hobnob

A yaml task runner built around 3 things others get wrong:

• JSON, natively. Query, filter, slice — no jq needed.
• Tasks return values. Capture a command's output or a sub-task's results, explicitly, back into the caller.
• Prompts. Text input or select menus, dropped anywhere in a task.

---

📦 Install

curl -fsSL https://github.com/jakesmd/hobnob/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

---

👀 Quick look

# hobnob.yml

tasks:
  tell-joke:
    info: Tell a joke from a category you pick
    steps:

      # Returning vars: curl's stdout captured straight into a var
      - run: curl -s https://official-joke-api.appspot.com/types
        into:
          - CATEGORIES: stdout

      # Interactive prompts: options pulled from the step above
      - get:
          - CATEGORY:
              options: .CATEGORIES

      # Returning vars: whole JSON blob pulled back from an isolated sub-task
      - call: _fetch-joke
        into:
          - JOKE: .RESP

      # JSON handling: pluck fields out of the blob, no jq
      - run: 'echo "{{ .JOKE | pluck "[0].setup" }} ... {{ .JOKE | pluck "[0].punchline" }}"'

  _fetch-joke:
    steps:
      - run: curl -s https://official-joke-api.appspot.com/jokes/{{.CATEGORY}}/random
        into:
          - RESP: stdout

% hobnob tell-joke

run: [tell-joke] curl -s https://official-joke-api.appspot.com/types
[tell-joke] ["general","knock-knock","programming","dad"]

Select a value for CATEGORY.
▶ general
  knock-knock
  programming
  dad
↑↓ move  enter select

---

✨ Other features

• Modules — import tasks from other files, namespaced by prefix.
• Loops — over a list, a matrix of arrays, or a map's key/value pairs.
• Env files — load vars from .env files or sourced shell scripts.
• Working dir inheritance — set it once, override per-call or per-step.
• Secret masking — flag any var as secret to mask it in output.
• CI mode — skip prompts, fail fast on missing vars.
• Task listing — see or interactively pick from available tasks.
• ...and much more in the hobnob guide.

---

📖 Docs

Everything you need to know to write your first file is right here in the hobnob guide.

🤖 GitHub Action

Add hobnob to any workflow:

steps:
  - uses: jakesmd/hobnob@v0
    with: # Pin a specific version (optional)
      version: v0.2.3

  - run: hobnob deploy

🤝 Contributing

Got ideas or fixes? Check out the Contributing guide to see how to get involved and submit a PR.