create-system — DDL-first WinterCMS plugin scaffolding

create-system introspects a live PostgreSQL schema and generates a complete WinterCMS plugin skeleton: models, migrations, backend controllers, list/form field definitions, and language files. The schema is the single source of truth — annotate your DDL with YAML comments to control every aspect of the generated output.

What it does

1. Connects to a PostgreSQL database and reads the schema (tables, columns, foreign keys, constraints, triggers).
2. Classifies each table by structural pattern: ContentTable, PivotTable, SemiPivotTable, CentralTable, ReportTable.
3. Infers ORM relation types from FK structure (BelongsTo, HasMany, BelongsToMany, etc.).
4. Generates a full WinterCMS plugin directory under plugins/<author>/<name>/.
5. Optionally commits and pushes the generated plugin via git.

Quick start

# From your WinterCMS root, with the schema already migrated:
/path/to/acorn-create-system myplugin

# Generate all plugins detected in the schema:
/path/to/acorn-create-system all

# Generate and push to git:
/path/to/acorn-create-system myplugin push

Installation

git clone https://github.com/anewholm/create-system /var/www/scripts/acorn-create-system-dir
composer install -d /var/www/scripts/acorn-create-system-dir

Or clone the scripts repo which includes this tool alongside the broader WinterCMS setup scripts.

Prerequisites

• PHP 8.1+
• PostgreSQL 12+ (must be running and accessible)
• Composer
• WinterCMS installation (the generated output targets WinterCMS 1.2+)

YAML comment vocabulary

Table, column, and FK comments in PostgreSQL can contain YAML fragments to control generation. See PATTERNS.md for the full catalogue of patterns and their YAML keys.

Common examples

-- table comment
COMMENT ON TABLE acorn_calendar_events IS 'table-type: content
label: Event
label_plural: Events';

-- column comment  
COMMENT ON COLUMN acorn_calendar_events.name IS 'field-type: text
tab: details';

-- FK comment
COMMENT ON CONSTRAINT event_location_id_fkey ON acorn_calendar_events IS 'type: Xto1
read-only: true';

Output structure

For a table acorn_myapp_widgets the generator produces:

plugins/acorn/myapp/
  models/
    Widget.php
    widget/
      columns.yaml
      fields.yaml
  controllers/
    Widgets.php
    widgets/
      list.htm
      update.htm
      create.htm
  lang/
    en/
      lang.php
  updates/
    create_acorn_myapp_widgets_table.php
    version.yaml
  Plugin.php

IS Pattern catalogue

PATTERNS.md documents every pattern the tool recognises — table classification, relation type inference, field rendering, OLAP support, and YAML override keys. This is the design reference for extending or modifying the generator.

Compatibility

PHP	PostgreSQL	WinterCMS output target
8.1+	12+	1.2+ (Laravel 9/10/11)

Related

• anewholm/scripts — setup scripts that install WinterCMS environments for generated plugins
• anewholm/acorn — base module that generated plugins extend

License

MIT