Basics of the Python task automation tool “doit”

This is a work memo that explains the basic concept, introduction method, and simple usage examples of the task automation tool “doit” written in Python.

overview

doit is a tool that allows you to flexibly describe Makefile-like task automation mechanisms using Python syntax. By writing routine tasks such as Sphinx builds, lint tests, etc., only the necessary tasks can be automatically executed using difference detection.

install

pip install doit

Or if you use Poetry, install it as follows.

poetry add --group dev doit

Minimal task definition

The file name should basically be dodo.py.

def task_hello():
    return {
        'actions': ['echo "Hello, world!"'],
    }

Execution is as follows.

doit        # すべてのタスクを実行
doit list   # タスク一覧を表示
doit hello  # タスクhelloだけを実行

Example using input/output files

def task_build_docs():
    return {
        'actions': ['sphinx-build -b html docs build'],
        'file_dep': ['docs/conf.py', 'docs/index.rst'],
        'targets': ['build/index.html'],
        'clean': True,
    }

• file_dep: input file (dependent file)

• targets: Output files (can be skipped if built)

• clean: Include for deletion when executing doit clean

Actions with Python functions

def say_hello(name):
    print(f"Hello, {name}!")

def task_greet():
    return {
        'actions': [(say_hello, ['Alice'])],
    }

Common uses

Common uses of doit

Purpose	Content
document	Building Sphinx and MkDocs
test	Running pytest, unittest, etc.
lint	flake8, black, mypy etc.
multiple steps	Dependencies between steps can also be described
automatic monitoring	Watch file changes with doit auto

supplement

If your project grows, you can also write separate tasks in the tasks directory and import them from dodo.py.

summary

doit, which can be defined in Python and enables flexible and highly reusable task automation, is extremely useful for streamlining small to medium-sized projects. In the future, we plan to consider configurations that link with Poetry, Sphinx, CI tools, etc.

Publish Python code-linked documentation with MkDocs + mkdocstrings   Publication of documents used in the gh-pages branch and organization of comparative knowledge