spudplate
Template scaffolding compiler for spudlang .spud files
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Getting Started

A five-minute tour from install to your first running template.

1. Install spudplate

One-liner for Linux x86_64 and macOS arm64:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spuddydev/spudplate/main/install.sh | sh

The binary lands in ~/.local/bin. Set PREFIX=/usr/local (and run with sudo) to install system-wide, or VERSION=v0.1.0 to pin to a specific release.

Other options:

  • Download a binary from the releases page and put it on your PATH. Each release ships an SHA256SUMS you can verify against.

  • Build from source. You need CMake and a C++20 compiler.

    cmake -B build && cmake --build build
    sudo cmake --install build

Confirm the install:

spudplate version

2. Write a tiny template

Create hello.spud:

ask name "Your name?" string
mkdir "hello" as dir
file dir/"greeting.txt" content "Hello, {name}.
"

Three things are happening here:

  1. ask prompts the user and binds the answer to name.
  2. mkdir hello as dir creates a directory and binds its path to dir so later statements can refer back to it.
  3. file dir/greeting.txt content ... writes a file using a string expression.

3. Install the template

spudplate install hello.spud

Spudplate parses, validates, and bundles every asset the template references into a single .spp file under your install root. The default location is ~/.local/share/spudplate/hello.spp.

You can also validate without installing:

spudplate validate hello.spud

4. Run it

spudplate run hello

You'll see:

[1/1] Your name?
> Joe

After answering, spudplate creates hello/greeting.txt in the current working directory.

Run it again from anywhere - the bundled assets travel with the template, so the run is cwd-independent.

5. Where to next

  • The full language: Spudlang Language Reference. Lexical structure, statements, paths, scoping, best practices, pitfalls, examples.
  • Every CLI flag: CLI Reference.
  • The wire format: Spudpack Binary Format, if you're curious how .spp files are laid out.
  • Sharing templates: send the .spp file. The recipient runs it directly with spudplate run path/to/template.spp - no install step required.

If something is missing or broken, the issue tracker is the right place to flag it.