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Workspace Management: Working with Multiple Projects

lazymake makes it easy to work with multiple projects and Makefiles. Press w to see recent workspaces and automatically discovered Makefiles in your project.

Workspace Picker (Press w)

Access recent and discovered Makefiles with a single keypress:

┌─ Switch Workspace ────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                           │
│  FAVORITES                                                │
│  ⭐ Makefile                                              │
│     ./myapp • Last used: 2 minutes ago                    │
│                                                           │
│  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━    │
│                                                           │
│  ALL WORKSPACES                                           │
│  Makefile                                                 │
│  ../other-project • Last used: 1 hour ago                 │
│                                                           │
│  dangerous.mk                                             │
│  ./myapp/examples • Discovered                            │
│                                                           │
│  Makefile                                                 │
│  ./myapp/tools • Discovered                               │
│                                                           │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  1 favorite • 3 workspaces
  enter: switch • f: favorite • esc/w: cancel

Features:

  • Automatic discovery: Scans your project tree (up to 3 levels deep) to find all Makefiles
  • Recent workspaces: Shows last 10 accessed Makefiles with directory path and last used time
  • Discovered workspaces: Displays found Makefiles you haven't used yet
  • Favorites section: Star frequently used projects with f - they appear in a dedicated section at the top
  • Visual separation: Favorites and all workspaces are clearly separated with headers and dividers
  • Clear organization: Filename in title, full relative path with root directory in description
  • Smart exclusions: Skips .git, node_modules, vendor, build directories, and other common non-code paths
  • Fast scanning: 5-second timeout ensures responsiveness even in large projects

Status Bar Integration

The current workspace is always visible in the status bar:

└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ ./Makefile • 12 targets • 2 dangerous    enter: run • q  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The path is displayed relative to your current working directory:

  • ./Makefile - in current directory
  • ../other/Makefile - in sibling directory
  • ~/projects/foo/Makefile - absolute path with ~ expansion

Per-Project History

Each workspace automatically maintains its own execution history. When you switch between projects, you'll see the recent targets for that specific Makefile:

# Working in project A
RECENT
⏱  build-api    Build the API server       3.2s
⏱  test-api     Run API tests              1.5s

# Switch to project B (press 'w')
RECENT
⏱  deploy-prod  Deploy to production       45.1s
⏱  build-web    Build web frontend         8.3s

This means:

  • Each Makefile remembers its own frequently used targets
  • No need to scroll through unrelated targets
  • Faster context switching between projects

Automatic Tracking

lazymake automatically tracks workspace usage:

  • On first use: Creates workspace entry when you run a target
  • On subsequent uses: Updates last accessed time
  • On cleanup: Removes entries for deleted Makefiles automatically
  • Persistent: Data survives across sessions in ~/.cache/lazymake/workspaces.json

How Discovery Works

When you press w, lazymake:

  1. Records current Makefile - Ensures your current file appears in the list
  2. Scans project tree - Searches up to 3 levels deep from current directory
  3. Finds all Makefiles - Detects Makefile, makefile, GNUmakefile, *.mk, *.mak
  4. Applies exclusions - Skips .git, node_modules, vendor, build, dist, .cache, etc.
  5. Combines results - Shows recent workspaces first, then newly discovered ones
  6. Fast operation - 5-second timeout prevents hanging on large projects

Use Cases

1. Monorepo Development

Working with multiple Makefiles in a large repository:

my-monorepo/
├── Makefile              # Root Makefile
├── services/
│   ├── api/Makefile      # API service
│   ├── auth/Makefile     # Auth service
│   └── worker/Makefile   # Background worker
└── frontend/Makefile     # Frontend app

Press w to see all Makefiles automatically - no manual browsing needed!

2. Multi-Project Development

Switching between different projects:

  • Press w to see recent projects and discovered Makefiles
  • Star your most frequently used projects with f
  • Favorites always appear at the top of the list

3. Onboarding

New to a project? Press w:

  • Instantly see all available Makefiles
  • Discovered Makefiles show "Discovered in project"
  • Select one to start working - it gets added to your recent list

For Makefiles Outside Discovery Range

If you need a Makefile that's:

  • More than 3 levels deep
  • In an excluded directory
  • Outside your current project

Use the CLI flag:

lazymake -f path/to/Makefile

Once accessed, it appears in your recent workspaces list.

Navigation

  • w: Open workspace picker from list view
  • ↑/↓ or j/k: Navigate workspaces
  • f: Toggle favorite (star/unstar workspace)
  • enter: Switch to selected workspace
  • esc or w: Return to main list view

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