Makefiles and Just

Versionator integrates seamlessly with Make and Just command runners.

Make

Basic Integration

# Get version from versionator
VERSION := $(shell versionator version)

# Build with version
build:
	go build -ldflags "-X main.VERSION=$(VERSION)" -o app

# Show version
version:
	@echo $(VERSION)

Full Version String

# With pre-release and metadata
FULL_VERSION := $(shell versionator output version \
	-t "{{Prefix}}{{MajorMinorPatch}}{{PreReleaseWithDash}}{{MetadataWithPlus}}" \
	--prefix \
	--metadata="{{ShortHash}}")

build:
	go build -ldflags "-X main.VERSION=$(FULL_VERSION)" -o app

Version Bump Targets

.PHONY: bump-major bump-minor bump-patch release

bump-major:
	versionator major increment
	@echo "Version: $(shell versionator version)"

bump-minor:
	versionator minor increment
	@echo "Version: $(shell versionator version)"

bump-patch:
	versionator patch increment
	@echo "Version: $(shell versionator version)"

release: bump-patch
	versionator release
	git push
	git push --tags

Multiple Languages

VERSION := $(shell versionator version)

# Generate version files
generate-version:
	versionator output emit python --output src/_version.py
	versionator output emit json --output version.json

# Build all
build: generate-version
	python -m build
	docker build -t myapp:$(VERSION) .

C/C++ Integration

VERSION := $(shell versionator version)

# Pass version as compiler define
CFLAGS += -DVERSION="\"$(VERSION)\""

app: main.c
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<

---

Just

Just is a modern command runner alternative to Make.

Basic Integration

# Get version
version := `versionator output version`

# Build with version
build:
    go build -ldflags "-X main.VERSION={{version}}" -o app

# Show version
show-version:
    @echo {{version}}

Shell Interpolation

# Using shell in recipe
build:
    #!/bin/bash
    VERSION=$(versionator version)
    go build -ldflags "-X main.VERSION=$VERSION" -o app

Version Bumping

# Bump and show new version
bump-major:
    versionator major increment
    @versionator output version

bump-minor:
    versionator minor increment
    @versionator output version

bump-patch:
    versionator patch increment
    @versionator output version

Release Recipe

# Full release workflow
release bump="patch":
    #!/bin/bash
    set -e

    # Bump version and release
    versionator {{bump}} increment
    versionator release
    VERSION=$(versionator version)

    # Push
    git push
    git push --tags

    echo "Released $VERSION"

Generate Version Files

# Generate version files for all languages
generate-version:
    versionator output emit python --output src/_version.py
    versionator output emit json --output version.json
    versionator output emit go --output internal/version/version.go

# Build (depends on generate)
build: generate-version
    go build -o app

Dynamic Metadata

# Build with dynamic metadata
build-ci:
    #!/bin/bash
    VERSION=$(versionator output version \
        -t "{{MajorMinorPatch}}{{MetadataWithPlus}}" \
        --metadata="{{BuildDateTimeCompact}}.{{ShortHash}}")
    echo "Building $VERSION"
    go build -ldflags "-X main.VERSION=$VERSION" -o app

Cross-Platform Recipes

# Platform-specific builds
build-linux:
    GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build \
        -ldflags "-X main.VERSION={{version}}" \
        -o dist/app-linux-amd64

build-darwin:
    GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build \
        -ldflags "-X main.VERSION={{version}}" \
        -o dist/app-darwin-arm64

build-windows:
    GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build \
        -ldflags "-X main.VERSION={{version}}" \
        -o dist/app-windows-amd64.exe

# Build all platforms
build-all: build-linux build-darwin build-windows

Documentation Tasks

# Docs tasks
docs-dev:
    cd docs && npm start

docs-build:
    cd docs && npm run build

docs-generate:
    node docs/scripts/generate-command-docs.js

Comparison

Feature	Make	Just
Variable syntax	$(VAR)	{{var}}
Shell recipe	Requires @	Native support
Cross-platform	Limited	Better
Recipe arguments	Complex	Simple
Dependencies	Tabs required	Flexible

Best Practices

1. Cache version: Capture version once per build, not per target
2. Use variables: Define version at top, reference everywhere
3. Clean targets: Include version in artifact names for clarity
4. Document recipes: Add comments explaining complex recipes
5. Fail fast: Use set -e in shell recipes

See Also

• CI/CD Integration - Pipeline integration
• Binary Embedding - Language-specific examples