feat: support self-signed certificates for remote taskfiles (#2537)

vmaerten · web-flow · commit 026c899d904e · 2026-01-25T18:51:30.000+01:00
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 - Included Taskfiles with `silent: true` now properly propagate silence to their
   tasks, while still allowing individual tasks to override with `silent: false`
   (#2640, #1319 by @trulede).
+- Added TLS certificate options for Remote Taskfiles: use `--cacert` for
+  self-signed certificates and `--cert`/`--cert-key` for mTLS authentication
+  (#2537, #2242 by @vmaerten).
 
 ## v3.47.0 - 2026-01-24
 
diff --git a/completion/bash/task.bash b/completion/bash/task.bash
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ function _task()
       _filedir -d
       return $?
     ;;
+    --cacert|--cert|--cert-key)
+      _filedir
+      return $?
+    ;;
     -t|--taskfile)
       _filedir yaml || return $?
       _filedir yml
diff --git a/completion/fish/task.fish b/completion/fish/task.fish
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES"
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES" -l timeout          -d 'timeout for remote Taskfile downloads'
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES" -l expiry           -d 'cache expiry duration'
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES" -l remote-cache-dir -d 'directory to cache remote Taskfiles' -xa "(__fish_complete_directories)"
+complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES" -l cacert           -d 'custom CA certificate for TLS' -r
+complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES" -l cert             -d 'client certificate for mTLS' -r
+complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES" -l cert-key         -d 'client certificate private key' -r
 
 # RemoteTaskfiles experiment - Operations
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -n "__task_is_experiment_enabled REMOTE_TASKFILES" -l download    -d 'download remote Taskfile'
diff --git a/completion/ps/task.ps1 b/completion/ps/task.ps1
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ Register-ArgumentCompleter -CommandName task -ScriptBlock {
 			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--timeout', '--timeout', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'download timeout')
 			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--expiry', '--expiry', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'cache expiry')
 			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--remote-cache-dir', '--remote-cache-dir', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'cache directory')
+			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--cacert', '--cacert', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'custom CA certificate')
+			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--cert', '--cert', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'client certificate')
+			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--cert-key', '--cert-key', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'client private key')
 			# Operations
 			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--download', '--download', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'download remote Taskfile')
 			$completions += [CompletionResult]::new('--clear-cache', '--clear-cache', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'clear cache')
diff --git a/completion/zsh/_task b/completion/zsh/_task
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ _task() {
             '(--timeout)--timeout[timeout for remote Taskfile downloads]:duration: '
             '(--expiry)--expiry[cache expiry duration]:duration: '
             '(--remote-cache-dir)--remote-cache-dir[directory to cache remote Taskfiles]:cache dir:_dirs'
+            '(--cacert)--cacert[custom CA certificate for TLS]:file:_files'
+            '(--cert)--cert[client certificate for mTLS]:file:_files'
+            '(--cert-key)--cert-key[client certificate private key]:file:_files'
         )
     fi
 
diff --git a/executor.go b/executor.go
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ type (
 		Timeout             time.Duration
 		CacheExpiryDuration time.Duration
 		RemoteCacheDir      string
+		CACert              string
+		Cert                string
+		CertKey             string
 		Watch               bool
 		Verbose             bool
 		Silent              bool
@@ -287,6 +290,45 @@ func (o *remoteCacheDirOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *Executor) {
 	e.RemoteCacheDir = o.dir
 }
 
+// WithCACert sets the path to a custom CA certificate for TLS connections.
+func WithCACert(caCert string) ExecutorOption {
+	return &caCertOption{caCert: caCert}
+}
+
+type caCertOption struct {
+	caCert string
+}
+
+func (o *caCertOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *Executor) {
+	e.CACert = o.caCert
+}
+
+// WithCert sets the path to a client certificate for TLS connections.
+func WithCert(cert string) ExecutorOption {
+	return &certOption{cert: cert}
+}
+
+type certOption struct {
+	cert string
+}
+
+func (o *certOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *Executor) {
+	e.Cert = o.cert
+}
+
+// WithCertKey sets the path to a client certificate key for TLS connections.
+func WithCertKey(certKey string) ExecutorOption {
+	return &certKeyOption{certKey: certKey}
+}
+
+type certKeyOption struct {
+	certKey string
+}
+
+func (o *certKeyOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *Executor) {
+	e.CertKey = o.certKey
+}
+
 // WithWatch tells the [Executor] to keep running in the background and watch
 // for changes to the fingerprint of the tasks that are run. When changes are
 // detected, a new task run is triggered.
diff --git a/internal/flags/flags.go b/internal/flags/flags.go
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ var (
 	Timeout             time.Duration
 	CacheExpiryDuration time.Duration
 	RemoteCacheDir      string
+	CACert              string
+	Cert                string
+	CertKey             string
 	Interactive         bool
 )
 
@@ -168,6 +171,9 @@ func init() {
 		pflag.BoolVar(&ClearCache, "clear-cache", false, "Clear the remote cache.")
 		pflag.DurationVar(&CacheExpiryDuration, "expiry", getConfig(config, func() *time.Duration { return config.Remote.CacheExpiry }, 0), "Expiry duration for cached remote Taskfiles.")
 		pflag.StringVar(&RemoteCacheDir, "remote-cache-dir", getConfig(config, func() *string { return config.Remote.CacheDir }, env.GetTaskEnv("REMOTE_DIR")), "Directory to cache remote Taskfiles.")
+		pflag.StringVar(&CACert, "cacert", getConfig(config, func() *string { return config.Remote.CACert }, ""), "Path to a custom CA certificate for HTTPS connections.")
+		pflag.StringVar(&Cert, "cert", getConfig(config, func() *string { return config.Remote.Cert }, ""), "Path to a client certificate for HTTPS connections.")
+		pflag.StringVar(&CertKey, "cert-key", getConfig(config, func() *string { return config.Remote.CertKey }, ""), "Path to a client certificate key for HTTPS connections.")
 	}
 	pflag.Parse()
 
@@ -236,6 +242,11 @@ func Validate() error {
 		return errors.New("task: --nested only applies to --json with --list or --list-all")
 	}
 
+	// Validate certificate flags
+	if (Cert != "" && CertKey == "") || (Cert == "" && CertKey != "") {
+		return errors.New("task: --cert and --cert-key must be provided together")
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -278,6 +289,9 @@ func (o *flagsOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *task.Executor) {
 		task.WithTimeout(Timeout),
 		task.WithCacheExpiryDuration(CacheExpiryDuration),
 		task.WithRemoteCacheDir(RemoteCacheDir),
+		task.WithCACert(CACert),
+		task.WithCert(Cert),
+		task.WithCertKey(CertKey),
 		task.WithWatch(Watch),
 		task.WithVerbose(Verbose),
 		task.WithSilent(Silent),
diff --git a/setup.go b/setup.go
@@ -55,7 +55,11 @@ func (e *Executor) Setup() error {
 }
 
 func (e *Executor) getRootNode() (taskfile.Node, error) {
-	node, err := taskfile.NewRootNode(e.Entrypoint, e.Dir, e.Insecure, e.Timeout)
+	node, err := taskfile.NewRootNode(e.Entrypoint, e.Dir, e.Insecure, e.Timeout,
+		taskfile.WithCACert(e.CACert),
+		taskfile.WithCert(e.Cert),
+		taskfile.WithCertKey(e.CertKey),
+	)
 	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		return nil, errors.TaskfileNotFoundError{
 			URI:     fsext.DefaultDir(e.Entrypoint, e.Dir),
@@ -87,6 +91,9 @@ func (e *Executor) readTaskfile(node taskfile.Node) error {
 		taskfile.WithTrustedHosts(e.TrustedHosts),
 		taskfile.WithTempDir(e.TempDir.Remote),
 		taskfile.WithCacheExpiryDuration(e.CacheExpiryDuration),
+		taskfile.WithReaderCACert(e.CACert),
+		taskfile.WithReaderCert(e.Cert),
+		taskfile.WithReaderCertKey(e.CertKey),
 		taskfile.WithDebugFunc(debugFunc),
 		taskfile.WithPromptFunc(promptFunc),
 	)
diff --git a/taskfile/node.go b/taskfile/node.go
@@ -34,13 +34,14 @@ func NewRootNode(
 	dir string,
 	insecure bool,
 	timeout time.Duration,
+	opts ...NodeOption,
 ) (Node, error) {
 	dir = fsext.DefaultDir(entrypoint, dir)
 	// If the entrypoint is "-", we read from stdin
 	if entrypoint == "-" {
 		return NewStdinNode(dir)
 	}
-	return NewNode(entrypoint, dir, insecure)
+	return NewNode(entrypoint, dir, insecure, opts...)
 }
 
 func NewNode(
diff --git a/taskfile/node_base.go b/taskfile/node_base.go
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ type (
 		parent   Node
 		dir      string
 		checksum string
+		caCert   string
+		cert     string
+		certKey  string
 	}
 )
 
@@ -54,3 +57,21 @@ func (node *baseNode) Checksum() string {
 func (node *baseNode) Verify(checksum string) bool {
 	return node.checksum == "" || node.checksum == checksum
 }
+
+func WithCACert(caCert string) NodeOption {
+	return func(node *baseNode) {
+		node.caCert = caCert
+	}
+}
+
+func WithCert(cert string) NodeOption {
+	return func(node *baseNode) {
+		node.cert = cert
+	}
+}
+
+func WithCertKey(certKey string) NodeOption {
+	return func(node *baseNode) {
+		node.certKey = certKey
+	}
+}
diff --git a/taskfile/node_http.go b/taskfile/node_http.go
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ package taskfile
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -17,7 +20,54 @@ import (
 // An HTTPNode is a node that reads a Taskfile from a remote location via HTTP.
 type HTTPNode struct {
 	*baseNode
-	url *url.URL // stores url pointing actual remote file. (e.g. with Taskfile.yml)
+	url    *url.URL     // stores url pointing actual remote file. (e.g. with Taskfile.yml)
+	client *http.Client // HTTP client with optional TLS configuration
+}
+
+// buildHTTPClient creates an HTTP client with optional TLS configuration.
+// If no certificate options are provided, it returns http.DefaultClient.
+func buildHTTPClient(insecure bool, caCert, cert, certKey string) (*http.Client, error) {
+	// Validate that cert and certKey are provided together
+	if (cert != "" && certKey == "") || (cert == "" && certKey != "") {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("both --cert and --cert-key must be provided together")
+	}
+
+	// If no TLS customization is needed, return the default client
+	if !insecure && caCert == "" && cert == "" {
+		return http.DefaultClient, nil
+	}
+
+	tlsConfig := &tls.Config{
+		InsecureSkipVerify: insecure,
+	}
+
+	// Load custom CA certificate if provided
+	if caCert != "" {
+		caCertData, err := os.ReadFile(caCert)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read CA certificate: %w", err)
+		}
+		caCertPool := x509.NewCertPool()
+		if !caCertPool.AppendCertsFromPEM(caCertData) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse CA certificate")
+		}
+		tlsConfig.RootCAs = caCertPool
+	}
+
+	// Load client certificate and key if provided
+	if cert != "" && certKey != "" {
+		clientCert, err := tls.LoadX509KeyPair(cert, certKey)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load client certificate: %w", err)
+		}
+		tlsConfig.Certificates = []tls.Certificate{clientCert}
+	}
+
+	return &http.Client{
+		Transport: &http.Transport{
+			TLSClientConfig: tlsConfig,
+		},
+	}, nil
 }
 
 func NewHTTPNode(
@@ -34,9 +84,16 @@ func NewHTTPNode(
 	if url.Scheme == "http" && !insecure {
 		return nil, &errors.TaskfileNotSecureError{URI: url.Redacted()}
 	}
+
+	client, err := buildHTTPClient(insecure, base.caCert, base.cert, base.certKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	return &HTTPNode{
 		baseNode: base,
 		url:      url,
+		client:   client,
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -49,7 +106,7 @@ func (node *HTTPNode) Read() ([]byte, error) {
 }
 
 func (node *HTTPNode) ReadContext(ctx context.Context) ([]byte, error) {
-	url, err := RemoteExists(ctx, *node.url)
+	url, err := RemoteExists(ctx, *node.url, node.client)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -58,7 +115,7 @@ func (node *HTTPNode) ReadContext(ctx context.Context) ([]byte, error) {
 		return nil, errors.TaskfileFetchFailedError{URI: node.Location()}
 	}
 
-	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req.WithContext(ctx))
+	resp, err := node.client.Do(req.WithContext(ctx))
 	if err != nil {
 		if ctx.Err() != nil {
 			return nil, err
diff --git a/taskfile/node_http_test.go b/taskfile/node_http_test.go
diff --git a/taskfile/reader.go b/taskfile/reader.go
diff --git a/taskfile/taskfile.go b/taskfile/taskfile.go
diff --git a/taskrc/ast/taskrc.go b/taskrc/ast/taskrc.go
diff --git a/website/src/docs/experiments/remote-taskfiles.md b/website/src/docs/experiments/remote-taskfiles.md

Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ _task() {`
`117`	`117`	`'(--timeout)--timeout[timeout for remote Taskfile downloads]:duration: '`
`118`	`118`	`'(--expiry)--expiry[cache expiry duration]:duration: '`
`119`	`119`	`'(--remote-cache-dir)--remote-cache-dir[directory to cache remote Taskfiles]:cache dir:_dirs'`
	`120`	`+ '(--cacert)--cacert[custom CA certificate for TLS]:file:_files'`
	`121`	`+ '(--cert)--cert[client certificate for mTLS]:file:_files'`
	`122`	`+ '(--cert-key)--cert-key[client certificate private key]:file:_files'`
`120`	`123`	`)`
`121`	`124`	`fi`
`122`	`125`