CAWA 🐙

Context-Aware Workspace Automation

cawa (Context-Aware Workspace Automation) is a native, privacy-first tool for defining per-project workflows. Stop cluttering your global shell history with project-specific one-liners.

cs (Context Switcher) is the command-line interface for cawa.

Define local scripts that only exist where they matter.

Features

• 📂 Workspace-Isolated: Workflows live in .cawa_cfg.json right next to your code.
• 🛡️ Context-First: Commands only execute when you are effectively "in" the project.
• 🚀 Native Speed: Built in Rust. Zero dependencies. Avg execution overhead < 5ms.
• ⚡ Parallel Runner: Batch operations side-by-side with -p.
• 🖥️ Interactive TUI: Visual alias selector with cs tui.
• 🔔 Notifications: Get a desktop ping when long-running tasks finish with --notify.
• ⛓️ Shell Native: Pipes, chaining (&&), and environment variables work as expected.
• 🎭 Flexible Identity: Rename the binary to do, run, or task and it adapts automatically.
• ⏱️ Performance Metrics: Optional timing for your heavy build scripts.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS)

brew tap mmiraly/tap
brew install cawa

One-line Installer (Linux & macOS)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mmiraly/cawa/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Pre-compiled Binary

1. Go to the Releases page.
2. Download the archive for your OS/Architecture (e.g., cs-v1.0.0-darwin-arm64.tar.gz).
3. Extract and move to your path:

   tar -xzf cs-*.tar.gz
   sudo mv cs /usr/local/bin/
   

Build from Source

Requirements: Rust Toolchain (cargo).

Option A: Install via Cargo (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/mmiraly/cawa.git
cd cawa
cargo install --path .

This installs the binary to ~/.cargo/bin, which must be in your $PATH.

Option B: Manual Build

git clone https://github.com/mmiraly/cawa.git
cd cawa
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/cs /usr/local/bin/

Usage

1. Defining Workflows

# Define a 'ship' workflow
cs add ship "cargo fmt && cargo test && git push"

# Create a 'wip' checkpoint
cs add wip "git add . && git commit -m 'wip'"

# Run multiple test suites in parallel
cs add -p quality "cargo test --lib" "npm run test:e2e"

2. Running Workflows

# Just run it
cs ship

# Pass arguments (passed through to the underlying command)
cs ship -- --force

3. Management

cs list
cs remove ship

4. Interactive Mode (TUI)

Don't remember your alias names? Launch the interactive selector:

cs tui

• Up/Down: Navigate
• Enter: Execute
• Esc/q: Exit

5. Notifications

Get a desktop notification when a command finishes (success or fail). Great for long builds!

# Works with any alias
cs test --notify

# Works with parallel commands too
cs build --notify

Configuration

The config lives in .cawa_cfg.json. It is meaningful to commit this file to git so your team shares the same aliases!

{
  "enable_timing": true,
  "aliases": {
    "release": "./scripts/release.sh"
  }
}

Contributing

We welcome contributions!

1. Fork the repo.
2. Create feature branch (git checkout -b feature/cool-thing).
3. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add cool thing').
4. Push to branch.
5. Open a Pull Request.

Compiling Locally

git clone https://github.com/mmiraly/cawa.git
cd cawa
cargo build
./target/debug/cs --help

License

Copyright (C) 2026

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

See LICENSE for details.