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Léo Flaventin Hauchecorne edited this page Sep 8, 2026 · 5 revisions

Welcome to SKBS

PyPI Python versions License

SKBS means SKeleton BootStrap: templates are just plain Python — no new language to learn.

$ cat greeting.txt
## # {{__skbs_template__}}
## for name in ('Alice', 'Bob'):
Hello {{name}}!
## -

$ skbs gen greeting.txt out.txt --
$ cat out.txt
Hello Alice!
Hello Bob!

Loops, conditions, functions, imports — all of Python, right in your template. And since the syntax is self-declared on the first line, you can adapt it to whatever language you're generating: use %#/<</>> for LaTeX, //# for C, or your own — see the Tutorial.

Moreover, contrary to other template language, it is possible to change the delimiters to avoid the need for escaping.

Features

  • Turing complete
  • Easy to create, install, use, and share templates
  • Install a template straight from a git URL (no manual clone needed)
  • Compose templates: call one template from another with skbs.gen()
  • Section to keep user edits on a previously generated file
  • Dynamic file and directory names
  • In-template CLI argument parsing via cyclopts (always available), or click if you prefer it (optional)
  • Heavily tested with pytest

Regenerate without losing your edits

Most template tools are one-shot: run once, then you're on your own. SKBS can treat a file as already generated: mark the auto-generated parts as "sections", and later runs only touch those — hand-written content elsewhere in the file is left completely alone.

## # {{__skbs_template__}}
Header (auto-generated, do not edit)
## beginSection(overwrite=False)
--- BEGIN CUSTOM ---
--- END CUSTOM ---
## endSection()
Footer

Generate it once, hand-edit the content between BEGIN CUSTOM/END CUSTOM, then run skbs gen again on the same destination: your edit survives, because overwrite=False tells SKBS to keep what's already in the file for that section.

Why not Cookiecutter / Copier / Yeoman?

  • Cookiecutter / Copier use Jinja2: a templating language with its own limited logic (loops, conditionals, filters). SKBS templates are plain Python: no sandbox, no missing feature — if Python can do it, so can your template.
  • Yeoman generators are npm packages you write in JS and publish/install like any package. SKBS templates are just files: write one, skbs install --symlink it, done — no packaging step, no separate ecosystem to learn.
  • None of the above let you re-run a template over a file you've since hand-edited without clobbering your changes — see "Regenerate without losing your edits" above.

Install

pip is the preferred way. Then you should generate the configuration (simply where the template are installed...)

By default, the config is installed at the default location for user configs (~/.config/skbs/ for unix-like)

pip install skbs
skbs create-config

Then, you can "install" the default templates (skbs and skbs.sft) that come with skbs (they are the boilerplate to create templates).

I recommend you to read the Tutorial for a friendly introduction to all skbs features, and API_Reference if you need further details

Usage

Usage: skbs [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options:
  -c, --config PATH  Override the default configuration path
  --help             Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  config-path       Prints the path to the in-use configuration file.
  create-config     Create / reset to default the configuration file.
  gen               Generate a skeleton from a template.
  install           Install a new template.
  install-defaults  Install default provided templates
  list              List installed templates.
  uninstall         Uninstall a template

Usage of skbs gen

Usage: skbs gen [OPTIONS] TEMPLATE DEST [ARGS]...

  Generate a skeleton from a template.

  template : if template starts with an '@', it will look for an installed
  template. Else, it will be considered as the template path. dest : the
  output directory (parents will be created if needed) args : argument passed
  to the template ( skbs gen <template_name> -- --help for more informations )

Options:
  -g, --debug
  --stdout           Only for single file templates : output to stdout.
                     --single-file is implied
  -s, --single-file  Authorize single file template for non installed
                     templates.
  --help             Show this message and exit.

(Very) Quick start

This section will cover only the very basic, without too much explanation, see it only as a cheat sheet. Read the full Tutorial to leverage the full potential of SKBS.

You may also find the API_Reference useful

Install the default-provided templates :

skbs install-defaults

To request a template's help, use @help as destination (or pass --help as first template argument, after the --:

skbs gen @skbs.sft @help
#or
skbs gen @skbs.sft foo_bar -- --help

To create a self-contained single file template:

skbs gen @skbs.sft my_template -- --cyclopts

Where my_template is the name you want to give it. Edit my template.

Any file starting with a line :

## # {{__skbs_template__}}

Is considered a dynamic file, with python support. If this line is not present, it is considered a raw file and is copied as is.

Every line starting with ## are python, and are not output. Indent level increments on lines ending with :, and decrements on line containing a single -.

Other lines are printed as they are (possibly multiple time if the python execution flow reach them again).

{{ and }} in a normal line delimit a python expression. It is evaluated and its result replaces the whole {{...}} pattern.

This syntax can be changed by modifying the header line as described in the Tutorial.

To create a multi-file template :

skbs gen @skbs my_second_template -- --cyclopts

Where my_second_template is the name of the template.

Inside my_second_template, plugin.py is the entry point where you can parse the args user-provided argument after the --.

The content of the root directory will be put inside the destination the user provided, each file will be checked for a template header line, and if found, will be parsed and executed as for the self-contained single file template.

Templates can call each other with skbs.gen(template_name, dest, *args), injected as skbs in plugin.py and per-file templates — handy to compose a bigger template out of smaller reusable ones. See the Tutorial for the full semantics, and API_Reference for the exact signature.

To install a template (or a directory containing template :

skbs install -s my_template -n <name>

Where <name> should be replaced by the name you want to use to recall the template.

You can also install directly from a git URL — skbs clones it for you, under a name derived from the URL (domain-name.com/path...) unless you pass -n:

skbs install https://github.com/some/repo.git

This requires git to be available on PATH.

You can list installed template with :

skbs list

...Then you can recall any template in this list using :

skbs gen @<name> [...]

Where <name> is a line that appear in skbs list.

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