mise

name	mise
description	Mise dev tool manager — installing tools, running mise-managed commands, and configuring .mise.toml. Use when installing tools, running CLI commands that aren't found, or setting up project environments.

Mise

mise manages all dev tools and runtimes. It replaces nvm, pyenv, goenv, and manual binary installs.

Key problem: shell activation

In non-interactive shells (CI, agent contexts, subprocesses), mise shims may not be on $PATH. If a command fails with "not found" and the tool is mise-managed, use:

mise exec -- <command> [args...]

This is the single most common agent mistake. Always try mise exec -- before concluding a tool is missing.

Common commands

Discovery

mise which gh              # Check if gh is managed by mise
mise ls                    # List all installed tools + versions
mise ls --current          # Show tools active in current directory

Installing tools

mise use go@1.24           # Add to local .mise.toml (project-scoped)
mise use --global gh@latest # Add globally (~/.config/mise/config.toml)
mise install               # Install all tools from .mise.toml

Running tools

mise exec -- gh pr create          # Run gh via mise
mise exec -- kubectl get pods      # Run kubectl via mise
mise exec node@22 -- node -v       # Run with a specific version override

Tasks (project scripts)

mise run test              # Run a task defined in .mise.toml
mise run build             # Tasks replace Makefiles / npm scripts

Configuration: .mise.toml

[tools]
node = "22"
go = "1.24"
python = "3.12"

[env]
DATABASE_URL = "postgres://localhost/myapp_dev"

[tasks.test]
run = "go test ./..."

[tasks.dev]
run = "npm run dev"

• Project-scoped: .mise.toml in repo root — committed to git
• Local overrides: .mise.local.toml — gitignored, for machine-specific settings
• Global: ~/.config/mise/config.toml — user-wide defaults

Decision tree: "I need to interact with X"

1. Is there an MCP server for it? Check connected MCP servers (e.g., kubernetes-mcp-server for k8s, argocd-mcp for Argo CD, postgres-mcp for databases)
2. Yes → Use MCP tools. They're cheaper (no shell overhead) and purpose-built.
3. No → Run mise which <tool> — is the CLI mise-managed?
4. Yes → Run with mise exec -- <tool> [args]
5. Not installed → mise use --global <tool>@latest, then retry
6. Not in mise registry → Only then consider apt, brew, or direct download

MCP servers managed by mise

These MCP servers are typically installed via mise and should be preferred over their CLI equivalents:

MCP Server	Replaces CLI	Purpose
kubernetes-mcp-server	kubectl	Kubernetes resource management
argocd-mcp	argocd	Argo CD application management
postgres-mcp	psql	PostgreSQL queries and management
@playwright/mcp	playwright	Browser automation and testing

Common tools managed by mise

These tools are typically mise-managed in this environment. Always check before installing separately:

Tool	Mise key	Purpose
gh	gh	GitHub CLI
kubectl	kubectl	Kubernetes CLI
kubeseal	kubeseal	SealedSecrets CLI
gcloud	gcloud	Google Cloud SDK
node	node	Node.js runtime
go	go	Go runtime
python	python	Python runtime
argocd	argocd	Argo CD CLI
semgrep	semgrep	Static analysis