Powershell Module Scaffold

PowerShell Module Scaffold

Generate a complete, production-ready PowerShell module project with CI/CD, testing, analysis, and editor integration — all from a module name.

When to Use This Skill

• Creating a new PowerShell module from scratch
• Adding build/test/CI infrastructure to an existing module
• Setting up VS Code workspace for a PowerShell project
• Generating GitHub Actions CI/CD for a PowerShell Gallery module

Project Structure

When scaffolding a new module named {ModuleName}, generate this structure:

{ModuleName}/
├── .github/
│   ├── FUNDING.yml
│   ├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
│   │   ├── bug-report.md
│   │   └── feature_request.md
│   ├── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
│   ├── SECURITY.md
│   ├── instructions/
│   │   ├── powershell.instructions.md
│   │   └── powershell-pester-5.instructions.md
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── WORKFLOW-TRIGGERS.md
│       └── ci.yml
├── .vscode/
│   ├── settings.json
│   └── tasks.json
├── Private/              # Internal functions (not exported)
├── Public/               # Exported functions
├── Tests/
│   └── {ModuleName}.Tests.ps1
├── scripts/
│   └── Format-AllFiles.ps1
├── build/                # Build output (gitignored)
├── {ModuleName}.code-workspace
├── {ModuleName}.psd1     # Module manifest
├── {ModuleName}.psm1     # Module loader
├── build.ps1             # Build script
├── PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1
└── README.md

Core Templates

Module Manifest — {ModuleName}.psd1

@{
    RootModule        = '{ModuleName}.psm1'
    ModuleVersion     = '0.1.0'
    GUID              = '{GENERATE-NEW-GUID}'
    Author            = '{AuthorName}'
    CompanyName       = 'Unknown'
    Copyright         = '(c) {Year}. All rights reserved.'
    Description       = '{ModuleDescription}'

    PowerShellVersion = '5.1'

    FunctionsToExport = @(
        # Add exported function names here
    )
    CmdletsToExport   = @()
    VariablesToExport  = @()
    AliasesToExport    = @()

    PrivateData = @{
        PSData = @{
            Tags       = @()
            ProjectUri = ''
            ReleaseNotes = ''
        }
    }
}

Generate a real GUID with [guid]::NewGuid().ToString() — never use a placeholder.

Module Loader — {ModuleName}.psm1

$Private = @(Get-ChildItem -Path "$PSScriptRoot/Private/*.ps1" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
$Public  = @(Get-ChildItem -Path "$PSScriptRoot/Public/*.ps1"  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)

foreach ($file in @($Private + $Public)) {
    try {
        . $file.FullName
    } catch {
        Write-Error "Failed to import $($file.FullName): $_"
    }
}

Build Script — build.ps1

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    Build script for {ModuleName}. Bootstraps dependencies and runs build tasks.
.PARAMETER Task
    The task to execute. If omitted, installs build dependencies (bootstrap).
#>
[CmdletBinding()]
param(
    [Parameter(Position = 0)]
    [ValidateSet('Analyze', 'Test', 'Build', 'CI', 'Clean')]
    [string]$Task
)

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

$moduleName = '{ModuleName}'
$buildDir = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'build' $moduleName
$sourceFiles = @(
    '{ModuleName}.psd1'
    '{ModuleName}.psm1'
    'Public'
    'Private'
)

function Install-BuildDependency {
    $modules = @(
        @{ Name = 'Pester';            MinimumVersion = '5.0.0' }
        @{ Name = 'PSScriptAnalyzer';  MinimumVersion = '1.21.0' }
    )

    foreach ($mod in $modules) {
        $installed = Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name $mod.Name |
            Where-Object { $_.Version -ge [version]$mod.MinimumVersion } |
            Sort-Object Version -Descending |
            Select-Object -First 1

        if ($installed) {
            Write-Host "  [OK] $($mod.Name) $($installed.Version)" -ForegroundColor Green
        } else {
            Write-Host "  Installing $($mod.Name) >= $($mod.MinimumVersion)..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
            Install-Module -Name $mod.Name -MinimumVersion $mod.MinimumVersion -Scope CurrentUser -Force -SkipPublisherCheck
            Write-Host "  [OK] $($mod.Name) installed" -ForegroundColor Green
        }
    }
}

function Invoke-Analyze {
    Write-Host "`n=== PSScriptAnalyzer ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    $results = Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer -Path $PSScriptRoot -Recurse -Settings (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1')

    if ($results) {
        $results | Format-Table -AutoSize
        throw "PSScriptAnalyzer found $($results.Count) issue(s)."
    }

    Write-Host "  No issues found." -ForegroundColor Green
}

function Invoke-Test {
    Write-Host "`n=== Pester Tests ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    $config = New-PesterConfiguration
    $config.Run.Path = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'Tests'
    $config.Output.Verbosity = 'Detailed'
    $config.Run.Exit = $true

    Invoke-Pester -Configuration $config
}

function Invoke-Build {
    Write-Host "`n=== Build Module ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan

    if (Test-Path $buildDir) {
        Remove-Item $buildDir -Recurse -Force
    }
    New-Item -Path $buildDir -ItemType Directory -Force | Out-Null

    foreach ($item in $sourceFiles) {
        $source = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot $item
        if (Test-Path $source) {
            $dest = Join-Path $buildDir $item
            if ((Get-Item $source).PSIsContainer) {
                Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest -Recurse -Force
            } else {
                Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest -Force
            }
        }
    }

    Write-Host "  Module staged to: $buildDir" -ForegroundColor Green
    Test-ModuleManifest -Path (Join-Path $buildDir "$moduleName.psd1") | Format-List Name, Version, Description
}

function Invoke-Clean {
    Write-Host "`n=== Clean ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    $buildRoot = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'build'
    if (Test-Path $buildRoot) {
        Remove-Item $buildRoot -Recurse -Force
        Write-Host "  Removed $buildRoot" -ForegroundColor Green
    } else {
        Write-Host "  Nothing to clean." -ForegroundColor DarkGray
    }
}

# ── Main ──

Write-Host "{ModuleName} Build Script" -ForegroundColor Cyan
Write-Host "Task: $(if ($Task) { $Task } else { 'Bootstrap' })`n"

Write-Host "=== Dependencies ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
Install-BuildDependency

if (-not $Task) {
    Write-Host "`nBootstrap complete." -ForegroundColor Green
    return
}

switch ($Task) {
    'Analyze' { Invoke-Analyze }
    'Test'    { Invoke-Test }
    'Build'   { Invoke-Build }
    'Clean'   { Invoke-Clean }
    'CI' {
        Invoke-Analyze
        Invoke-Test
        Invoke-Build
    }
}

Write-Host "`nTask '$Task' completed." -ForegroundColor Green

PSScriptAnalyzer Settings — PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1

@{
    Severity = @('Error', 'Warning')

    ExcludeRules = @(
        'PSAvoidUsingPositionalParameters'
        'PSUseDeclaredVarsMoreThanAssignments'
        'PSUseSingularNouns'
        'PSAvoidUsingWriteHost'
        'PSAvoidUsingBrokenHashAlgorithms'
        'PSUseBOMForUnicodeEncodedFile'
    )
}

Adjust ExcludeRules per project. Only exclude rules with a documented reason.

Format Script — scripts/Format-AllFiles.ps1

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    Formats all PowerShell files in the repository using PSScriptAnalyzer.
.DESCRIPTION
    Uses Invoke-Formatter with OTBS (One True Brace Style) settings to format
    all .ps1 and .psm1 files, excluding the build directory.
#>
[CmdletBinding()]
param()

$files = Get-ChildItem -Path $PSScriptRoot/.. -Include *.ps1, *.psm1 -Recurse -File |
    Where-Object { $_.DirectoryName -notlike '*build*' }

Write-Host "Formatting $($files.Count) PowerShell files..." -ForegroundColor Cyan

foreach ($file in $files) {
    try {
        $content = Get-Content $file.FullName -Raw
        $formatted = Invoke-Formatter -ScriptDefinition $content -Settings CodeFormattingOTBS
        Set-Content -Path $file.FullName -Value $formatted -NoNewline
        Write-Host "  Formatted: $($file.Name)" -ForegroundColor Green
    } catch {
        Write-Host "  Failed: $($file.Name) - $_" -ForegroundColor Red
    }
}

Write-Host "Done!" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Pester Test Skeleton — Tests/{ModuleName}.Tests.ps1

#Requires -Modules Pester

BeforeAll {
    $ModulePath = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot '..' '{ModuleName}.psd1'
    Import-Module $ModulePath -Force
}

Describe '{ModuleName} Module' {
    Context 'Module loads correctly' {
        It 'Should import without errors' {
            { Import-Module (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot '..' '{ModuleName}.psd1') -Force } | Should -Not -Throw
        }

        It 'Should export expected functions' {
            $exported = (Get-Module {ModuleName}).ExportedFunctions.Keys
            $exported | Should -Not -BeNullOrEmpty
        }
    }
}

# Add per-function Describe blocks:
# Describe 'FunctionName' {
#     Context 'When condition' {
#         It 'Should expected behavior' {
#             # Arrange, Act, Assert
#         }
#     }
# }

Testing rules:

• Never invoke a command without required parameters to test that they're mandatory. Instead, inspect the parameter attribute:

  It 'Should require -Name parameter' {
      $param = (Get-Command Get-Something).Parameters['Name']
      $attr = $param.Attributes.Where({ $_ -is [System.Management.Automation.ParameterAttribute] })
      $attr[0].Mandatory | Should -BeTrue
  }
  

• Use Mock for external dependencies.
• Dot-source private functions directly for unit testing.

VS Code Configuration

.vscode/settings.json

{
    "[powershell]": {
        "editor.defaultFormatter": "ms-vscode.powershell",
        "editor.formatOnSave": false,
        "editor.tabSize": 4,
        "editor.insertSpaces": true
    },
    "[json]": {
        "editor.defaultFormatter": "vscode.json-language-features",
        "editor.formatOnSave": false,
        "editor.tabSize": 4
    },
    "powershell.codeFormatting.preset": "OTBS",
    "powershell.codeFormatting.openBraceOnSameLine": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.newLineAfterOpenBrace": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBeforeOpenBrace": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceBeforeOpenParen": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceAroundOperator": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.whitespaceAfterSeparator": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.ignoreOneLineBlock": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.alignPropertyValuePairs": true,
    "powershell.codeFormatting.useCorrectCasing": true
}

.vscode/tasks.json

Replace {ModuleName} in all task definitions. Include these tasks:

All tasks use pwsh -NoProfile. See references/tasks-template.json for the full JSON.

{ModuleName}.code-workspace

{
    "folders": [{ "path": "." }],
    "settings": {
        "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "PowerShell",
        "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": {
            "PowerShell": {
                "source": "PowerShell",
                "icon": "terminal-powershell"
            }
        },
        "powershell.powerShellDefaultVersion": "PowerShell (x64)",
        "files.associations": {
            "*.ps1": "powershell",
            "*.psm1": "powershell",
            "*.psd1": "powershell"
        }
    }
}

GitHub Configuration

CI/CD — .github/workflows/ci.yml

The workflow has two jobs:

build — Runs on a matrix of ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest:

1. Checkout → Bootstrap → PSScriptAnalyzer → Pester → Build Module
2. Uploads test results per OS, build artifacts from Windows only

release — Triggered on v*.*.* tags, Windows only:

1. Downloads artifacts → Validates tag matches manifest version
2. Publishes to PowerShell Gallery → Creates GitHub Release with archive

See references/ci-template.yml for the full workflow. Replace {ModuleName} throughout.

Required secrets: PSGALLERY_API_KEY

Community Files

Generate these files with {ModuleName} and {AuthorGitHub} substituted:

• FUNDING.yml — github: {AuthorGitHub}
• SECURITY.md — Vulnerability reporting via GitHub Security Advisories
• PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md — Type of change checklist, description, review checklist
• ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.md — Expected/actual behavior, reproduction steps, environment
• ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md — Description, proposed solution, alternatives

Copilot Instructions

Copy the powershell.instructions.md and powershell-pester-5.instructions.md from references/ into .github/instructions/. These provide coding guidelines to Copilot when working in the project.

Scaffolding Checklist

When creating a new module:

1. Create directory structure (Public/, Private/, Tests/, scripts/, .vscode/, .github/)
2. Generate a real GUID for the manifest
3. Create all template files with {ModuleName} replaced
4. Run ./build.ps1 to bootstrap dependencies
5. Run ./build.ps1 -Task CI to verify everything passes
6. Initialize git repo and make initial commit