fix(make): colon-namespaced targets silently no-op on macOS Make 3.81#351
Merged
DorianZheng merged 2 commits intomainfrom Mar 6, 2026
Merged
fix(make): colon-namespaced targets silently no-op on macOS Make 3.81#351DorianZheng merged 2 commits intomainfrom
DorianZheng merged 2 commits intomainfrom
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macOS ships Make 3.81 which bifurcates `\:` targets into two database entries: one with backslash (gets .PHONY but no recipe) and one without (gets recipe but not .PHONY). The dependency chain follows backslash versions, which are empty shells — so `make setup` does nothing. Fix: remove colon targets from PHONY_TARGETS and add a .DEFAULT rule that strips the backslash and re-invokes make with the clean name. This bridges the bifurcated entries without renaming any targets. Verified on Make 3.81: - `make setup` runs setup scripts (not "Nothing to be done") - `make setup:build` works directly - `make typo` prints proper error, exit 2 - `make help` unchanged
…colon namespacing All other Makefile targets use colon-style namespacing (setup:build, dev:python, test:unit:rust, etc.). The .DEFAULT bifurcation rule from the previous commit ensures colon targets resolve correctly as prerequisites on macOS Make 3.81.
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Summary
make setup(and all\:-namespaced targets) silently doing nothing on macOS Make 3.81 due to target name bifurcation.DEFAULTrule to bridge bifurcated backslash targets back to their real recipe counterpartsPHONY_TARGETSso.DEFAULTcan fire on the empty backslash versionsProblem
macOS ships Make 3.81, which bifurcates
\:targets into two database entries:setup\:build— gets.PHONYattribute but no recipe, no prereqssetup:build— gets recipe + prereqs but is not phonyThe dependency chain (
setup → setup\:dev → setup\:build) follows backslash versions, which are empty shells. The real content lives in unreachable non-backslash versions.Solution
By removing colon targets from
.PHONY, the empty backslash targets have no recipe, no file, and are not phony — so.DEFAULTfires. The.DEFAULTrule strips the\and re-invokes$(MAKE)with the clean name, hitting the non-backslash target that has the recipe.No target renaming, no doc changes, no CI changes.
Test plan
make -n setup—.DEFAULTfires, reaches real recipemake -n setup:build— direct invocation worksmake typo— proper error message + exit 2, no infinite loopmake -n help— unchanged, shows colon-style namesmake -n dev:python— works directly