What is a Template

A template is the core asset in AgileBuilder. It's a directory containing project structure, configuration files, and code that renders into different project configurations through variables and conditional logic.

my-template/
├── agilebuilder.json      # Template configuration file
├── template/              # Template files directory
│   ├── src/
│   ├── package.json.hbs   # Uses Handlebars syntax
│   └── README.md.hbs
└── hooks/                 # Hook scripts (optional)
    ├── pre-generate.js
    └── post-generate.js

Variable System

Variables allow the same engineering pattern to adapt to different scenarios — this is what makes templates flexible.

Variable Types

Type	Description	Example
`string`	String variable	Project name, package name, port
`boolean`	Boolean variable	Enable TypeScript or not
`select`	Single choice variable	Select framework (React/Vue)
`multiselect`	Multi-choice variable	Select feature modules

Conditional Rendering

Use Handlebars syntax for conditional rendering:

{{#if useTypeScript}}
"devDependencies": {
  "typescript": "^5.0.0"
}
{{/if}}

Loop Rendering

{{#each features}}
  "{{this}}": "latest",
{{/each}}

Hooks

Hooks let you run automation scripts before and after project generation.

Hook	When It Runs	Purpose
`pre-generate`	Before generating files	Validate parameters, prepare environment
`post-generate`	After generating files	Install dependencies, initialize Git

Built-in Hooks

AgileBuilder provides commonly used built-in hooks:

@agilebuilder/install-deps - Automatically install dependencies
@agilebuilder/git-init - Initialize a Git repository

MCP

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard protocol that allows AI tools (like Cursor, Claude Code) to interact with AgileBuilder.

MCP Tools

Tool	Description
`listTemplates`	List all available templates
`getTemplateInfo`	Get template details and variable definitions
`generateProject`	Generate a project from a template

Project Generation

Project generation is AgileBuilder's core capability. Based on templates and variables, it generates standardized project skeletons with a single command.

agilebuilder generate <template-name> <project-name>

For example:

agilebuilder generate react-starter my-app --var useTypeScript=true

Next Steps

Install AgileBuilder - Get started with installation
Quick Start (Local Edition) - Local edition 5-minute tutorial
Quick Start (Online Edition) - Online edition 5-minute tutorial