wick.yml Reference

wick.yml is the task configuration file for the built-in cross-platform task runner. Place it at the root of your project.

---

Structure

vars:
  KEY: value

tasks:
  task-name:
    cmds:
      - command
    done: |
      Message shown when task completes successfully.

---

vars

Define variables to reuse across tasks. Supports plain strings and OS/arch detection via $arch.

Plain string

vars:
  TAILWIND_VERSION: 3.4.17

$arch — OS/arch detection

Resolves based on GOOS/GOARCH. Tries exact match first (darwin/arm64), then OS-only fallback (darwin), then default.

vars:
  TAILWIND_OS:
    $arch:
      windows: windows-x64.exe
      darwin/arm64: macos-arm64
      darwin: macos-x64
      linux/arm64: linux-arm64
      linux: linux-x64

Use variables in commands with {{.VAR_NAME}}:

- "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}} -i input.css -o output.css"

---

tasks

Each task has a list of cmds to run sequentially.

Plain command

cmds:
  - go mod tidy
  - templ generate ./...

Built-in: mkdir -p

Cross-platform directory creation.

- mkdir -p bin static

Built-in: chmod +x

No-op on Windows.

- chmod +x bin/mytool

if_missing — conditional execution

Skip a command if a file or binary already exists.

Check file:

- if_missing:
    file: "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}}"
  download:
    dest: "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}}"
    url: "https://example.com/tool-{{.TAILWIND_OS}}"
    cache: true

Check binary in PATH:

- if_missing:
    cmd: templ
  run: go install github.com/a-h/templ/cmd/templ@latest

download

Downloads a file. Typically used inside if_missing.

Field	Description
dest	Destination path
url	Download URL (supports variable interpolation)
cache	true (default) — cache in OS cache dir. false — always re-download.

Cache location:

• macOS/Linux: ~/.cache/wick/
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\wick\

Background process: bg

Run a command in the background (cross-platform, no & needed).

- bg: true
  run: "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}} -i input.css -o output.css --watch"

done — completion message

Printed after all cmds complete successfully.

tasks:
  setup:
    cmds:
      - ...
    done: |
      Setup complete!
      Run: wick dev

---

Full Example

vars:
  TAILWIND_OS:
    $arch:
      windows: windows-x64.exe
      darwin/arm64: macos-arm64
      darwin: macos-x64
      linux/arm64: linux-arm64
      linux: linux-x64
  TAILWIND_VERSION: 3.4.17
  TAILWIND_BIN:
    $arch:
      windows: bin/tailwindcss.exe
      default: bin/tailwindcss

tasks:
  setup:
    cmds:
      - mkdir -p bin static
      - if_missing:
          file: "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}}"
        download:
          dest: "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}}"
          url: "https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/download/v{{.TAILWIND_VERSION}}/tailwindcss-{{.TAILWIND_OS}}"
          cache: true
      - if_missing:
          cmd: templ
        run: go install github.com/a-h/templ/cmd/templ@latest
      - go mod tidy
    done: |
      Setup complete!
      Run: wick dev

  dev:
    cmds:
      - templ generate ./...
      - "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}} -i web/input.css -o static/output.css"
      - go run . server

  build:
    cmds:
      - templ generate ./...
      - "{{.TAILWIND_BIN}} -i web/input.css -o static/output.css --minify"
      - go build -o bin/app .

  test:
    cmds:
      - go test ./... -race

  tidy:
    cmds:
      - go fmt ./...
      - go mod tidy -v