mise

mise

mise is a polyglot tool version manager and task runner. A single mise.toml replaces Makefiles, shell scripts, and language-specific version managers (nvm, pyenv, rustup). It manages tool versions, defines project tasks, and sets environment variables from one configuration file.

Config File Structure

Order sections canonically for consistency:

min_version = "2024.9.5"

[env]
DATABASE_URL = "postgres://localhost/myapp_dev"

[tools]
python = "3.12"

[tasks]
test.run = "pytest"

[settings]
auto_install = true
not_found_auto_install = true
task_run_auto_install = true

Use min_version to enforce a minimum mise version. Recognized top-level sections: [env], [tools], [tasks], [settings], [plugins], [tool_alias], [task_config], [vars].

Tool Version Management

Specify tools in the [tools] section. mise installs and activates them automatically.

[tools]
node = "22"                   # Major version prefix
python = "3.12.2"             # Exact version
go = "latest"                 # Latest stable
erlang = "lts"                # LTS channel

Multiple versions install side-by-side (first is default):

[tools]
python = ["3.11", "3.12"]

Version formats

Format	Example	Behavior
Exact	"3.12.2"	Specific version
Prefix	"3.12"	Latest matching 3.12.x
Channel	"latest", "lts"	Resolved at install time
Reference	"ref:main"	Git ref, compiled from source
Subtraction	"sub-1:latest"	One major behind latest

Table form with options

[tools]
node = { version = "22", postinstall = "corepack enable" }
rust = { version = "stable", components = "clippy,rustfmt", profile = "default" }

Backend syntax for non-core tools

[tools]
"ubi:astral-sh/ruff" = "latest"     # GitHub binary releases
"cargo:cargo-watch" = "latest"       # Cargo crate
"npm:prettier" = "3"                 # npm package
"pipx:ansible-lint" = "latest"       # Python CLI tools via pipx

Custom plugins

Register custom tool plugins in [plugins]:

[plugins]
fnox-env = "https://github.com/jdx/mise-env-fnox"

Task Definitions

Tasks are defined in [tasks] or as executable files in .mise/tasks/.

Inline tasks

tasks.test = "pytest"
tasks.lint = "ruff check ."
tasks.format = "ruff format ."

Table tasks

[tasks.build]
description = "Build the project"
depends = ["lint"]
run = "cargo build --release"
dir = "{{config_root}}/backend"
env = { RUST_LOG = "info" }
sources = ["src/**/*.rs", "Cargo.toml"]
outputs = ["target/release/myapp"]

Task-level options

Pin tool versions per-task, set aliases for shortcuts, or override the shell:

[tasks."lint:shellcheck"]
description = "Lint shell scripts"
run = "shellcheck scripts/*.sh"
tools = { "shellcheck" = "0.11.0" }    # Pin tool version for this task
alias = "sc"                            # Short alias for mise run sc
shell = "bash -c"                       # Override default shell

Task directory scoping

Use dir to run a task in a specific subdirectory. Essential for monorepos and infrastructure projects where different tasks target different paths:

[tasks.prod-validate]
description = "Validate production Terraform"
dir = "infrastructure/environments/production"
run = "terraform init -backend=false -input=false >/dev/null && terraform validate"

[tasks.prod-plan]
description = "Plan production changes"
dir = "infrastructure/environments/production"
run = "terraform plan"

Relative paths resolve from the config file's directory. Use {{config_root}} for explicit anchoring. When multiple tasks share a base directory, the pattern of environment-scoped tasks (same command, different dir) keeps configs DRY while remaining explicit about scope.

Multi-line scripts

[tasks.setup]
run = [
  "pip install -e '.[dev]'",
  "pre-commit install"
]

File-based tasks

Place executable scripts in .mise/tasks/. Subdirectories create namespaces — .mise/tasks/db/migrate becomes task db:migrate.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
#MISE description="Run database migrations"
#MISE depends=["db:check"]

alembic upgrade head

Mark file tasks executable (chmod +x). Any language works via shebang.

Task arguments

[tasks.deploy]
usage = '''
arg "<environment>" help="Target environment" default="staging"
flag "-v --verbose" help="Verbose output"
'''
run = "deploy.sh ${usage_environment}"

Namespace Taxonomy

Name tasks as namespace:verb. The namespace is a domain noun, the verb is an action. This groups related tasks alphabetically in mise tasks output.

# Per-project namespaces use the project's domain
tasks."vault:triage" = "claude --print /inbox-process"
tasks."cluster:deploy" = "talosctl apply-config"

# Cross-project namespaces for shared concerns
tasks."cc:prime" = "claude --print /vault-prime"
tasks."git:clean" = "git branch --merged | grep -v main | xargs git branch -d"

Use the project's primary domain noun as the namespace. Avoid generic names like run: or do:.

Environment Variables

[env]
NODE_ENV = "development"
PROJECT_ROOT = "{{config_root}}"

# Load from dotenv
_.file = ".env"

# Python virtual environment
_.python.venv = { path = ".venv", create = true }

Template variables: {{config_root}} (directory containing mise.toml), {{env.VAR}} (existing env vars).

Layered Configuration

mise resolves configuration from multiple levels, with closer files taking precedence:

~/.config/mise/config.toml       # Global: cross-cutting tools and tasks
./mise.toml                      # Project: local tools and tasks
./mise.local.toml                # Local overrides (gitignored)

Global config handles cross-cutting concerns (shared tools, repo orchestration tasks). Project config handles repo-specific tools and tasks. Global tasks never assume a specific repo structure — use environment variables or auto-detection.

Use mise.local.toml (gitignored) for environment-specific overrides. Tasks can generate this file to switch environments:

[tasks."env:local"]
description = "Switch to local LAN environment"
run = '''
cat > .mise.local.toml << 'EOF'
[env]
NOMAD_ADDR = "http://192.168.11.11:4646"
CONSUL_HTTP_ADDR = "http://192.168.11.11:8500"
EOF
echo "Switched to local. Run 'mise trust' to apply."
'''

Task Dependencies

[tasks.check]
description = "Full quality gate"
depends = ["format:check", "lint", "test"]

[tasks.deploy]
depends = ["check"]
depends_post = ["notify"]           # Runs after this task completes
wait_for = ["build"]                # Waits without forcing execution

Independent dependencies run in parallel by default. Control parallelism with [settings] jobs = 4.

Version Resolution

Never hardcode tool versions from training data — they will be wrong. Always resolve versions at runtime through mise.

Use mise use <tool> to install and pin a tool. It queries the registry, resolves the current version, installs it, and writes the pinned version to mise.toml. Default is fuzzy pinning (mise use python@3.13 writes python = "3.13"). Use --pin for exact versions (python = "3.13.2") when patch-level precision matters.

For discovery:

• mise ls-remote <tool> — list all available versions from the registry
• mise ls — list currently installed tools and versions
• mise outdated — show tools with newer versions available
• mise up --bump — upgrade all tools while maintaining semver ranges

When writing presets, scripts, or giving version advice: always use mise use to resolve versions live. Never embed version strings from memory.

Hooks

Hooks execute scripts during mise activate sessions and tool installations. Define them in mise.toml:

[hooks]
enter = "echo 'entering project'"
postinstall = { task = "post-setup" }

Events: enter (first project entry), cd (every directory change), leave (exit project), preinstall, postinstall. The enter and postinstall events are the most useful — enter for project validation, postinstall for tool-specific setup after mise install.

Shell hooks execute in the current shell context for sourcing files:

[hooks.enter]
shell = "bash"
script = "source .envrc.local"

Watch files for auto-formatting on change:

[[watch_files]]
patterns = ["src/**/*.rs"]
run = "cargo fmt"

See Hooks Reference for all events, environment variables, and patterns.

Scaffolding with mise generate

mise generates common project files. Use these in presets instead of writing files from scratch:

• mise generate bootstrap --localize --write — install script for contributors without mise. --localize sandboxes mise into .mise/ within the project.
• mise generate config — creates mise.toml, can import from .tool-versions
• mise generate git-pre-commit --task=<task> --write — git pre-commit hook that runs a mise task
• mise generate github-action --write --task=ci — CI workflow using jdx/mise-action
• mise generate task-docs — documentation for all defined tasks
• mise generate task-stubs — shims in bin/ so contributors run tasks without mise installed

Pair bootstrap with task-stubs for zero-mise-required contributor onboarding.

Presets

Presets are reusable scaffolding scripts stored in ~/.config/mise/tasks/preset/. Run with mise preset:<name>. They compose through dependency chains:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
#MISE dir="{{cwd}}"
#MISE depends=["preset:base"]

mise use python uv ruff
mise config set env._.python.venv.path .venv
mise config set env._.python.venv.create true -t bool
mise tasks add --description "Install deps" sync -- uv sync

The pattern: mise use for tool versions (resolved live), mise config set for configuration, mise tasks add for task definitions, mise generate for standard files, and direct file writes for non-mise configs (cliff.toml, .gitignore, hk.pkl).

Presets are global by design — they scaffold new repos that have no project-level configuration yet.

See Presets Reference for the full API and example preset skeletons.

hk Integration

hk is a Rust-based git hook manager by the same author as mise. It replaces the pre-commit framework with parallel execution, file-level read/write locks, and built-in linter definitions that resolve tools through mise.

mise use hk                # Install hk
hk init --mise             # Generate hk.pkl + mise integration
hk install --mise          # Set up git hooks

hk provides builtins for common tools: ruff, cargo_clippy, cargo_fmt, shellcheck, yamllint, prettier, eslint, mypy, hclfmt, detect_private_key, check_merge_conflict, trailing_whitespace, check_conventional_commit, and many more. Builtins need no version pinning — tools resolve through mise.

For existing repos using pre-commit, migrate with hk migrate pre-commit. This reads .pre-commit-config.yaml, generates hk.pkl, and converts hook repos to builtins where possible.

See hk Reference for PKL config details, the full builtins list, step configuration, and profiles.

Settings

[settings]
jobs = 4                            # Parallel task execution
task_output = "prefix"              # prefix | interleave | quiet | silent

Language-specific settings nest under the tool name: python.compile, rust.cargo_home. See language reference files for details.

Claude Code Integration

mise tasks orchestrate shell-side operations around Claude Code sessions. The pattern: mise owns the shell, Claude owns the conversation. When a mise task needs Claude, invoke the CLI with claude --print. Reserve interactive claude for workflows requiring user interaction. Never reimplement slash command logic in mise — wrap it.

See Examples for complete Claude Code integration task patterns.

Reference Guides

• Python Ecosystem — Version management, venv handling, and task patterns for Python projects
• Rust Ecosystem — Toolchain management and task patterns for Rust projects
• Hooks — Hook events, environment variables, and common patterns
• Presets — Preset anatomy, CLI reference, dependency chaining, and example skeletons
• hk Git Hooks — hk.pkl configuration, builtins, step options, profiles, and migration
• Examples — Complete mise.toml files for common project types

External Resources

• mise documentation — Official docs
• mise GitHub — Source repository
• mise.toml schema — JSON schema for editor validation
• hk documentation — Git hook manager docs
• hk GitHub — Git hook manager source