jdx/mise

What it does

mise (pronounced "meez") consolidates three things developers usually manage with separate tools into one mise.toml: per-project dev tool versions, environment variables, and tasks. It can install Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Terraform and other tools from a registry of 1,000+ entries or from backends such as GitHub releases, Aqua, Cargo, npm and PyPI. Entering a directory loads declared env vars, .env files, PATH entries and virtualenvs. Tasks run with dependencies, parallel execution, file watching, and the project's tools and environment already in place. mise bootstrap extends the same idea to setting up a whole machine.

It targets developers who juggle multiple languages and projects, and it can adopt parts incrementally: keep existing .tool-versions files, and mise also reads .nvmrc, .python-version and other idiomatic version files once enabled. A lockfile (mise lock) records exact versions and checksums for reproducible installs.

Quick start

On macOS or Linux, install the binary with the official script and check the version:

curl -fsSL https://mise.run | sh
~/.local/bin/mise --version

On Windows use winget install jdx.mise; Homebrew, apt, dnf and Scoop are covered in the installation guide. The installer places the binary at ~/.local/bin/mise, so use that path until the directory is on your PATH.

Run a tool without touching your shell first:

mise exec node@24 -- node --version
# v24.x.x

Then create a project that records tools, env vars and a task:

mkdir my-project && cd my-project
mise use node@24
mise set NODE_ENV=development
mise tasks add hello -- node -e "console.log(process.version, process.env.NODE_ENV)"
mise run hello

This writes a mise.toml, installs Node.js 24 and prints the version plus development. Commit the file so teammates and CI get the same setup via mise install or mise run. Optionally enable shell activation so node resolves directly when you change directories; the shell setup guide covers bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell, Nushell and IDE/CI shims.

Usage constraints

The CLI targets macOS, Linux and Windows, with platform-specific installers and shell activation commands. Some behavior depends on how mise was installed: with the mise.run installer, activation must reference ~/.local/bin/mise unless that directory is on PATH. Shell integration is optional but required if you want automatic per-directory switching without mise exec. Version strings like "24" request the latest release in a series, so use mise lock when exact versions and checksums matter. The project is MIT-licensed.

HotRepo's take

The repository has a concrete track record on Hacker News: the December 2024 thread "Mise: Dev tools, env vars, task runner" drew 468 points and 189 comments, and an October 2025 "Mise: Monorepo Tasks" thread drew 379 points and 94 comments. Commenters there describe switching from nvm, pyenv, RVM and SDKMan to a single tool and credit mise with faster shell startup (ban seljaj, tecoholic, aaronbrethorst). A later October 2025 thread around a companion secret manager included discussion of docs gaps (63stack), a reminder that the ecosystem around mise is still evolving. On GitHub, the Rust-language daily list recorded position 9 on 2026-11-05 with 51 stars gained that day, while the all-language daily list showed 130 and 135 stars on 2026-08-07 and 2026-08-08; these single-day figures support that the project is actively starred, not a long-term trend claim.