explaingit

hashmap-kz/smallci

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

1GoAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A small command line tool that runs your project's build and test jobs locally with a live terminal dashboard.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((smallci))
    What it does
      Runs CI jobs locally
      Live terminal UI
      Parallel jobs
      Sequential steps
    Tech stack
      Go
      YAML config
    Use cases
      Pre-push local testing
      Fast failure feedback
      Rerun single step
    Audience
      Developers
      DevOps

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Run lint, test, and build jobs locally before pushing to a hosted CI service.

USE CASE 2

Watch job and step progress in a live terminal dashboard instead of scrolling logs.

USE CASE 3

Re-run a single failed step without rerunning the whole pipeline.

What is it built with?

Go

How does it compare?

hashmap-kz/smallciaegrail/aegrail-engineanas727189/message-broker-system
Stars111
LanguageGoGoGo
Setup difficultyeasyhardmoderate
Complexity2/55/53/5
Audiencedeveloperops devopsdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Requires writing a smallci.yaml config file, though a starter one can be generated.

Use, modify, and distribute freely, including commercially, as long as the license notice is kept.

In plain English

smallci is a small command line tool that runs your project's checks and builds locally, showing progress in a live terminal interface instead of plain scrolling logs. You define jobs such as lint, test, and build in a YAML config file, and each job contains steps that run one after another. Different jobs run at the same time, so a lint job and a test job can execute in parallel while the individual steps inside each job still happen in order. The terminal interface shows a tree of jobs and steps that you can navigate with arrow keys or vim style keys. You can fold and unfold jobs, jump straight to the first failure, re-run a single step or the whole pipeline, search inside logs, and toggle a timeline view that shows how long each step took. This makes it easier to see what failed and why without scrolling through a wall of text. You install it either with Go's own install command or through Homebrew on macOS and Linux. Once installed, running smallci in a folder that has a smallci.yaml file starts the pipeline defined there. There is also a command to generate a starter config file for a given language, such as Go, so you do not have to write one from scratch. The project is aimed at developers who want to test their build and test pipeline locally before pushing to a hosted continuous integration service, catching failures earlier and saving time waiting on remote runners. It is written in Go and has automated checks and releases set up in its own repository. The README describes it plainly as a minimal local CI runner without extra ceremony, built for people who want something small rather than a full continuous integration platform running on their own machine.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Write a smallci.yaml config with lint, test, and build jobs for a Go project.
Prompt 2
Explain how smallci's parallel jobs and sequential steps work using an example config.
Prompt 3
Show me the keybindings I need to navigate smallci's terminal UI and jump to the first failure.
Prompt 4
Help me install smallci with Homebrew and run it against my existing project.

Frequently asked questions

What is smallci?

A small command line tool that runs your project's build and test jobs locally with a live terminal dashboard.

What language is smallci written in?

Mainly Go. The stack also includes Go.

What license does smallci use?

Use, modify, and distribute freely, including commercially, as long as the license notice is kept.

How hard is smallci to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is smallci for?

Mainly developer.

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