Make.ts
Ranked 4 of 4 task runners by recommenders
A TypeScript task runner that sits between npm scripts and CI systems. Critics say it is over-engineered for the benefit.
A TypeScript task runner that sits between npm scripts and CI systems. Critics say it is over-engineered for the benefit.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 63%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Global ~/make.ts file usable anywhere
“~/make.ts is better, since that'll be the same wherever you are.”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Make.ts” “I bet I'll find ~/make.ts useful now that I have it!”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Make.ts”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Over-engineered with little benefit
“This way is more than a little over-engineered with little benefit in return for that extra engineering.”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Make.ts” “this is horrible over-engineered, horribly inefficient, much more fragile”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Make.ts”
Other task runners people recommend
The three most recommended other task runners, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| just command runner | 32 | 4 | 89% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Task | 7 | 1 | 88% | 4 | — | — |
| comma by nix-community | 7 | 4 | 64% | 4 | — | — |
| Make.tsThis page | 5 | 3 | 63% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“this is horrible over-engineered, horribly inefficient, much more fragile”
“This way is more than a little over-engineered with little benefit in return for that extra engineering.”
“I bet I'll find ~/make.ts useful now that I have it!”
“what kills this for me is the need to add await before every command”
“~/make.ts is better, since that'll be the same wherever you are.”
“This is just using Deno to run random script files.”
“Shell makes for a terrible scripting language”
“extra dependency and abstraction layer on top of a shell script”
“This looks like a solid middle ground between npm scripts and a full-blown CI system.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.