Freedom251 › Build Automation Software
Please
What Please is
Please is a free, open-source build system for building, testing, and running targets across languages. Build steps execute in hermetic environments that can access only declared files and environment variables, supporting portable and reproducible builds. Caching and task parallelism reduce work during incremental builds, while aliases add commands and tasks to the command line. Plugins provide rules for languages and technologies; the project lists C/C++ rules and describes Go, Python, and Java plugins. Integrations are available for Neovim, Visual Studio Code, and IntelliJ. A BUILD-file language server provides completion, hover information, definition lookup, diagnostics, signature help, formatting, and references. Documentation covers GitHub Actions, Docker images, and Kubernetes manifests. Remote execution through the Remote Execution API is marked experimental. Please is licensed under Apache 2.0, supports Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD, and can run on Windows through WSL rather than natively.
Who it suits
Please suits developers and teams managing reproducible, multi-language builds with command-line, editor, or CI workflows. It is intended for Linux, macOS, or FreeBSD users; Windows users need WSL.
What it does well
- Hermetic steps support reproducible builds
- Caching and parallelism speed incremental work
- Plugins cover multiple languages and technologies
- Language server supports rich BUILD-file editing
- Integrates with GitHub Actions
What to know first
- Windows is not supported natively
- Remote execution is experimental
- FAQ notes less mobile-development support
Verdict
Please offers a code-defined, reproducible build workflow with caching, plugins, editor tooling, and CI guidance. Its native platform coverage and mobile-development limitation matter for some projects.
Facts from Please's own pages
- Build workflow
- Please can build, test and run targets using the same commands, and its CLI can be extended with aliases. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- CI integration
- The documentation shows how to use Please in GitHub Actions, including a setup action for installing Please in workflows. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Containers and Kubernetes
- The Docker and Kubernetes tutorial demonstrates rules for building Docker images and Kubernetes manifests. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Editor tools
- Please lists Neovim, Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ integrations, and its BUILD language server supports completion, navigation, diagnostics, formatting and references. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2014 · please.build, 28 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- London, United Kingdom · please.build, 28 Sept 2026
- Hermetic builds
- Build steps run in controlled environments with access limited to specified files and environment variables, supporting portable and reproducible builds. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Installation
- The quickstart gives a shell installer, Homebrew installation and release tarballs as installation options. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Language plugins
- Plugins add build rules for languages and technologies; the quickstart describes Go, Python and Java plugins. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Language server features
- The BUILD file language server supports completion, hover, definition lookup, diagnostics, signature help, formatting and references. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Language support
- Plugins add build rules for languages and technologies; the site lists C/C++ rules and describes Go, Python and Java plugins. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- License
- Please is licensed under Apache 2.0. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Limit
- The FAQ says Please has less support for mobile development than the other build systems it discusses. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Performance
- Please uses caching and task parallelism to speed up incremental builds. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Platform limit
- The quickstart says Please currently supports Linux, macOS and FreeBSD; Windows is not listed as supported on the opened quickstart page. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Product
- Please is a cross-language build system focused on performance, extensibility and correctness. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Please is a cross-language build system focused on performance, extensibility and correctness. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Remote execution
- Please can submit build actions to remote executors through the Remote Execution API, but the feature is marked experimental. · please.build, 4 Oct 2026
- Reproducible builds
- Build steps run in a hermetic environment with access only to declared files and environment variables. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Security
- The maker says release artifacts are signed with a private RSA key and documents signature verification. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Speed
- Please uses caching and task parallelism to reduce build times. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Support
- Users can raise issues on GitHub, chat on Gitter or use the discussion group for questions. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
- Supported systems
- Please actively supports Linux and macOS; it also supports FreeBSD, while Windows is not supported natively but can run Please through WSL. · please.build, 5 Oct 2026
Where Please stands on Freedom251
- Build Automation Software#31 of 42
- Monorepo Management Tools#30 of 33