Construct

A Make-like build tool written in Go for organizing command executions across platforms.

Installation

go build -o construct

Usage

construct [options] [Constfile] [commands...]

Commands

Command	Description
list	List all available commands

Options

Flag	Description
-h, --help	Show help message
-v, --version	Show version information
--debug	Enable debug mode for verbose output
--concurrent	Execute commands concurrently
--dry-run	Show commands without executing them
--list	List all available commands

Examples

construct                    # Run default command from Constfile
construct build test         # Run 'build' and 'test' commands
construct MyFile build       # Run 'build' from MyFile
construct --list             # List available commands
construct --dry-run build    # Show what 'build' would execute
construct --debug build      # Run 'build' with debug output

Constfile Syntax

Variables

var name = value
var envVar = @ENVIRONMENT_VAR    # Environment variable
var ref = &otherVar              # Reference another variable

Commands

commandName (args) < prerequisites {
    body
}

• |cloudcmd| - Cloud-accessible command (can fetch remote definitions)
• _ - Default command (runs first when no commands specified)
• Arguments: arg1 (required), opt arg2 (optional)
• Prerequisites: cmd1, cmd2

Variable Scopes

Variables can be global (defined outside commands) or local (defined inside commands):

var global = value

mycommand {
    var local = &global   # Can reference global vars
    $ echo &local
}

Prerequisite Output

Access prerequisite output using &prereqName.index:

prereq {
    $ echo "hello"
}

main < prereq {
    $ echo &prereq.0    # Outputs: hello
}

Example Constfile

var name = @USER

setup {
    $ pip install requests
}

test < setup {
    $ pytest tests/
}

build (env, opt region) < test {
    $ echo "Building for &env"
    $ echo "Region: &region"
}

_ {
    $ echo "Welcome &name!"
}

Platform-Specific Files

Construct automatically looks for platform-specific Constfiles:

• Constfile-darwin (macOS)
• Constfile-linux (Linux)
• Constfile-windows (Windows)

If Constfile doesn't exist but a platform-specific file does, it will be used automatically.

Error Detection

Construct validates:

• Circular dependencies in prerequisites
• Missing prerequisite commands
• Unclosed command blocks