Better `pre-commit`, re-engineered in Rust
npm install @j178/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.
> [!NOTE]
> Although prek is pretty new, it’s already powering real‑world projects like CPython, Apache Airflow, FastAPI, and more projects are picking it up—see Who is using prek?. If you’re looking for an alternative to pre-commit, please give it a try—we’d love your feedback!
>
> Please note that some languages are not yet supported for full drop‑in parity with pre-commit. See Language Support for current status.
- A single binary with no dependencies, does not require Python or any other runtime.
- Faster than pre-commit and more efficient in disk space usage.
- 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, Bun, Go, Rust and Ruby, shared between hooks.
- Built-in Rust-native implementation of some common hooks.
- Installation
- Quick start
- Why prek?
- Who is using prek?
- Acknowledgements
Standalone installer
prek provides a standalone installer script to download and install the tool,
On Linux and macOS:
``bash`
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/j178/prek/releases/download/v0.3.2/prek-installer.sh | sh
On Windows:
`powershell`
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://github.com/j178/prek/releases/download/v0.3.2/prek-installer.ps1 | iex"
PyPI
prek is published as Python binary wheel to PyPI, you can install it using pip, uv (recommended), or pipx:
`bashUsing uv (recommended)
uv tool install prek
Homebrew
`bash
brew install prek
`
mise
To use prek with mise (v2025.8.11 or later):
`bash
mise use prek
`
Cargo binstall
Install pre-compiled binaries from GitHub using cargo-binstall:
`bash
cargo binstall prek
`
Cargo
Build from source using Cargo (Rust 1.89+ is required):
`bash
cargo install --locked prek
`
npmjs
prek is published as a Node.js package
and can be installed with any npm-compatible package manager:
`bash
As a dev dependency
npm add -D @j178/prek
pnpm add -D @j178/prek
bun add -D @j178/prekOr install globally
npm install -g @j178/prek
pnpm add -g @j178/prek
bun install -g @j178/prekOr run directly without installing
npx @j178/prek --version
bunx @j178/prek --version
`
Nix
prek is available via Nixpkgs.
`shell
Choose what's appropriate for your use case.
One-off in a shell:
nix-shell -p prekNixOS or non-NixOS without flakes:
nix-env -iA nixos.prekNon-NixOS with flakes:
nix profile install nixpkgs#prek
`
Conda
prek is available as
prek via conda-forge.`shell
conda install conda-forge::prek
`
Scoop (Windows)
prek is available via Scoop.
`powershell
scoop install main/prek
`
MacPorts
prek is available via MacPorts.
`bash
sudo port install 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:
`yaml
name: Prek checks
on: [push, pull_request]jobs:
prek:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v6
- uses: j178/prek-action@v1
`This action installs prek and runs
prek run --all-files on your repository.taiki-e/install-action for installing various tools.If installed via the standalone installer, prek can update itself to the latest version:
`bash
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?
$3
- 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.
- Hooks can run in parallel by priority (hooks with the same priority may run concurrently), reducing end-to-end runtime.
- 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.
- It supports repo: builtin for offline, zero-setup hooks, which is not available in pre-commit.$3
- 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 runs hooks for files in the specified directory, no need to use git ls-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 auto-update supports --cooldown-days to mitigate open source supply chain attacks.
- prek provides shell completions for prek run For more detailed improvements prek offers, take a look at Difference from pre-commit.
prek is pretty new, but it is already being used or recommend by some projects and organizations:
- apache/airflow
- python/cpython
- pdm-project/pdm
- fastapi/fastapi
- fastapi/typer
- fastapi/asyncer
- astral-sh/ruff
- astral-sh/ty
- openclaw/openclaw
- home-assistant/core
- DetachHead/basedpyright
- OpenLineage/OpenLineage
- authlib/authlib
- django/djangoproject.com
- Future-House/paper-qa
- requests-cache/requests-cache
- Goldziher/kreuzberg
- python-attrs/attrs
- jlowin/fastmcp
- apache/iceberg-python
- apache/lucene
- jcrist/msgspec
- python-humanize/humanize
- MoonshotAI/kimi-cli
- simple-icons/simple-icons
- ast-grep/ast-grep
- commitizen-tools/commitizen
- cocoindex-io/cocoindex
- cachix/devenv
- copper-project/copper-rs
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.