Helm Control

Task automation for command line tools mixed in with code.

Features

• Write tasks for both the command line and code
• Tasks are run asynchronously unless dependencies are specified
• Very simple API
• No need for plugins since tasks can execute command line tools
• No need for plugin documentation either
• The only task runner that makes you feel like a starship captain

Documentation

helm.command(command_name, dependencies, command_line_string)

Add commands that can be executed later.

command_name: Name of the command. This is the value passed into the engage and standby functions.

dependencies: The names of other commands that will complete before the command begins.

command_line_string: The CLI to execute complete with arguments.

helm.command(command_name, dependencies, function)

Same as the previous helm.command, but accepts a function instead of a command line string.

function can take in a callback to indicate when the command is finished to allow other commands to continue execution.

helm.engage(commands)

Executes the commands. Send in a single command or an array of commands.

helm.standby(watch_paths, commands, callback)

Watches the paths defined and reruns the commands listed.

watch_paths: An array of paths to watch. Add an '!' before the path to exclude it.

commands: An array of commands to rerun.

callback: The callback executes after the commands have executed.

Usage

Running Helm

There's no need for a command line interface to run Helm. Just create a config file with the command definitions and run it using node.

node helm.control.js

Example

var helm = require('helm-control');
var nodemon = require('nodemon');

helm.command('lint', [], 'jshint **/*.js');
helm.command('test', ['lint'], 'mocha --reporter dot test.js');
helm.command('bundle', ['test'], 'webpack');
helm.command('app',
                            ['bundle'],
              function(){
                  nodemon({ script: 'app.js' })
                  .on('start', function () {
                    console.log('nodemon started');
                  })
                  .on('crash', function () {
                    console.log('script crashed for some reason');
                  });
              }
              );

helm.engage(['app']);

// watch all files and folders except items in public
helm.standby(['**/*', '!./public/**/*'], ['bundle']);