What is Stackctl?

Stackctl is a command-line tool with two jobs:

1. Project initializr. An interactive terminal UI that creates new Java projects from framework starters.
2. Task runner. Runs named tasks (build, test, release, anything) from a task file in your project.

Project initializr

Run stackctl with no arguments. You choose a framework (Spring Boot, Quarkus or Micronaut), a build tool, a Java version, a framework version and your dependencies. Stackctl then calls the official starter API and extracts a ready-to-run project into your directory.

It is built for a keyboard-first workflow, so you never need to open a browser just to start an app.

Task runner

Define tasks in stackctl.yml, stackctl.json or stackctl.toml:

tasks:
  build:
    desc: Build the app
    cmds:
      - ./mvnw -q package

Then run them:

stackctl run build

The file layout follows Taskfile, so if you already know it, you already know most of this.

Not a Taskfile clone

Stackctl implements the most useful part of the Taskfile format: tasks, commands, dependencies, variables, env and templates. Features such as sources/generates, status, includes and dynamic sh: variables are not supported.

Next steps

• Install Stackctl
• Create your first project or run your first task