A Cookfile in sixty seconds

One recipe

recipe sprite-sheet
    gather "images/*.svg"
    cook "build/sprites/$<in.stem>.png" {
        rsvg-convert $<in> -o $<out>
    }
    cook "build/spritesheet.png" {
        magick montage $<in> -tile x1 -geometry +0+0 $<out>
    }

gather collects inputs. Each cook step declares a target.

Outputs shape the work

• $<in.stem> in a target varies per input, so the step fans out: one unit per SVG, in parallel.
• A static target gathers: every PNG in, one sheet out.
• You never write the loop or the join.

Connect recipes

recipe ship
    cook "build/game.zip" {
        zip -j $<out> $<sprite-sheet>
    }

$<sprite-sheet> expands to that recipe’s outputs and records the edge. See 4. Connecting recipes.

You own the key

tools compiler
    cc

recipe app
    gather "src/*.c"
    seal compiler
    cook "build/$<in.stem>.o" { cc -c $<in> -o $<out> }

seal puts the compiler’s identity in every unit’s key. Nothing else goes in unless you say so.

Data shapes the build

probe platforms
    json { cat platforms.json }

recipe bundles
    gather platforms
    cook "build/$<in.name>/game.zip" { zip -$<in.level> -j $<out> $<sprite-sheet> }

One unit per record. Add a record, one new unit builds; delete one, cook sweeps the orphan.

Chores

chore deploy host="prod": ship
    rsync -a build/ $<host>:/srv/game/

No artifact, never cached, a real TTY, real parameters. cook deploy staging.

That’s the language. The rest is in 2. Your first recipe.