Chore

Task runner for repetitive daily chores — software updates, auth renewals, environment setup, and other routines you run often enough to automate but not often enough to remember.

Chore runs tasks defined in a TOML config file and displays progress in a live-updating terminal UI with spinners, color-coded status, and folded output.

Installation

Homebrew (recommended)

brew install zlliang/tap/chore

Go

go install github.com/zlliang/chore@latest

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/zlliang/chore.git
cd chore
go build -o chore .

Usage

chore [task]            # run a task
chore [task] --dry-run  # preview the resolved plan without executing
chore [task] --json     # output events as newline-delimited JSON
chore list              # list all available tasks

Flags:

• -c, --config <path> — config file (default: ~/.config/chore/config.toml)
• -n, --dry-run — print the resolved task plan without executing
• --json — output events as newline-delimited JSON (for CI/CD integration)

Configuration

Chore reads from ~/.config/chore/config.toml by default (respects $XDG_CONFIG_HOME).

Basic example

[[tasks]]
name = "greet"
description = "Print greetings"
steps = ["hello", "goodbye"]

[[tasks]]
name = "hello"
description = "Say hello"
run = ["echo 'Hello, world!'"]

[[tasks]]
name = "goodbye"
description = "Say goodbye"
run = ["echo 'Goodbye!'"]

chore greet

Task types

Leaf tasks execute shell commands:

[[tasks]]
name = "build"
description = "Compile the project"
run = [
  "echo 'Compiling...'",
  "go build ./...",
]

Composite tasks reference other tasks by name:

[[tasks]]
name = "deploy"
description = "Build, test, and deploy"
steps = ["build", "test", "upload"]

Composite tasks are expanded recursively and can be nested.

Conditional execution

Use check to skip a task when a binary is not found in $PATH:

[[tasks]]
name = "brew-update"
description = "Update Homebrew packages"
check = "brew"
run = ["brew update && brew upgrade"]

If brew is not installed, this task is skipped silently.

Interactive tasks

Tasks that require user input (e.g., read, password prompts) should be marked interactive:

[[tasks]]
name = "login"
description = "Authenticate"
interactive = true
run = ["printf 'Token: ' && read token && echo \"Saved: $token\""]

Custom shell

By default, commands run via sh -c. Override with:

shell = ["bash", "-c"]