make ls

complex makefiles can be a pain. here’s a quick way to add an ls target that shows all available targets and what they do.

# colors for output
cyan := \033[36m
reset := \033[0m

# list all targets
ls: ## show all targets with descriptions
  @echo "available targets:"
  @echo "==================="
  @awk '/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+:/ { \
    if ($$0 ~ /##/) { \
      printf "$(cyan)%-30s$(reset) %s\n", substr($$1, 1, length($$1)-1), substr($$0, index($$0,"##") + 3); \
    } else { \
      printf "%-30s\n", substr($$1, 1, length($$1)-1); \
    } \
  }' $(makefile_list) | sort

what this does:

1. sets up color codes for pretty output
2. creates an ls target using awk to parse the makefile
3. prints target names in cyan, followed by descriptions if they exist
4. sorts everything alphabetically

how to use it

add some targets to your makefile:

build: ## compile the project
  @echo "building..."
test: ## run tests
  @echo "testing..."
clean: ## remove build junk
  @echo "cleaning..."
deploy:
  @echo "deploying..."
# (add the 'ls' target here)

run make ls and you’ll see:

available targets:
===================
build                          compile the project
clean                          remove build junk
deploy
ls                             show all targets with descriptions
test                           run tests

note:

• targets with ## comments get descriptions
• deploy has no description, so it’s just listed
• names are in cyan (you’d see this in your terminal)
• everything’s sorted a-z

this little trick makes it way easier to work with big makefiles. you get a quick view of all your make commands without digging through the file. pretty neat, huh?