gistfile1.ex

## in mix.exs
def application do
  [
    mod: {MyApplication, []},
    applications: [:logger]
  ]
end


## the application module...
defmodule MyApplication do
  use Application
  def start(type, args) do
    IO.puts "Starting.. #{inspect type} #{inspect args}"
    ## ^^ This prints an empty list, not the args passed in from the task
    MyApplication.Supervisor.start_link(args)
  end
end



## in my mix.tasts.app.start.ex

def run(args) do
  args = args |> parse_args |> defaults |> process
  case args do
    :help -> :help

    args -> 
      IO.puts "app.start with #{inspect args}"
      res = Mix.Task.run("app.start", args)
      :timer.sleep(:infinity)
  end
end