Makefile Pro

One entry point for Makefile work, covering two phases: generating a new production-ready Makefile and validating or linting an existing one. Covers C/C++, Python, Go, Java and generic projects, GNU Coding Standards targets, security hardening and CI integration.

Generation is requirements-first (language, structure, targets, install layout) with validation as a mandatory final step; validation is a local-first, deterministic pipeline whose exit codes decide whether fixes are optional, recommended, or required. Pick the section below by the request: "create/generate/write a Makefile" → Generate; "validate/lint/check/review a Makefile" → Validate.

Generate

• Use when a Makefile is created from scratch or manual build steps are converted to targets; do not use it for validating existing files or running builds.
• Gather requirements first: language (C/C++, Python, Go, Java), project structure (single/multi-directory), build artifacts, install layout (default PREFIX=/usr/local), and which standard targets (all, install, clean, test, dist, help) are needed.
• Ask the user only when information is missing or ambiguous (language, structure, registry, single vs. multiple binaries, cross-compilation); otherwise proceed with standard defaults.
• Perform a documentation lookup for unfamiliar territory: Docker/container targets, CI platform integration (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins), cross-compilation, package managers (Conan, vcpkg, Homebrew), multi-binary projects, or version embedding via ldflags.
• Built-in quality bar: GNU Coding Standards compliance, security hardening, dependency tracking, and automatic validation as the final step of every generation.
• Always run validation on the generated file before handing it back (see Validate).
• Full guide: generator/GUIDE.md
• Helper scripts live in generator/scripts/.

Validate

• Use when checking an existing Makefile or .mk file: quality, linting, hardening, security or troubleshooting before CI.
• Default entrypoint, run for every check:

bash scripts/validate_makefile.sh <makefile-path>

• Layers run in order: dependency preflight (python3, pip3, make), GNU make syntax check (make -n --dry-run), mbake validate, mbake format --check, custom security/best-practice/optimization checks, plus optional checkmake and unmake when installed.
• Exit codes: 0 = passed, 1 = passed with warnings (fix recommended, merge-policy dependent), 2 = failed — errors must be fixed and the run repeated.
• Record the command, exit code, and error/warning/info counts from every run; open reference docs only for the finding types actually reported.
• Fix, rerun, and stop when no new errors appear; document any warnings accepted intentionally and always report the latest exit code.
• Full guide: validator/GUIDE.md