drusifer/make-discover

One-line summary: Self-discovery guide for Makefile targets — always run make help before assuming what targets exist.

TLDR: Run make help to get the current, authoritative target list; never rely on hardcoded lists in docs or memory. New targets require a real recipe in ifdef MKF_ACTIVE and a public stub in else, both with a ## comment for discoverability. Bob-managed targets live in agents/Makefile.bob (included via -include); inspect last build output at build/build.out.

Make Target Discovery

Discover Available Targets

Always run this first to see the current, authoritative list of targets:

make help

This outputs all targets with their descriptions. The list is always up to date — do not rely on hardcoded lists in docs or memory.

Makefile Structure

The Makefile uses two blocks:

ifdef MKF_ACTIVE
    # ── Real recipes ─────────────────────────────────────────
    # Actual shell commands go here.
    # mkf routes all output through build/build.out.

else
    # ── Interception layer ────────────────────────────────────
    # Targets visible to users/agents go here.
    # All targets (except help and chat) delegate to mkf:
    #   @./agents/tools/mkf.py $(V) $@
    # Special targets (help, chat) are defined here directly.

endif

Rules for Adding a New Target

1. Real recipe goes inside ifdef MKF_ACTIVE — this is where the shell commands live.
2. Public stub goes inside else — a one-liner that delegates to mkf (or runs directly for interactive/bypass targets).
3. Always add a ## comment to the public stub so it appears in make help.

Example: adding make lint

ifdef MKF_ACTIVE

lint: ## Run linting checks
    @ruff check .

else

lint: ## Run linting checks
    @./agents/tools/mkf.py $(V) $@

endif

Bypass vs mkf Targets

| Type | Where defined | When to use | |------|--------------|-------------| | Normal targets | Both blocks | Default — output captured by mkf | | Bypass targets (like help, chat) | else block only | Interactive output, must reach terminal directly |

Quick Discovery Workflow

make help              # list all targets
cat build/build.out    # inspect last build output
make <target> V=-vv    # run with filtered stdout (errors only)
make <target> V=-vvv   # run with full stdout

See the make skill for full mkf verbosity and output details.

How Bob Targets Arrive in a Project

Bob installs a self-contained fragment at agents/Makefile.bob. The project Makefile includes it:

-include agents/Makefile.bob

The -include (note the dash) means make silently ignores the file if missing — safe to commit before install runs. agents/Makefile.bob is updated automatically when make update_bob TARGET=<path> is run.