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make

Included in skill bundleci-cdView on GitHub ↗

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferences

Install

Install only this skill with npx skills
npx skills add alisonaquinas/llm-ci-dev --skill 'make' -g -y
Install the containing skill bundle
/plugin install ci-cd@llm-skills
Download make-skill.zip
This skill is bundled inside ci-cd. Use npx skills when you only want this skill, or install the bundle once to make every included skill available through the plugin marketplace flow. Browse the full skill bundle repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-ci-dev.

Invoke

Invoke this skill after installation
/ci-cd:make

SKILL.md

name: make description: Run make commands, write Makefiles, and automate build tasks with GNU Make. Use when tasks mention make, Makefile, build targets, build automation, or GNU Make.

Make

Intent Router

RequestReferenceLoad When
Install tool, first-time setupreferences/install-and-setup.mdInstall or verify GNU Make
Makefile syntax, variables, targetsreferences/makefile-syntax.mdWrite or debug a Makefile
CLI commands, flags, dry runreferences/command-cookbook.mdRun make with specific options
Patterns, functions, conditionalsreferences/patterns-and-functions.mdUse advanced Make features

Quick Start

# Run default target (usually 'all')
make

# Preview what would run (dry run — no changes)
make -n

# Run specific target
make build

# Run with parallel jobs
make -j4

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

Core Command Tracks

  • Default target: make — runs the first target or .DEFAULT_GOAL
  • Dry run: make -n — prints commands without executing them
  • Specific target: make <target> — runs a named target
  • Parallel: make -j N — run N jobs in parallel
  • Force rebuild: make -B — treat all targets as out of date
  • Different file: make -f <file> — use a non-default Makefile
  • Change directory: make -C <dir> — run make in another directory
  • Verbose: make V=1 — show full compiler commands (when supported)

Safety Guardrails

  • Always run make -n before running an unknown Makefile — review the commands it would execute.
  • Declare .PHONY targets for any target that is not a real file (e.g., clean, install, all).
  • Use $(MAKE) instead of make for recursive invocations — preserves flags and job count.
  • Be explicit about target dependencies to avoid incorrect incremental builds.
  • Avoid spaces in Makefile recipe lines — recipes must be indented with a tab, not spaces.
# Troubleshoot: list all targets and trace why a target is rebuilding
make -n build          # dry-run to see commands
make --print-data-base | grep "^[a-zA-Z]" | sort

Related Skills

  • cmake — cross-platform build system generator that can emit Makefiles
  • ci-architecture — integrating Make targets into CI/CD pipelines

References

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