Target Block

The target block describes how to build a specific target for a project. A target has a unique name in the scope of the PROJECT file (see identifier). Targets define the sequence of commands (actions) that need to be executed to produce the desired output, along with dependencies and caching behavior.

Example Usage

target build {
    depends_on = [ target.^build ]
    outputs = [ "dist/*" ]
    build = ~auto
    artifacts = ~workspace

    @npm build { arguments = { configuration: var.config } }
    @docker build { }
}

Argument Reference

The following arguments are supported:

• identifier - (Mandatory) Identifier of the target. This is the name used to reference the target when running terrabuild run <target>.
• depends_on - (Optional) Additional target references for this project target. Project-level dependencies are combined with workspace target dependencies for the same target. Use target.^<name> for upstream dependency projects and target.<name> for the same project. References only add targets that exist in the relevant project scope, and circular target dependency chains are reported during graph construction.
• outputs - (Optional) Override default outputs for this target. By default, the value is the set of outputs from the project configuration and extensions used in the target. Specifies which files/directories should be cached as build artifacts.
• build - (Optional) Override default build mode. By default, the target is built if the hash has changed (~auto). Possible values:
  • ~auto - Build when changes are detected (default)
  • ~always - Always build, ignoring cache
  • ~lazy - Do not run as a selected root; build only when required by another node
• batch - (Optional) Override default batch mode. Extension must support batch mode to enable this feature. Batching is applied only to required, compatible nodes in a cluster that contains at least one node that must build. Possible values:
  • ~single - Build all required compatible nodes in the cluster using a single batch (default)
  • ~never - Build affected nodes without batching
  • ~partition - Split compatible nodes into dependency-connected partitions and build each partition in its own batch
• artifacts - (Optional) Override cacheability of the artifacts. By default, the value is the cacheability of the last command. Possible values:
  • ~none - Do not cache artifacts
  • ~workspace - Cache artifacts in workspace cache
  • ~managed - Cache artifacts in managed cache (Insights)
  • ~external - Cache artifacts externally
• commands - (Optional) List of commands (actions) to run to complete the target. Commands execute in order. Syntax is @extension action { arguments }. Each command is an action provided by an extension (e.g., @dotnet build, @npm install).

warning

Order of commands is important.