makage

Tiny build helper for monorepo packages

makage is a tiny, cross-platform build helper that replaces common build tools like cpy and rimraf with zero dependencies. It provides essential commands for managing package builds in monorepos.

makage = make + package. A delightful portmanteau, like brunch for build tools—except makage actually gets things done.

Features

• One-command builds - makage build runs clean, TypeScript compilation, and asset copying
• Development mode - Add --dev for source maps and faster iteration
• Glob pattern support - Copy files using patterns like src/**/*.sql (replacement for copyfiles)
• Cross-platform copy - Copy files with --flat and --footer options (replacement for cpy)
• Cross-platform clean - Recursively remove directories (replacement for rimraf)
• README + Footer concatenation - Combine README with footer content before publishing
• Assets helper - One-command copying of LICENSE, README, and package.json
• Build TypeScript helper - Run both CJS and ESM TypeScript builds
• Update workspace dependencies - Automatically convert internal package references to workspace:*
• Zero dependencies - Uses only Node.js built-in modules

Install

npm install makage

Quick Start

Replace your existing build scripts with makage:

{
  "scripts": {
    "build": "makage build",
    "build:dev": "makage build --dev",
    "prepublishOnly": "npm run build"
  }
}

Before & After

See how makage simplifies your build scripts:

Development Builds

Before:

"build:dev": "npm run clean; tsc -p tsconfig.json --declarationMap; tsc -p tsconfig.esm.json --declarationMap; npm run copy"

After:

"build:dev": "makage build --dev"

Or if you need more control:

"build:dev": "makage clean && makage build-ts --dev && makage copy"

Copying Files

Before:

"copy": "copyfiles -f ../../LICENSE README.md package.json dist"

After:

"copy": "makage copy ../../LICENSE README.md package.json dist --flat"

Bonus: Add --footer to automatically concatenate your README with a footer:

"copy": "makage copy ../../LICENSE README.md package.json dist --flat --footer"

Copying with Glob Patterns

Before:

"copy:sql": "copyfiles -f src/migrate/sql/* dist/migrate/sql && copyfiles -f src/migrate/sql/* dist/esm/migrate/sql"

After:

"copy:sql": "makage copy src/migrate/sql/* dist/migrate/sql --flat && makage copy src/migrate/sql/* dist/esm/migrate/sql --flat"

Or with recursive patterns:

"copy:all-sql": "makage copy src/**/*.sql dist/sql --flat"

Note: For convenience, makage assets combines copy + footer functionality and is kept for backwards compatibility.

Usage

CLI Commands

# Full build (clean + build-ts + assets)
makage build

# Full build with development mode (adds --declarationMap)
makage build --dev

# Clean build directories (defaults to "dist")
makage clean
makage clean dist build temp  # or specify multiple directories

# Build TypeScript (both CJS and ESM)
makage build-ts

# Build TypeScript with source maps for development
makage build-ts --dev

# Copy files to destination
makage copy ../../LICENSE README.md package.json dist --flat

# Copy files with glob patterns
makage copy src/migrate/sql/* dist/migrate/sql --flat
makage copy src/**/*.sql dist/sql --flat

# Copy with automatic README + footer concatenation
makage copy ../../LICENSE README.md package.json dist --flat --footer

# Copy standard assets (LICENSE, package.json, README+FOOTER)
makage assets

# Concatenate README with footer (lower-level command)
makage readme-footer --source README.md --footer FOOTER.md --dest dist/README.md

# Update workspace dependencies
makage update-workspace

# Update outdated cross-repo dependencies (structured JSON output)
makage update-deps --from ./constructive --in .

# Detect only, without writing any files
makage update-deps --from ./constructive --in . --dry-run

Cross-Repo Dependency Updates (update-deps)

The update-deps command enables deterministic, version-aware dependency synchronization across repositories. It detects outdated packages and updates the target repo's package.json files in place (use --dry-run for detection only).

How it works

1. Discovers all packages in a source pnpm workspace (by reading pnpm-workspace.yaml)
2. Scans the target repo's package.json files (supports both monorepo and non-workspace layouts)
3. Cross-references dependencies to find packages that exist in both source and target
4. Compares versions using semver to identify outdated packages
5. Rewrites outdated version specs in the target package.json files, preserving ^/~ prefixes and skipping workspace: deps (unless --dry-run)
6. Outputs structured JSON to stdout for CI consumption (logs go to stderr)

Usage

makage update-deps --from <source-workspace> --in <target-repo> [--dry-run]

Flag	Description
--from	Path to the source pnpm workspace (contains pnpm-workspace.yaml)
--in	Path to the target repo to scan for outdated deps
--dry-run	Detect only — report outdated deps without writing any files (alias: --check)

Output format

{
  "sourcePackages": [{ "name": "@constructive/foo", "version": "1.2.3", "path": "packages/foo" }],
  "matchedPackages": [{ "name": "@constructive/foo", "currentVersion": "^1.1.0", "availableVersion": "1.2.3", "depType": "dependencies", "consumer": "@myapp/bar", "outdated": true }],
  "outdatedPackages": [/* subset of matchedPackages where outdated=true */],
  "updatedFiles": ["application/bar/package.json"],
  "dry_run": false,
  "has_dep_changes": true
}

CI Integration

The update-deps command is used in GitHub Actions to automatically update downstream repos when the source workspace publishes new versions. The typical CI flow:

1. Check out the target repo + source workspace side by side
2. Run makage update-deps --from ./constructive --in . — this updates the target's package.json files and emits structured JSON
3. Run pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile (workspace repos) or per-directory pnpm install to sync lockfiles
4. Create a PR with the results

Supported target repos

The workflow currently updates:

• constructive-db (default, also triggers schema propagation)
• dashboard
• pgpm-modules
• dev-utils
• sandbox-templates
• pgpm-boilerplates

Documentation

For detailed usage and API documentation, see packages/makage/README.md.

Development

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/constructive-io/makage.git

2. Install dependencies:

cd makage
pnpm install
pnpm build

3. Test the package:

cd packages/makage
pnpm test:watch

Credits

Built for developers, with developers.
👉 https://constructive.io

Disclaimer

AS DESCRIBED IN THE LICENSES, THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

No developer or entity involved in creating this software will be liable for any claims or damages whatsoever associated with your use, inability to use, or your interaction with other users of the code, including any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages, or loss of profits, cryptocurrencies, tokens, or anything else of value.