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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Just.sh – compiler that turns Justfiles into portable shell scripts

Justfiles are like Makefiles, except Just is a command runner, whereas Make is a build system. As I understand it, Just was built to be a less arcane version of Make for collecting commands common to a code repository. When I first learned about Just, I realized that parsing arguments and running commands is exactly what shell scripts do, and there probably isn't much Just does that sh doesn't. This project proves that hypothesis by compiling Justfiles to portable (POSIX-compatible) shell scripts. just.sh is particularly useful for running Justfiles in esoteric environments where Just may…

Just.sh compiles Justfiles into portable POSIX-compatible shell scripts. Justfiles are command runners similar to Makefiles but simpler, commonly used to organize repository commands. This tool converts them to… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Prices are shown for the 1 we have checked on their own sites, 1 of them free or with a free tier. Just.sh – compiler that turns Justfiles into portable shell scripts launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1

    `makedown` allows you to organise your shell scripts in one or several markdown files, by mix and matching different scripting languages for various commands and needs. zsh/bash/sh, python, javascript or anything else available on your system. Handy for replacing one-line-based package.json scripts or shell-based Makefiles. One can also write documentation and explanations to various commands in the same `.md` file. Most editors highlight correctly most languages in the markdown code blocks, even when you use several scripting languages. Here is a demo .md file…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    Hello all, This is a small, few hours Holiday project I made out of frustration on what I would have liked makefiles to be but are not. It's rough, but it might be useful for somebody. Any type of feedback is welcome!

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    Generic drop in Makefile. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

    2023 · gist.github.com · its alternatives →

  4. 4CS

    The pattern of downloading and executing installation scripts without verifying them has bothered me for a while. I started messing around with a way to verify the checksum of scripts before I execute them. I've found it a really useful tool for installing things like Rust or Deno. It's written entirely as a shell script, and it's easy to read and understand what's happening. I hope it may be useful to someone else!

    2022 · checksum.sh · its alternatives →

  5. 5
    dif.sh▲373

    Markdown feature flags your coding agent installs for you

    Aug 2026 · dif.sh · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    Common rust command-line macros and utilities, to write shell-script like tasks in a clean, natural and rusty way - rust-shell-script/rust_cmd_lib

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    A smarter shell and scripting environment with advanced features designed for usability, safety and productivity (eg smarter DevOps tooling) - lmorg/murex

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8

    A fully-featured lisp/scheme shell written in Racket. - DexterLagan/lsh

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    What if you could use bash from a filesystem? Contribute to pcgrosen/bashfs development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

  10. 10AC
  11. 11

    I originally was just messing with pi-autoresearch. Gave it a sample task to build the most portable coding agent. First cut was 6 KB of shell. Great for one-shots, unusable interactively. I was shocked it actually worked. Started building up -- adding features — but with a self-imposed rule: no new dependencies, and sub 500 LOC. This thing had to be truly portable. Just sh, curl, awk. System primitives only. Which means I did some genuinely disgusting things in awk, including JSON parsing and the OpenAI Responses tool loop with reasoning items carried across turns. It's now ~400 lines. In…

    Apr 2026 · pu.dev · its alternatives →

  12. 12HM

    A developer's machine accumulates tools fast. A Rust CLI you compiled last year, a Python formatter installed via `uv`, a language server pulled from npm, a terminal emulator from a curl script, a Go binary built from source. Each came from a different package manager, each with its own install incantation you half-remember. I wanted a way to declare what I need without adopting a complex system like Nix or Ansible just for a single laptop. The result was a plain old Makefile. I wrote a short post on using Make (along with a tiny bash script and fzf) to create a searchable, single-command…

    Mar 2026 · thottingal.in · its alternatives →

  13. 13
    superfile▲188

    A modern, visual file manager for the terminal

    Jul 2026 · superfile.dev · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    Redstart is a lightweight Lisp interpreter written in C++ with a focus on shell scripting. It lets you combine the expressive power of Lisp with the practicality of the Unix shell: you can run commands, capture output, pipe between processes, and still use Lisp syntax for logic and structure. Think of it as writing your shell scripts in Lisp instead of Bash.

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    Lockdown your linux install. The simple zero config linux hardening script - dolegi/lockdown.sh

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16EM

    I wanted to run markdown files like shell scripts. So I built an open source tool that lets you use a shebang to pipe them through Claude Code with full stdin/stdout support. task.md: #!/usr/bin/env claude-run Analyze this codebase and summarize the architecture. Then: chmod +x task.md ./task.md These aren't just prompts. Claude Code has tool use, so a markdown file can run shell commands, write scripts, read files, make API calls. The prompt orchestrates everything. A script that runs your tests and reports results (`run_tests.md`): #!/usr/bin/env…

    Jan 2026 · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    Programming language that compiles into a x86 ELF executable. - riicchhaarrd/ocean

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18HA

    In the deep mists of time (circa 2012), I was playing with the Go standard library, and saw how easy it was to stand up a webserver that let you navigate a remote file system, and I thought it was pretty neat. I took a look at my shell history and a frequent pattern of commands was "cd, ls, cd, ls, ...". And I thought "I love my keyboard, but you know, point and click might be nice in this context." And then I thought, "It'd be even cooler if you could run commands there." Skip forward several years, a few earlier implementations, a name change, and now there's Hucksh(ell), a bash-like shell…

    2023 · its alternatives →

  19. 19

    I've built a tool called sol (like "soul") that helps you inspect and format complex shell one-liners. Features: - Choose which transformations you want (break on pipe, args, redirect, whatever) - "Peeks" into stringified commands (think xargs, parallel) and formats those, too - Auto-breaks at a given width (e.g., 80 characters) - Shows you non-standard aliases, functions, files, etc. that you might not have in your shell environment - Breaks up long jq lines with jqfmt because—let's be honest—they're getting out of hand As a security researcher and tool developer, I often encounter (or…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Hi HN — I’m learning Rust and decided to build a universal CLI for running code in many languages. The tool, Run, aims to be a single, minimal dependency utility for: running one-off snippets (from CLI flags), running files, reading and executing piped stdin, and providing language-specific REPLs that you can switch between interactively. I designed it to support both interpreted languages (Python, JS, Ruby, etc.) and compiled languages (Rust, Go, C/C++). It detects languages from flags or file extensions, can compile temporary files for compiled languages, and exposes a unified REPL…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21

    Write a Python file named `jeeves.py` in your project directory with contents: import sh def lint(): """Lint your Python project.""" sh.mypy() This, together with pip install jeeves-shell[all] makes it possible to do j lint …which will run mypy for you, and, via the omnipotent `j` command, open ways for • Automation of routine tasks, • Standardization of your projects, • Implementation of best practices, • And more :) Github: https://github.com/jeeves-sh/jeeves-shell/

    2023 · jeeves.sh · its alternatives →

  22. 22ID
  23. 23

    zsh configuration. Contribute to SixArm/zsh-config development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24SS

    2015 · maxcdn.github.io · its alternatives →

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