ADR-0007: Just as the Command Runner

Status

Accepted

Context

Developer environments across different operating systems consistently struggle with command runners. Scripts often reside in make (which lacks native Windows support), npm package.json (which requires node.js), or undocumented uv run / shell scripts. Lengthy commands for formatting, testing, and continuous integration can easily be mistyped or forgotten, leading to DX friction.

Decision

We will use just as the primary command runner for the vindicta-foundation repository and strongly recommend its use across the platform.

Rationale

• Cross-Platform by Default: just runs identical recipes on Windows, macOS, and Linux, which aligns well with our developer ecosystem.
• Self-Documenting: Running just without arguments lists all available commands with their comments, making onboarding frictionless.
• Dependency Management: We can easily chain tasks (e.g., prepush running lint then test), similar to make but without the idiosyncrasies of Makefiles (like tab requirements).
• Environment Isolation: It plays perfectly well with uv run, allowing us to explicitly invoke our sealed virtual environment commands.

Consequences

• Developers are highly encouraged to install just to maximize their DX, though the native uv run commands remain accessible as fallbacks.
• New scripts and automation tasks must be added to the Justfile instead of standalone .bat or .sh files where applicable.