Template Engine

template-engine

Load, validate, and populate templates consistently across frameworks.

Triggers

Alternate expressions and non-obvious activations (primary phrases are matched automatically from the skill description):

• "fill template" → template instantiation
• "scaffold from template" → template-driven generation

Purpose

This skill provides a unified template instantiation engine that:

• Locates templates across project, framework, and installation locations
• Parses template structure and placeholders
• Gathers required inputs from context or prompts
• Populates and validates instantiated artifacts
• Integrates with artifact-metadata for tracking

Behavior

When triggered, this skill:

1. Locates template:

   • Search project templates first (.aiwg/templates/)
   • Search active framework templates
   • Search AIWG installation templates
   • Return first match or list similar templates

2. Parses template:

   • Extract placeholders ({{variable}}, {variable})
   • Identify required vs optional sections
   • Detect conditional blocks
   • Build input requirements list

3. Gathers inputs:

   • Check context for matching values
   • Prompt for missing required values
   • Apply defaults for optional values

4. Instantiates template:

   • Replace all placeholders
   • Evaluate conditional sections
   • Process loops/repeating sections
   • Format output

5. Validates output:

   • Check all placeholders replaced
   • Validate structure
   • Create metadata (via artifact-metadata skill)

6. Saves artifact:

   • Write to appropriate location
   • Update artifact index

Template Discovery Order

1. .aiwg/templates/{template-name}.md
2. .aiwg/templates/{category}/{template-name}.md
3. {framework}/templates/{category}/{template-name}.md
4. ~/.local/share/ai-writing-guide/.../{template-name}.md

Template Syntax

Basic Placeholders

# {{project_name}} Architecture Document

**Author**: {{author}}
**Date**: {{date}}
**Version**: {{version|default:0.1.0}}

Conditional Sections

{{#if has_database}}
## Database Design

{{database_description}}
{{/if}}

Loops/Repeating Sections

## Components

{{#each components}}
### {{name}}

{{description}}

- **Owner**: {{owner}}
- **Dependencies**: {{dependencies}}
{{/each}}

Includes

{{> common/header.md}}

## Content

{{> partials/component-table.md}}

Computed Values

**Generated**: {{now|format:YYYY-MM-DD}}
**ID**: {{artifact_type}}-{{sequence|pad:3}}

Configuration

Template Metadata

Each template can have a .meta.yaml file:

name: software-architecture-document
description: Template for Software Architecture Documents
category: architecture
version: 1.0.0

variables:
  - name: project_name
    required: true
    description: Name of the project

  - name: author
    required: true
    description: Document author

  - name: version
    required: false
    default: "0.1.0"
    description: Document version

  - name: components
    required: false
    type: array
    description: List of system components

sections:
  - name: overview
    required: true
  - name: database
    required: false
    condition: has_database

output:
  location: .aiwg/architecture/
  filename: "{{project_name|kebab}}-sad.md"

Usage Examples

Basic Template Instantiation

User: "Create SAD from template"

Skill executes:
1. Find: sdlc-complete/templates/analysis-design/software-architecture-doc-template.md
2. Parse: Extract placeholders (project_name, author, etc.)
3. Gather: Prompt for required values
4. Instantiate: Replace placeholders
5. Save: .aiwg/architecture/myproject-sad.md
6. Metadata: Create .aiwg/architecture/myproject-sad.metadata.json

With Context

User: "New test plan from template for authentication module"

Context provides:
- project_name: "MyProject"
- module: "authentication"
- author: from git config

Skill uses context values, prompts for remaining.

List Available Templates

User: "What templates are available?"

Skill returns:
Architecture:
  - software-architecture-doc-template
  - adr-template
  - api-contract-template

Requirements:
  - use-case-spec-template
  - user-story-template
  - supplementary-spec-template

Testing:
  - test-plan-template
  - test-case-template
  - test-strategy-template

Template with Components

User: "Create component diagram from template with 3 components"

Skill prompts:
- Component 1 name? "API Gateway"
- Component 1 description? "External API interface"
- Component 2 name? "Auth Service"
...

Output includes all components in repeating section.

CLI Usage

# Instantiate template
python template_engine.py --template software-architecture-doc-template

# With variables
python template_engine.py --template sad \
  --var project_name="MyProject" \
  --var author="John Doe"

# Interactive mode
python template_engine.py --template test-plan --interactive

# List templates
python template_engine.py --list
python template_engine.py --list --category architecture

# Validate template
python template_engine.py --validate --template custom-template.md

# Preview without saving
python template_engine.py --template sad --preview

# Specify output location
python template_engine.py --template sad --output .aiwg/architecture/custom-name.md

Template Categories

SDLC Framework Templates

MMK Framework Templates

Integration

This skill integrates with:

• artifact-metadata: Creates metadata for instantiated artifacts
• artifact-orchestration: Uses templates for artifact generation
• project-awareness: Gets context values from project state

Error Handling

Missing Template

Template 'nonexistent' not found.
Did you mean:
  - test-plan-template (testing)
  - deployment-plan-template (deployment)

Available templates: python template_engine.py --list

Missing Required Variable

Missing required variable: project_name
Description: Name of the project
Please provide: --var project_name="value"

Invalid Template Syntax

Template validation failed:
  Line 45: Unclosed conditional block {{#if has_database}}
  Line 67: Unknown variable {{unknwon_var}}

References

• SDLC templates: sdlc-complete/templates/
• MMK templates: media-marketing-kit/templates/
• Template syntax: Handlebars-compatible subset
• Metadata schema: schemas/template-meta.schema.json