Three fully-worked templates, building up from minimal to realistic. Every example here is valid spudlang and parses cleanly. Each is annotated with the patterns it demonstrates.
Minimal: a single-file greeter
The smallest useful template. One question, one directory, one file.
ask name "Your name?" string
mkdir "hello" as dir
file dir/"greeting.txt" content "Hello, {name}.
Glad to meet you.
"
What this shows:
- A required
ask (no default).
- A
mkdir with an as alias for reuse.
{name} interpolation inside a string literal in content.- A real newline embedded inside the string literal (the line break in the source becomes a line break in the output).
A run looks like this:
$ spudplate run hello
[1/1] Your name?
> Joe
$ cat hello/greeting.txt
Hello, Joe.
Glad to meet you.
Intermediate: a small project scaffold
A more realistic single-language scaffold. Optional tests, a license picker, a templated source file, and a loop for module subdirectories.
ask project_name "Project name?" string
ask use_tests "Include a test suite?" bool default false
ask num_modules "How many top-level modules?" int default 1
ask license "License?" string options "MIT" "Apache-2.0" "GPL-3.0" default "MIT"
let slug = lower(replace(trim(project_name), " ", "-"))
let dir = slug + "-project"
mkdir "{dir}" as project
file project/"README.md" content "# {project_name}
Licensed under {license}.
"
file project/"LICENSE" from "licenses/{license}.txt"
repeat num_modules as i
mkdir project/"src/module_{i}"
file project/"src/module_{i}/main.cpp" from "templates/main.cpp"
end
if use_tests
mkdir project/"tests"
file project/"tests/test_main.cpp" from "templates/test_main.cpp"
file project/"tests/CMakeLists.txt" content "add_subdirectory(tests)
"
end
What this shows:
ask with options for a bounded answer, with a default.- A
let chain that derives a directory name from the project name.
- Path interpolation (
"{license}.txt") selecting one of several source files.
- A
repeat over an int answer, with {i} interpolation in paths and content.
- An
if block grouping three statements that share a single condition.
- A
from clause loading static template files from the bundle.
If use_tests is false, no tests/ directory is created. If num_modules is 0, the loop body runs zero times.
Realistic: a multi-language scaffold
A fuller template using most of the language: if, repeat, mkdir from, copy into, run, include, the alias-then-append idiom, and conditional aliases.
ask project_name "Project name?" string
ask language "Primary language?" string options "python" "rust" "go" default "python"
ask use_tests "Tests?" bool default true
ask use_docs "Docs?" bool default false
ask use_ci "CI workflow?" bool default false
ask use_git "Initialise git?" bool default true
ask use_claude "Claude Code config?" bool default false
ask num_modules "Number of modules?" int default 1
let slug = lower(replace(trim(project_name), " ", "-"))
let dir = slug + "-project"
mkdir "{dir}" as project
# Base from a language-specific template.
mkdir project/"src" from "templates/{language}/src" as src_path
# Optional add-ons merged into the base.
if use_tests
mkdir project/"tests" as tests_path when use_tests
copy "templates/{language}/tests" into tests_path when use_tests
end
if use_docs
mkdir project/"docs" from "templates/docs"
end
if use_ci
mkdir project/".github/workflows"
file project/".github/workflows/ci.yml" from "templates/{language}/ci.yml"
end
# README built up from optional sections via the alias-then-append idiom.
file project/"README.md" content "# {project_name}
A {language} project.
" as readme
file readme append content "
## Tests
Run \\`make test\\` to run the test suite.
" when use_tests
file readme append content "
## Docs
Build with \\`make docs\\`.
" when use_docs
# Modules: one subdirectory per module, generated in a loop.
repeat num_modules as i
mkdir src_path/"module_{i}"
file src_path/"module_{i}/README.md" content "# Module {i}
"
end
# Run-time setup, gated by user consent and pinned to the project directory.
run "git init" in project when use_git
run "git add ." in project when use_git
run "git commit -m \\"initial\\"" in project when use_git
# Compose with an installed sub-template.
include claude_setup when use_claude
What this shows:
- Several boolean asks at the top, all with sensible defaults so the user can press enter through most of them.
mkdir from to seed a base directory from a language-specific template tree.copy into to merge optional add-ons into a directory created earlier in the run.- The alias-then-append idiom for the README: the base is unconditional, additional sections append only when their gate is true.
- A
repeat that uses an alias declared earlier (src_path) as the parent of each module directory.
- Three
run commands, all pinned to project via in, all gated on use_git.
- An
include for shared Claude config, triggered only when use_claude is true.
A trust prompt summary for this template would list the three git commands so the user can authorise them before the run starts.
Notes on the examples
Every path expression in the examples uses quoting deliberately:
project (no quotes): an alias declared by an earlier as clause."{language}" (quoted with interpolation): a literal segment whose value depends on the answer.src_path/"module_{i}": alias followed by quoted segment with interpolation.
{language} works inside the quoted source paths ("templates/{language}/src") because path interpolation requires a quoted segment. See Path expressions for the rules.
The README example uses real line breaks inside the string literal rather than escape sequences, because spudlang strings do not interpret \n and similar. The interior backslash-quote pairs (\\ "</tt>) inside the <tt>run</tt> command examples are bytes <tt>\\</tt> and <tt>", which are what the shell sees: those escape sequences are processed by /bin/sh, not by spudlang.
See also
1.9.8