AIM Code Generation Templates Guide 📝¶

AIM Templates provide a fast, consistent way to generate source files, configuration boilerplates, or mock tests using interactive prompts and variables.

🏗️ Template Structure¶

All templates are stored inside .ai-context/templates/. Each template is a directory containing: 1. _template.yaml: The template configuration file specifying prompts, target destination, and generation actions. 2. Handlebars Source Files (e.g., main.hbs): File templates containing placeholders like {{name}} or {{kebabCase name}} that are compiled into output files.

📄 1. The Configuration Schema (`_template.yaml`)¶

Here is a fully-featured example of a _template.yaml file:

# Template configuration name
name: api-endpoint
description: Create an Express/TS API Endpoint
version: 1.0.0

# Target directory relative to project root
destination: src/controllers

# Interactive prompts asked if variables are not supplied via CLI
prompts:
  - name: name
    type: text
    message: "Endpoint name?"
    validate: required
  - name: method
    type: text
    message: "HTTP Method?"
    default: "GET"

# Actions to perform
actions:
  - type: add
    template: "controller.hbs"
    path: "{{kebabCase name}}.controller.ts"
    skipIfExists: true
  - type: add
    template: "route.hbs"
    path: "../routes/{{kebabCase name}}.route.ts"
    skipIfExists: true

# Custom feedback messages
messages:
  success: |
    Endpoint {{pascalCase name}} created successfully!
    Generated controller at: src/controllers/{{kebabCase name}}.controller.ts
    Generated route at: src/routes/{{kebabCase name}}.route.ts

Prompt Options¶

name: Variable key.
type: Variable input type (e.g. text).
message: Prompt message printed in terminal.
default: Fallback value if user presses Enter.
validate: Set to required to force input.

Action Options¶

type: Currently supports add (compile and create file).
template: Source template filename inside the template folder.
path: Rendered target output path (relative to the configured destination path).
skipIfExists: Set to true to avoid overwriting existing files.

🔠 2. Variable Formatting Helpers¶

AIM supports several formatting helpers inside template placeholders {{ helper variable }}:

Helper	Description	Input Example	Output Example
`kebabCase`	Convert to kebab-case	`"Auth Handler"`	`auth-handler`
`camelCase`	Convert to camelCase	`"Auth Handler"`	`authHandler`
`pascalCase`	Convert to PascalCase	`"Auth Handler"`	`AuthHandler`
`snakeCase`	Convert to snake_case	`"Auth Handler"`	`auth_handler`
`lowerCase`	Convert to lowercase	`"Auth Handler"`	`auth handler`
`upperCase`	Convert to uppercase	`"Auth Handler"`	`AUTH HANDLER`

🚀 3. Step-by-Step Tutorial¶

Step 3.1: Create Template Scaffold¶

Create a new template named service-layer:

aim template create service-layer

This registers a new template folder under .ai-context/templates/service-layer/ containing default _template.yaml and main.hbs files.

Step 3.2: Configure the Files¶

Let's modify the generated .ai-context/templates/service-layer/_template.yaml:

name: service-layer
description: Create a TypeScript Service class
destination: src/services
prompts:
  - name: name
    type: text
    message: "Service name?"
    validate: required
actions:
  - type: add
    template: "service.hbs"
    path: "{{pascalCase name}}Service.ts"
    skipIfExists: true

And modify the source template file .ai-context/templates/service-layer/service.hbs:

// Generated by AIM template: service-layer
// Service: {{pascalCase name}}Service

export class {{pascalCase name}}Service {
  private serviceName: string = "{{kebabCase name}}";

  constructor() {
    console.log(`${this.serviceName} service initialized.`);
  }

  public async execute(): Promise<void> {
    // Implement service logic here
  }
}

Step 3.3: Dry-Run Verification¶

Verify your output file path and rendering preview without writing files to disk:

aim template run service-layer --dry-run -v name="user authentication"

Output:

[*] Dry-run mode: Preview of files that would be generated:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Target Path: src\services\UserAuthenticationService.ts
Content Preview:
// Generated by AIM template: service-layer
// Service: UserAuthenticationService

export class UserAuthenticationService {
  private serviceName: string = "user-authentication";

  constructor() {
    console.log(`${this.serviceName} service initialized.`);
  }

  public async execute(): Promise<void> {
    // Implement service logic here
  }
}
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Step 3.4: Generate the File¶

Once verified, run it for real to write files to disk:

aim template run service-layer -v name="user authentication"