Migrating from npm Scripts

A package.json scripts block is a flat list of shell commands keyed by name. Nadle gives each of those scripts a real task with a dependency graph, caching, and workspace awareness. This guide maps the common patterns and ends with a prompt you can hand to a coding agent to do the conversion for you.

How concepts map

npm scripts	Nadle
"build": "tsc"	tasks.register("build", { run: ExecTask, options: { command: "tsc" } })
"test": "vitest run"	a task whose run is ExecTask with command: "vitest", args: ["run"]
npm run lint && npm run build (chained)	one task with dependsOn: ["lint"] — Nadle orders them
pre/post hooks (prebuild)	an explicit dependency via dependsOn
npm run a & npm run b (parallel)	two independent tasks, run with nadle a b --parallel
workspace scripts (npm run build -w pkg)	a per-workspace task, run as nadle pkg:build

The big shift: chains and pre/post hooks become declared dependencies instead of shell &&. Nadle then schedules them, runs each at most once, and caches results.

Before / after

package.json:

{
	"scripts": {
		"clean": "rimraf dist",
		"prebuild": "npm run clean",
		"build": "tsc",
		"test": "vitest run",
		"check": "npm run build && npm run test"
	}
}

nadle.config.ts:

import { tasks, ExecTask } from "nadle";

tasks.register("clean", { run: ExecTask, options: { command: "rimraf", args: ["dist"] } });

tasks.register("build", {
	run: ExecTask,
	options: { command: "tsc" },
	dependsOn: ["clean"] // was the `prebuild` hook
});

tasks.register("test", { run: ExecTask, options: { command: "vitest", args: ["run"] } });

tasks.register("check", {
	dependsOn: ["build", "test"] // was `npm run build && npm run test`
});

nadle check now runs clean → build and test, then check, skipping anything already cached. See Registering Task and Configuring Task for the full spec.

tip

Scripts that just call the package manager (npm install, npm publish) can use the NpmTask helper instead of ExecTask — { run: NpmTask, options: { args: ["publish"] } }.

Migrate with an agent

Paste this prompt into your coding agent with both files open:

Convert my package.json `scripts` block into a nadle.config.ts at the project root.

Rules:
- One `tasks.register(name, { run: ExecTask, options: { command, args } })` per script.
- Split each script string into `command` (first token) and `args` (the rest, as an array).
- Replace `&&` chains and `pre`/`post` hooks with `dependsOn` arrays — do NOT keep the `&&`.
- For scripts that only invoke npm (e.g. "npm publish"), use NpmTask with options.args instead.
- Import only the tasks you use from "nadle".
- Leave package.json scripts in place; just add the equivalent nadle.config.ts.

Show me the resulting nadle.config.ts.