rune

    Overview

    Rune is a script runner for JavaScript and TypeScript monorepos. Commands are declared once in a rune.config.ts at the repository root. Each package's package.json references a command by name, so changing a flag is one edit at the root instead of one edit per package.

    The four pieces

    PieceWhat it does
    rune.config.tsDeclares every script. TypeScript, evaluated by an embedded engine
    The resolverPicks the right definition for the package you are in, applies inheritance, layers the environment
    The runnerSpawns the command through the platform shell, hands it the terminal, and reports its exit code
    The cacheStores the resolved config keyed by the content of its whole import graph

    Scope

    Rune is a script registry and a runner. Within one package it can order scripts, run them side by side, retry them and time them out. It does not do the things a build system does:

    Not in RuneWhy
    Task result cachingRune has no model of a task's inputs or outputs. It caches only its own resolved config
    Ordering across packagesRune reads no dependency graph between packages
    Remote executionOut of scope
    Watch modeThe tool being run already has one

    A repository that needs those keeps the build system it already has, and points it at Rune. The setup for that is on Turborepo and Nx.

    Reading order

    Installation

    Add Rune to a repository and write the first config.

    Your first script

    One command, run from a package five directories down.

    Running several scripts

    Chain scripts, run them side by side, or put a prerequisite in front of one.

    Flaky and slow scripts

    Retries for intermittent failures, time limits for processes that hang.

    Adopting Rune in a monorepo

    Move existing package.json scripts into one config, package by package.

    Turborepo and Nx

    The one configuration change a build system needs when Rune arrives.

    Reference

    The config reference covers every field a script entry accepts. The CLI reference covers every command and flag. Exit codes is the page to read before wiring Rune into CI.