## When to avoid
- your project is not in Go and you don't want a Go toolchain dependency
- you need Make's incremental rebuild and dependency-graph features
- your team already standardizes on make, just, or task runners

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: build-tool, cli, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, go, cli
- tags: makefile-alternative, build-automation, task-runner, golang, magefiles, command-line, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- magefile/mage (main) score 83

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:57.040889+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:19:16.027897+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/magefile/mage (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:57.040889+00:00, sha f012d24cedc6)
  - homepage: https://magefile.org (fetched 2026-08-29T09:03:13.368980+00:00, sha bc0f8c8d6657)
  - site_page: https://magefile.org/zeroinstall (fetched 2026-08-29T09:03:13.379772+00:00, sha 528228868d49)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.