Terminology

Praxis terminology

Term	Precise meaning
Workspace	One package in the repository: cli/ or web/.
Project	The output repository requested by a user.
Project type	frontend, backend, fullstack, or pro-backend.
Configuration	A validated PraxisConfig object and the serialized praxis.config.json written to an output.
Module	A directory under cli/templates/ with a manifest.json; for example backend.express or pro.capability.redis-cache.
Manifest	The declarative description of a module's overlays, packages, environment keys, and patches.
Overlay	A directory tree copied into an output scope when its selectors match.
Selector	Optional conditions such as language, framework, project type, Pro stack, capability, or cloud. All specified conditions must match.
Scope	Where a contribution is applied: root, frontend, or backend.
Patch	An exact, single string replacement applied after overlays. A missing or ambiguous target fails generation.
Token	A placeholder such as {{projectName}} replaced while files are copied or patched.
Capability	A user-selectable Praxis Pro concern such as jwt-auth, redis-cache, kubernetes, or terraform.
Requested capabilities	The exact Pro capabilities selected by the user.
Resolved capabilities	Requested capabilities plus deterministic implications, in canonical order.
UI style	One of 40 landing-page design directions represented by ui.<style> modules.
Starter mode	Framework-native Tailwind/shadcn scaffolding without a styled landing page or DESIGN.md.
Template mode	A selected ui.<style> module that replaces the starter page and copies its design guide/assets.
Generated project	A standalone output. It contains no runtime dependency on the Praxis source repository.

“Template” is overloaded

In ordinary conversation, “template” may mean the complete generated application. In the codebase, template modules are smaller composable units. A fullstack output can combine a workspace module, frontend module, styling module, UI module, backend module, database module, auth module, cache module, and several deployment modules.

The authoritative list selected for a configuration comes from resolveModules, not from the number of directories under cli/templates/.