Agent skill

sayt-ide

How to write .vscode/tasks.json — build/test task schema, dependsOn chains, per-language examples (Gradle, Go, Node/pnpm, Python, Zig). Use when creating build tasks, test tasks, or fixing compilation/test failures.

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SKILL.md

build / test — VS Code Tasks via vscode-task-runner

sayt build and sayt test delegate to vscode-task-runner (vtr), which reads .vscode/tasks.json and runs the tasks labeled "build" and "test" respectively.

How It Works

  1. sayt build runs vtr build which finds the task with "label": "build" in .vscode/tasks.json
  2. sayt test runs vtr test which finds the task with "label": "test"
  3. vtr resolves dependsOn chains and runs prerequisite tasks first
  4. The commands execute as shell commands in the project directory

vtr is installed via uvx (Python) and is cached after sayt setup for offline use.

.vscode/tasks.json Schema

Every tasks.json must have:

  • "version": "2.0.0"
  • A tasks array with at minimum a "build" and "test" task

Required Task Structure

json
{
  "label": "build",          // MUST be exactly "build" or "test"
  "type": "shell",           // MUST be "shell" for sayt compatibility
  "command": "...",           // The executable to run
  "args": ["..."],           // Arguments (optional)
  "group": {
    "kind": "build",         // "build" or "test"
    "isDefault": true        // Mark as default for the group
  },
  "problemMatcher": [],      // VS Code error matching (can be empty)
  "dependsOn": ["..."]       // Prerequisite tasks (optional)
}

Windows Support

Add a windows override for cross-platform commands:

json
{
  "label": "build",
  "type": "shell",
  "command": "./gradlew",
  "windows": { "command": ".\\gradlew.bat" },
  "args": ["assemble"]
}

Task Dependencies

Use dependsOn to run prerequisite tasks:

json
{
  "label": "build",
  "type": "shell",
  "command": "go",
  "args": ["build", "-o", "app"],
  "dependsOn": ["sqlc-generate", "buf-generate"]
}

Dependency tasks don't need isDefault: true but should still be in the tasks array.

Per-Language Examples

Kotlin/Java (Gradle)

json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "./gradlew",
      "windows": { "command": ".\\gradlew.bat" },
      "args": ["assemble"],
      "problemMatcher": [],
      "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true }
    },
    {
      "label": "test",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "./gradlew",
      "windows": { "command": ".\\gradlew.bat" },
      "args": ["test"],
      "group": { "kind": "test", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Go

json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "go",
      "args": ["build", "-o", "app"],
      "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true },
      "dependsOn": ["sqlc-generate", "buf-generate"],
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "sqlc-generate",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "sqlc",
      "args": ["generate"],
      "group": { "kind": "build" },
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "buf-generate",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "buf",
      "args": ["generate", "../../libraries/xproto", "--template", "../../libraries/xproto/buf.go.gen.yaml", "-o", "../../libraries/xproto"],
      "group": { "kind": "build" },
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "test",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "go",
      "args": ["run", "gotest.tools/gotestsum@v1.12.0", "-f", "github-actions", "--", "./...", "-tags=unit_test"],
      "group": { "kind": "test", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Node.js / pnpm (monorepo with Turbo)

json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "install",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "pnpm install --frozen-lockfile"
    },
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "pnpm -C ../.. exec turbo --filter ./guis/web assemble",
      "problemMatcher": ["$tsc"],
      "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true },
      "dependsOn": ["install"]
    },
    {
      "label": "test",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "pnpm -C ../.. exec turbo --filter ./guis/web test",
      "group": { "kind": "test", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": ["$tsc"],
      "dependsOn": ["install"]
    }
  ]
}

Node.js / pnpm (standalone)

json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "pnpm",
      "args": ["build"],
      "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": ["$tsc"]
    },
    {
      "label": "test",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "pnpm",
      "args": ["test"],
      "group": { "kind": "test", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Python

json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "build"],
      "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "test",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "pytest",
      "group": { "kind": "test", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Zig

json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "zig",
      "args": ["build"],
      "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": []
    },
    {
      "label": "test",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "zig",
      "args": ["build", "test"],
      "group": { "kind": "test", "isDefault": true },
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

Writing Good Tasks

  1. Label exactly "build" and "test" — vtr looks for these exact labels
  2. Use "type": "shell" — Required for sayt/vtr compatibility
  3. Set isDefault: true — Mark one build and one test task as default
  4. Use dependsOn — For code generation or install steps that must run first
  5. Add problemMatcher — Helps VS Code parse errors (use ["$tsc"] for TypeScript, [] otherwise)
  6. Add windows overrides — If the command differs on Windows (e.g., gradlew vs gradlew.bat)
  7. Keep it simple — The task should run the same command you'd type in the terminal

Interpreting Results

  • Build success: The underlying compiler/bundler exited 0
  • Build failure: Read the compiler output — fix the source code
  • Test success: All unit tests passed
  • Test failure: Read test output for assertion failures and stack traces
  • "command not found: vtr": Run pipx install vscode-task-runner or sayt setup

Current flags

!sayt help build 2>&1 || true !sayt help test 2>&1 || true

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