Built-in Cross-Platform File Operations

[RA341]

Description

Cross-platform file operations like cp, mv, mkdir are inconsistent between Unix and Windows systems. This forces us to either:

• Write platform-specific shell commands
• Use external tools like shx or cross-env
• Implement annoying conditional logic in taskfiles

This creates maintenance overhead and reduces portability of Taskfiles.

Proposal

Add native file system operations implemented in Go, using the fs: prefix to distinguish them from shell commands:

Core Operations

• fs:copy - Copy files or directories with recursive support
• fs:move - Move/rename files or directories
• fs:mkdir - Create directories (with parent creation support)
• fs:remove - Remove files or directories
• fs:exists - Check if file/directory exists (useful for conditionals)
• fs:chmod - Change file permissions (Unix-style, no-op on Windows)

Benefits

• True cross-platform compatibility - No need for platform-specific commands
• Consistent behavior - Same semantics across Windows, macOS, and Linux
• No external dependencies - Everything built into Task itself
• Familiar syntax - Mirrors common shell operations developers already know

Backwards Compatibility

If a task with the same name (e.g., fs:copy) exists in the taskfile, it overrides the built-in command, preserving existing functionality.

Usage Examples

Task-based Syntax

build:
  cmds:
    - go build -o ./bin/app
    - task: fs:copy
      vars:
        SRC: ./bin/app
        DEST: ./dist/app
        RECURSIVE: true
    - task: fs:mkdir
      vars:
        DIR: ./dist/config
        PARENTS: true

Inline Syntax (Alternative)

build:
  cmds:
    - go build -o ./bin/app
    - fs:copy ./bin/app ./dist/app
    - fs:mkdir -p ./dist/config
    - fs:remove ./temp/*

Error Handling

safe-copy:
  cmds:
    - task: fs:copy
      vars:
        SRC: ./source
        DEST: ./backup
        FAIL_FAST: true
        PRESERVE_PERMISSIONS: true

[andreynering]

Hi @RA341,

This is long overdue, but we’ve been made a lot of progress on core utils recently.

No need to have special tasks for them. They will be integrated into de shell interpreter.

Closing as a duplicate of #197 (comment)