prek 0.2.12

Better `pre-commit`, re-engineered in Rust

prek

pre-commit is a framework to run hooks written in many languages, and it manages the language toolchain and dependencies for running the hooks.

prek is a reimagined version of pre-commit, built in Rust. It is designed to be a faster, dependency-free and drop-in alternative for it, while also providing some additional long-requested features.

[!WARNING] prek is not production-ready yet. Some subcommands and languages are not implemented. See the current gaps for drop-in parity: TODO.

But it's already being adopted by some projects like Airflow, so please give it a try - we'd love your feedback!

Features

• 🚀 A single binary with no dependencies, does not require Python or any other runtime.
• ⚡ Faster than pre-commit and uses only half the disk space.
• 🔄 Fully compatible with the original pre-commit configurations and hooks.
• 🏗️ Built-in support for monorepos (i.e. workspace mode).
• 🐍 Integration with uv for managing Python virtual environments and dependencies.
• 🛠️ Improved toolchain installations for Python, Node.js, Go, Rust and Ruby, shared between hooks.
• 📦 Built-in Rust-native implementation of some common hooks.

Table of contents

• Installation
• Quick start
• Why prek?
• Who is using prek?
• Acknowledgements

Installation

Standalone installer

prek provides a standalone installer script to download and install the tool,

On Linux and macOS:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/j178/prek/releases/download/v0.2.12/prek-installer.sh | sh

On Windows:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://github.com/j178/prek/releases/download/v0.2.12/prek-installer.ps1 | iex"

PyPI

prek is published as Python binary wheel to PyPI, you can install it using pip, uv (recommended), or pipx:

# Using uv (recommended)
uv tool install prek

# Using uvx (install and run in one command)
uvx prek

# Using pip
pip install prek

# Using pipx
pipx install prek

Homebrew

brew install prek

mise

To use prek with mise (v2025.8.11 or later):

mise use prek

Cargo binstall

Install pre-compiled binaries from GitHub using cargo-binstall:

cargo binstall prek --git https://github.com/j178/prek

Cargo

Build from source using Cargo (Rust 1.89+ is required):

cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/j178/prek

npmjs

prek is published as a Node.js package, you can install it using npm, pnpm, or npx:

# Using npm
npm add -D @j178/prek

# Using pnpm
pnpm add -D @j178/prek

# Using npx
npx @j178/prek --version

# or install globally
npm install -g @j178/prek

# then use `prek` command
prek --version

Nix

prek is available in Nix as prek.

# Choose what's appropriate for your use case.
# One-off in a shell:
nix-shell -p prek
# NixOS or non-NixOS without flakes:
nix-env -iA nixos.prek
# Non-NixOS with flakes:
nix profile install nixpkgs#prek

Conda

prek is available as prek via conda-forge.

conda install conda-forge::prek

GitHub Releases

Pre-built binaries are available for download from the GitHub releases page.

GitHub Actions

prek can be used in GitHub Actions via the j178/prek-action repository.

Example workflow:

name: Prek checks
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  prek:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
      - uses: j178/prek-action@v1

This action installs prek and runs prek run --all-files on your repository.

If installed via the standalone installer, prek can update itself to the latest version:

prek self update

Quick start

• I already use pre-commit: follow the short migration checklist in the quickstart guide to swap in prek safely.
• I'm new to pre-commit-style tools: learn the basics—creating a config, running hooks, and installing git hooks—in the beginner quickstart walkthrough.

Why prek?

prek is faster

• It is multiple times faster than pre-commit and takes up half the disk space.
• It redesigned how hook environments and toolchains are managed, they are all shared between hooks, which reduces the disk space usage and speeds up the installation process.
• Repositories are cloned in parallel, and hooks are installed in parallel if their dependencies are disjoint.
• It uses uv for creating Python virtualenvs and installing dependencies, which is known for its speed and efficiency.
• It implements some common hooks in Rust, built in prek, which are faster than their Python counterparts.

prek provides a better user experience

• No need to install Python or any other runtime, just download a single binary.
• No hassle with your Python version or virtual environments, prek automatically installs the required Python version and creates a virtual environment for you.
• Built-in support for workspaces (or monorepos), each subproject can have its own .pre-commit-config.yaml file.
• prek run has some nifty improvements over pre-commit run, such as:
  • prek run --directory <dir> runs hooks for files in the specified directory, no need to use git ls-files -- <dir> | xargs pre-commit run --files anymore.
  • prek run --last-commit runs hooks for files changed in the last commit.
  • prek run [HOOK] [HOOK] selects and runs multiple hooks.
• prek list command lists all available hooks, their ids, and descriptions, providing a better overview of the configured hooks.
• prek provides shell completions for prek run <hook_id> command, making it easier to run specific hooks without remembering their ids.

For more detailed improvements prek offers, take a look at Difference from pre-commit.

Who is using prek?

prek is pretty new, but it is already being used or recommend by some projects and organizations:

• Airflow
• PDM
• basedpyright
• OpenLineage
• Authlib
• pre-commit-crocodile
• PaperQA2
• requests-cache
• kreuzberg

Acknowledgements

This project is heavily inspired by the original pre-commit tool, and it wouldn't be possible without the hard work of the maintainers and contributors of that project.

And a special thanks to the Astral team for their remarkable projects, particularly uv, from which I've learned a lot on how to write efficient and idiomatic Rust code.