*TLDR:* A builtin mix task to run mix tasks directly from hex or a git repository (an SCM).
`mix x phx_new phx.new` *Problem*: Currently if you would like to distribute a mix task or CLI tool, you either need to have the user first install an archive (like `mix archive.install hex phx_new`) or the user needs to package and distribute it themselves. The Node.js ecosystem has a solution to this called `npx`, that enables a developer to run a CLI tool without globally installing a package or creating a project first. This is useful for many scaffolding CLIs that generate new projects: e.g., `npx create-react-app my-app`. In Elixir, we have the powerful `Mix.install/2` function that can enable installing packages in iex or scripts without installing them globally (not currently possible at all unless I'm mistaken) or creating a new project. This still requires the user to write a script or boot up iex. *Solution*: A builtin mix task to run mix tasks directly from hex or a git repository (an SCM). `mix x phx_new phx.new` *Advantages:* - Easier way to distribute CLI tooling - Remove a step from projects like phoenix for installing the scaffolding CLI - Building this into Elixir (vs having a 3rd party CLI people can install) ensures that users have it and library authors can take advantage of it reliably *Disadvantages:* - Another feature to maintain *Considerations:* - What to name the mix task? The above is just not the real proposed name, just the closed thing to the `npx` convention - Should libraries be able to declare a "default" task, such that `mix x phx_new` works without explicitly declaring the task? Notes: I have a script in my dotfiles that as a proof of concept ```elixir #!/usr/bin/env elixir [package, task | args] = System.argv() Mix.install([String.to_atom(package)]) Mix.Task.run(task, args) ``` Let me know what you think! - Mitch -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elixir-lang-core" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to elixir-lang-core+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elixir-lang-core/d2e4ac74-8ef2-499b-88dc-3b0577fc1300n%40googlegroups.com.
