gg.cmd

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gg.cmd is a cross-platform and cross-architecture command-line interface (CLI) that acts as an executable wrapper for various tools such as Gradle, JDK/JVM, Node.js, and Java. It requires zero external dependencies - works on plain Alpine and Ubuntu containers without curl/wget or updated CA certificates (all networking is built-in). Similar in functionality to gradlew (without need for JDK initially installed).

Install with bash (wget):

wget ggcmd.io/gg.cmd

Install with bash (curl):

curl -L ggcmd.io > gg.cmd

Install with PowerShell:

wget ggcmd.io -OutFile gg.cmd

or

Download the latest release

Install?
The concept involves placing a copy of gg.cmd in the root directory of your project.
This is similar to what you would do with gradlew or mvnw, except this method is applicable to multiple tools.
As a result, your colleagues would not have to install anything on their host machines.

Features

• Zero dependencies - Works on minimal containers (Alpine, Ubuntu) without curl/wget or CA certificates
• Configuration system - Define version requirements and command aliases via gg.toml files
• Simplify the management of other executables in your project
• Automatically detect and execute the required executable version using project configuration files (such as package.json for Node.js projects)
• Support for chaining multiple executables (e.g. gradle@6:java@17)
• Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, and Linux)
• Cross-architecture compatibility (x86_64 and ARM)
• Fast and lightweight

By default, installs tools in a global cache directory ($HOME/.cache/gg on Unix, %UserProfile%\.cache\gg on Windows). Use the -l flag to use a local cache (.cache/gg in current directory) instead. Adds every dependency into PATH before executing.

Configuration

gg.cmd supports project-specific configuration via a gg.toml file. This allows you to define version requirements and command aliases for your project.

Note, this is not a full task runner, if you need a full task runner, consider using just,

Creating a Configuration File

Create a gg.toml configuration file in your project root:

./gg.cmd config init

This creates a gg.toml file with the following structure:

# gg configuration file
# See https://github.com/eirikb/gg for more information

[dependencies]
# Define version requirements for tools
# Examples:
# node = "^18.0.0"
# java = "17"
# gradle = "~7.6.0"

[aliases]
# Define command shortcuts
# Examples:
# build = "gradle clean build"
# serve = "node@18 server.js"
# test = "npm test"

Configuration Features

Version Dependencies: Ensure team members use compatible tool versions

[dependencies]
node = "^18.0.0"      # Allow 18.x.x versions
java = "17"           # Require exactly Java 17
gradle = "~7.6.0"     # Allow 7.6.x versions

Command Aliases: Create shortcuts for common commands

[aliases]
build = "gradle clean build"
serve = "node@18 server.js --port 3000"
test = "npm test"
gen = "dart scripts/generate.dart"

Using Aliases

Once defined, aliases can be used directly:

./gg.cmd build           # Expands to: ./gg.cmd gradle clean build
./gg.cmd serve --dev     # Expands to: ./gg.cmd node@18 server.js --port 3000 --dev  
./gg.cmd test --coverage # Expands to: ./gg.cmd npm test --coverage

Aliases support && for sequential execution:

[aliases]
clean-build = "gradle clean build"
build-and-test = "clean-build && npm test"

Viewing Configuration

View your current configuration:

./gg.cmd config show

This will display the configuration file location, its contents, and parsed aliases/dependencies.

Usage

Using gg.cmd is easy. Simply place the executable in the root of your project and run it with the gg.cmd command followed by the desired executable and its required dependencies:

./gg.cmd [gg options] <executable name>@<version><+include_tags><-exclude_tags>:<dependent executable name>@<version><+include_tags><-exclude_tags> [executable arguments]

Example

sh gg.cmd npm install

Usage: ./gg.cmd [options] <executable name>@<version>:<dependent executable name>@<version> [program arguments]

Options:
    -l              Use local cache (.cache/gg) instead of global cache
    -v              Info output
    -vv             Debug output
    -vvv            Trace output
    -w              Even more output
    -h, --help      Print help
    -V, --version   Print version
    --os <OS>       Override target OS (windows, linux, mac)
    --arch <ARCH>   Override target architecture (x86_64, arm64, armv7)

Built in commands:
    update          Check for updates for all tools (including gg)
    update -u       Update all tools that have updates available
    update <tool>   Check for updates for specific tool (e.g., update flutter, update gg)
    update <tool> -u Update specific tool (e.g., update flutter -u, update gg -u)
    update <tool> -u -f Force update specific tool even if up to date (e.g., update gg -u -f)
    help            Print help
    tools           List all available tools
    clean-cache     Clean cache (prompts for confirmation)
    config init     Create a new gg.toml configuration file
    config show     Show current configuration

Update options:
    -u              Actually perform the update (vs just checking)
    -f              Force re-download even if already up to date (use with -u)
    --major         Include major version updates (default: skip major versions)

Version syntax:
    @X              Any X.y.z version (e.g. node@14 for any Node.js 14.x.y)
    @X.Y            Any X.Y.z patch version (e.g. [email protected] for any Node.js 14.17.z)
    @X.Y.Z          Exactly X.Y.Z version (e.g. [email protected] for exactly Node.js 14.17.0)
    @^X.Y.Z         X.Y.Z or any compatible newer version (caret prefix)
    @~X.Y.Z         X.Y.Z or any newer patch version (tilde prefix)
    @=X.Y.Z         Exactly X.Y.Z version (equals prefix, same as X.Y.Z without prefix)

Examples:
    ./gg.cmd node
    ./gg.cmd -l node                                      (use local cache)
    ./gg.cmd gradle@6:java@17 clean build
    ./gg.cmd -l gradle@6:java@17 clean build             (use local cache)
    ./gg.cmd node@10 -e 'console.log(1)'
    ./gg.cmd [email protected] -v
    ./gg.cmd -vv -w npm@14 start
    ./gg.cmd java@-jdk+jre -version
    ./gg.cmd jbang hello.java
    ./gg.cmd bld version
    ./gg.cmd maven compile
    ./gg.cmd run:java@17 soapui
    ./gg.cmd run:java@14 env
    ./gg.cmd update
    ./gg.cmd gh/cli/cli --version
    ./gg.cmd --os windows --arch x86_64 deno --version    (test Windows Deno on Linux)
    ./gg.cmd --os mac deno --help                         (test macOS Deno from anywhere)

Example tools:
    node        Node.js JavaScript runtime (npm, npx will also work)
    java        Java runtime and development kit
    gradle      Gradle build automation tool
    go          Go programming language
    flutter     Flutter SDK (dart will also work)

Run 'gg tools' to see all available tools with descriptions

GitHub repos can be accessed directly:
    gh/<owner>/<repo>    Any GitHub release (e.g. gh/cli/cli)

Available tags by tools:
    java: +jdk, +jre, +lts, +sts, +mts, +ea, +ga, +headless, +headfull, +fx, +normal, +hotspot (defaults: +jdk, +ga)
    node: +lts
    go: +beta (excluded by default)
    openapi: +beta (excluded by default)

Node

Version from:

• engines in package.json
• Contents of .nvmrc

Gradle

Version from:

• distributionUrl in gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
• distributionUrl in gradle.properties

Download URL from:

• distributionUrl in gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
• distributionUrl in gradle.properties

JBang

The Java version is read from the JBang script using the //JAVA magic comment.

Java

Version from:

• jdkVersion in gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
• jdkVersion in gradle.properties

Flutter

Version from:

• environment.flutter in pubspec.yaml

Examples

Here are a few examples of how gg.cmd can make your life easier:

Execute gradle

./gg.cmd gradle build

Replace gradlew and gradle JARs by gg.cmd

You can replace gradlew with a single gg.cmd and gradle.properties and can delete these files:

• gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
• gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
• gradlew
• gradlew.bat

Execute bld

In this example, bld is used to run an app using bld for the build process:

./gg.cmd bld run

Execute JBang

./gg.cmd jbang script.java

Execute specific version of Node.js

./gg.cmd node@14

Execute specific version of Gradle and the required version of JVM/JDK

./gg.cmd gradle@6:java@17 clean build

Create a new node project

./gg.cmd npm init -y

Create a new React project

./gg.cmd npx create-react-app my-app
cp gg.cmd my-app
cd my-app
./gg.cmd npm start

Execute code hosted on GitHub

gg.cmd offers a GitHub executor. It smartly checks the content and the available release files.

For instance, one can run GitHub's CLI tool:

> sh ./gg.cmd gh/cli/cli --version
gh version 2.73.0 (2025-05-19)
https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/tag/v2.73.0

Using Configuration and Aliases

Create a gg.toml configuration file:

./gg.cmd config init

Add some aliases and dependencies:

[dependencies]
node = "^18.0.0"
gradle = "~7.6.0"

[aliases]
dev = "node@18 server.js --dev"
build = "gradle clean build"
test = "npm test --coverage"

Now use the aliases:

./gg.cmd dev                # Runs: ./gg.cmd node@18 server.js --dev
./gg.cmd build --parallel   # Runs: ./gg.cmd gradle clean build --parallel
./gg.cmd test               # Runs: ./gg.cmd npm test --coverage

Cache Management

gg.cmd supports both global and local cache modes:

Global Cache (Default)

By default, tools are cached globally and shared across all projects:

• Unix/Linux/macOS: $HOME/.cache/gg
• Windows: %UserProfile%\.cache\gg

./gg.cmd node -v          # Uses global cache
./gg.cmd gradle build     # Uses global cache

Local Cache

Use the -l flag to cache tools locally in the current project:

./gg.cmd -l node -v       # Uses .cache/gg in current directory
./gg.cmd -l gradle build  # Uses .cache/gg in current directory

Custom Cache Location

Set the GG_CACHE_DIR environment variable to use a custom cache location:

export GG_CACHE_DIR="/path/to/custom/cache"
./gg.cmd node -v          # Uses /path/to/custom/cache
./gg.cmd -l node -v       # Still uses /path/to/custom/cache (ignores -l)

Note: When GG_CACHE_DIR is set, it takes precedence over both global and local cache modes.

Contributing

We welcome contributions to gg.cmd. If you have an idea for a new feature or have found a bug, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

License

gg.cmd is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.