Build Automation Generator

Generate or enhance a build automation file for any project. Supports Makefile, Taskfile.yml, Justfile, and Magefile.go.

Two modes:

• Generate — No build file exists → create one from scratch using best-practice templates
• Enhance — Build file already exists → analyze gaps, add missing targets, fix anti-patterns, preserve existing work

Step 0: Load Project Context

Read the project description if available:

Read .ai-factory/DESCRIPTION.md

Store the project context (tech stack, framework, architecture) for use in later steps. If the file doesn't exist, that's fine — we'll detect everything in Step 2.

Step 1: Detect Existing Build Files & Determine Mode

1.1 Scan for Existing Build Files

Before anything else, check if the project already has build automation:

Glob: Makefile, makefile, GNUmakefile, Taskfile.yml, Taskfile.yaml, taskfile.yml, justfile, Justfile, .justfile, magefile.go, magefiles/*.go

Build a list of EXISTING_FILES from the results.

1.2 Determine Mode

Mode A — Enhance Existing (if EXISTING_FILES is not empty):

• Set MODE = "enhance"
• Set TARGET_TOOL automatically from the detected file (Makefile → makefile, Taskfile.yml → taskfile, etc.)
• If multiple build files exist AND $ARGUMENTS specifies one, use the argument to pick which one to enhance
• If multiple build files exist AND no argument, ask which one to enhance:

AskUserQuestion: This project has multiple build files. Which one should I improve?

Options (dynamic, based on what exists):
1. Makefile — Enhance the existing Makefile
2. Taskfile.yml — Enhance the existing Taskfile
...

• Read the existing file content — this is the baseline for enhancement
• Store as EXISTING_CONTENT

Mode B — Generate New (if EXISTING_FILES is empty):

• Set MODE = "generate"
• Parse $ARGUMENTS to determine tool:

• If $ARGUMENTS is empty or doesn't match, ask the user interactively:

AskUserQuestion: Which build automation tool do you want to generate?

Options:
1. Makefile — GNU Make (universal, no install needed)
2. Taskfile.yml — Task runner (YAML, modern, cross-platform)
3. justfile — Just command runner (simple, fast, ergonomic)
4. magefile.go — Mage (Go-native, type-safe, no shell scripts)

Store the chosen tool as TARGET_TOOL.

Step 2: Analyze Project

Detect the project profile by scanning the repository. Run these checks using Glob and Grep:

2.1 Primary Language

Check for these files (first match wins):

2.2 Package Manager

Check lock files:

2.3 Framework Detection

For Node.js projects, check package.json dependencies for:

• next → Next.js
• nuxt → Nuxt
• @remix-run/node → Remix
• express → Express
• fastify → Fastify
• hono → Hono
• @nestjs/core → NestJS

For Python projects, check pyproject.toml or imports for:

• fastapi → FastAPI
• django → Django
• flask → Flask

For PHP projects, check composer.json require for:

• laravel/framework → Laravel
• symfony/framework-bundle → Symfony
• slim/slim → Slim
• cakephp/cakephp → CakePHP

For Go projects, check go.mod for:

• gin-gonic/gin → Gin
• labstack/echo → Echo
• gofiber/fiber → Fiber
• go-chi/chi → Chi

2.4 Docker (Deep Scan)

Glob: Dockerfile, Dockerfile.*, docker-compose.yml, docker-compose.yaml, compose.yml, compose.yaml, .dockerignore

If any exist, set HAS_DOCKER=true and perform a deeper analysis:

Read the Dockerfile(s) to detect:

• Multi-stage builds (separate dev / prod stages) → DOCKER_MULTISTAGE=true
• Exposed ports → DOCKER_PORTS (e.g., 3000, 8080)
• Base image → DOCKER_BASE (e.g., node:20-alpine, golang:1.22)
• Entrypoint/CMD → understand how the app is started inside the container

Read docker-compose / compose file to detect:

• Service names → DOCKER_SERVICES (e.g., app, db, redis, worker)
• Volume mounts → understand dev vs prod setup
• Profiles (if any) → dev, production, test
• Dependency services (postgres, redis, rabbitmq, etc.) → DOCKER_DEPS

Store as DOCKER_PROFILE:

• has_compose: boolean
• has_multistage: boolean
• services: list of service names
• deps: list of infrastructure services (db, cache, queue)
• ports: exposed ports
• has_dev_stage: boolean (Dockerfile has a dev or development stage)

2.5 CI/CD

Glob: .github/workflows/*.yml, .gitlab-ci.yml, .circleci/config.yml, Jenkinsfile, .travis.yml

Note which CI system is in use.

2.6 Database & Migrations

Search for migration tools:

Grep: prisma|drizzle|knex|typeorm|sequelize|alembic|django.*migrate|goose|migrate|atlas|sqlx

Check for:

• prisma/schema.prisma → Prisma
• drizzle.config.ts → Drizzle
• alembic/ directory → Alembic
• migrations/ directory → Generic migrations

2.7 Test Framework

2.8 Linters & Formatters

Glob: .eslintrc*, eslint.config.*, .prettierrc*, biome.json, .golangci.yml, .golangci.yaml
Grep in pyproject.toml: ruff|black|flake8|pylint|isort

2.9 Monorepo Detection

Glob: turbo.json, nx.json, lerna.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml

Summary

Build a PROJECT_PROFILE object with:

• language: primary language
• package_manager: detected PM
• framework: detected framework (if any)
• has_docker: boolean
• docker_profile: DOCKER_PROFILE object (if has_docker)
• ci_system: detected CI (if any)
• has_migrations: boolean + tool name
• test_framework: detected test runner
• linters: list of detected linters
• is_monorepo: boolean
• has_dev_server: boolean (framework with dev server)

Step 3: Read Best Practices

Read the best practices reference for the chosen tool:

Read skills/build-automation/references/BEST-PRACTICES.md

Focus on the section matching TARGET_TOOL:

• Makefile → Section 1
• Taskfile → Section 2
• Justfile → Section 3
• Magefile → Section 4

Also read the "Cross-Cutting Concerns" section for standard targets.

Step 4: Select & Read Template

Pick the closest matching template based on language + TARGET_TOOL:

For Magefile: use magefile-full.go if HAS_DOCKER or has_migrations is true, otherwise magefile-basic.go.

For PHP + Magefile: Mage is Go-specific and not applicable to PHP projects. If the user explicitly requested mage for a PHP project, explain this and suggest Makefile as the closest alternative (universal, no install needed). Ask via AskUserQuestion whether to proceed with Makefile instead.

Read the selected template:

Read skills/build-automation/templates/<selected-template>

Step 5: Generate or Enhance File

Mode B — Generate New File

Using the PROJECT_PROFILE, best practices, and template as reference, generate a customized build file from scratch.

Generation Rules

1. Start with the tool's required preamble (from best practices)
2. Include all standard targets: help/default, build, test, lint, clean, dev, fmt
3. Add conditional targets based on project profile:
   • Docker targets → only if has_docker
   • Database targets → only if has_migrations (use correct migration tool)
   • Deploy targets → only if CI/CD detected
   • Generate target → only if code generation detected
   • Typecheck target → only if TypeScript or mypy detected
4. Use correct package manager commands (not hardcoded npm/pip/go)
5. Include CI aggregate target that runs lint + test + build
6. Follow the template's structure for organization and grouping
7. Adapt variable names to match the actual project (module name, binary name, source dirs)
8. Include version/commit/build-time detection via git
9. Docker-aware targets — if has_docker, generate a dedicated Docker section (see below)

Docker-Aware Target Generation

When has_docker is true, generate two layers of commands:

Layer 1 — Container lifecycle (always when Docker detected):

Layer 2 — Dev vs Production separation (when compose or multistage detected):

##@ Docker — Development
docker-dev:          ## Start all services in dev mode (with hot reload, mounted volumes)
docker-dev-build:    ## Rebuild dev containers
docker-dev-down:     ## Stop dev environment and remove volumes

##@ Docker — Production
docker-prod-build:   ## Build production image (optimized, multi-stage)
docker-prod-run:     ## Run production container locally for testing
docker-prod-push:    ## Push production image to registry

Generation logic:

• If has_compose → use docker compose commands (not docker-compose)
• If compose has profiles → use --profile dev / --profile production
• If has_multistage → use --target dev for dev builds, no target (or --target production) for prod
• If docker_profile.deps exist (db, redis, etc.) → add infra-up / infra-down targets to start/stop only infrastructure services without the app
• If compose detected → docker-dev should run docker compose up with correct profile/services
• If no compose but Dockerfile → docker-dev should run docker build --target dev + docker run with volume mounts

Layer 3 — Container-based commands (mirror host commands via container):

When the project is Docker-based, also generate container-exec variants so that users who run everything in Docker can use the same targets:

# Run tests inside the container
docker-test:         ## Run tests inside the Docker container
  docker compose exec app [test command]

# Run linter inside the container
docker-lint:         ## Run linter inside the Docker container
  docker compose exec app [lint command]

# Open shell in the container
docker-shell:        ## Open a shell inside the running container
  docker compose exec app sh

Only generate docker-* exec variants if the project appears to be Docker-first (compose file mounts source code as volumes, or no local language runtime setup is apparent).

Customization from Project Profile

• Binary name: Use the actual project name from go.mod, package.json, or directory name
• Source directory: Use actual src dir (e.g., src/, app/, cmd/)
• Dev server command: Match the framework's dev server (e.g., next dev, uvicorn --reload, air)
• Test command: Match the detected test runner
• Lint command: Match the detected linters
• Migration commands: Match the detected migration tool exactly
• Port numbers: Use framework defaults (3000 for Node, 8000 for Python, 8080 for Go)

Mode A — Enhance Existing File

When MODE = "enhance", do NOT replace the file from scratch. Instead, analyze it and improve it surgically.

5A.1 Analyze Existing File

Compare EXISTING_CONTENT against the PROJECT_PROFILE and best practices. Build a gap analysis:

Missing preamble/config — Check if the file has the recommended preamble:

• Makefile: SHELL := bash, .ONESHELL, .SHELLFLAGS, .DELETE_ON_ERROR, MAKEFLAGS
• Taskfile: version: '3', output:, dotenv:
• Justfile: set shell, set dotenv-load, set export
• Magefile: //go:build mage, proper imports

Missing standard targets — Check which of these are absent:

• help / default (self-documenting)
• build, test, lint, clean, dev, fmt
• ci (aggregate target)

Missing project-specific targets — Based on PROJECT_PROFILE, check for:

• Docker targets (if has_docker but no docker targets in file)
• Database/migration targets (if has_migrations but no db targets)
• Typecheck target (if TypeScript/mypy detected but no typecheck target)
• Generate target (if code generation tools detected)
• Coverage target (if test target exists but no coverage variant)

Quality issues — Check for anti-patterns from best practices:

• Targets without descriptions/documentation
• Missing .PHONY declarations (Makefile)
• Hardcoded tool paths that should be variables
• Missing version/commit detection
• No self-documenting help target

5A.2 Plan Changes

Build a list of specific changes to make:

CHANGES = [
  { type: "add_preamble", detail: "Add .SHELLFLAGS and .DELETE_ON_ERROR" },
  { type: "add_target", name: "docker-build", detail: "Dockerfile detected but no docker target" },
  { type: "add_target", name: "help", detail: "No self-documenting help target" },
  { type: "fix_quality", detail: "Add ## comments to 3 targets missing descriptions" },
  { type: "add_variable", detail: "Add VERSION/COMMIT detection via git" },
  ...
]

5A.3 Apply Changes

• Preserve the existing structure — Keep the user's ordering, naming, and style
• Preserve existing targets exactly — Do NOT modify working targets unless fixing a clear bug or adding a missing description
• Add new targets in the appropriate section — Follow the existing grouping pattern (if the file uses ##@ sections, add to matching section; if no sections, append logically)
• Add missing preamble lines at the top, before existing content
• Add missing variables near existing variable declarations
• Use the template as reference for the syntax of new targets, but adapt to match the style already present in the file (e.g., if existing Makefile uses tabs + simple recipes, don't introduce complex multi-line scripts)

Quality Checks (Both Modes)

Before writing the file, verify:

• All targets have descriptions/documentation (## comments, desc:, [doc()], doc comments)
• No hardcoded paths that should be variables
• Package manager detection is correct
• Self-documenting help target is included
• .PHONY declarations for all non-file targets (Makefile only)
• Dangerous operations have confirmations (Justfile) or warnings

Step 6: Write File & Report

6.1 Write the File

Mode B (Generate New):

Write the generated content using the Write tool:

Mode A (Enhance Existing):

Write the enhanced content to the same path where the existing file was found (preserving the original filename casing and location). The file is updated in-place — no need to ask about overwriting since we're improving, not replacing.

6.2 Display Summary

Display summary using format from references/SUMMARY-FORMAT.md. Shows targets table, project profile used, and quick start command for Mode B (generate), or what changed + new/existing targets for Mode A (enhance). Include installation hints if the tool requires setup.

Step 7: Project Documentation Integration

After writing the build file, integrate quick commands into project docs. For detailed integration procedures (README, AGENTS.md, existing markdown) → read references/DOC-INTEGRATION.md

Brief: scan for existing command sections, update or append quick reference, suggest AGENTS.md creation if missing.