code-generation-template

SKILL.md

Code Generation & Templates

Table of Contents

Overview

When to Use

Quick Start

Reference Guides

Best Practices

Overview

Comprehensive guide to code generation techniques including template engines, AST manipulation, code scaffolding, and automated boilerplate generation for increased productivity and consistency.

When to Use

Scaffolding new projects or components

Generating repetitive boilerplate code

Creating CRUD operations automatically

Generating API clients from OpenAPI specs

Building code from templates

Creating database models from schemas

Generating TypeScript types from JSON Schema

Building custom CLI generators

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

// templates/component.hbs
import React from 'react';

export interface {{pascalCase name}}Props {
  {{#each props}}
  {{this.name}}{{#if this.optional}}?{{/if}}: {{this.type}};
  {{/each}}
}

export const {{pascalCase name}}: React.FC<{{pascalCase name}}Props> = ({
  {{#each props}}{{this.name}},{{/each}}
}) => {
  return (
    <div className="{{kebabCase name}}">
      {/* Component implementation */}
    </div>
  );
};

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Guide
Contents

Template Engines
Template Engines

AST-Based Code Generation
AST-Based Code Generation

Project Scaffolding
Project Scaffolding

OpenAPI Client Generation
OpenAPI Client Generation

Database Model Generation
Database Model Generation

GraphQL Code Generation
GraphQL Code Generation

Plop.js Generator
Plop.js Generator

Best Practices

✅ DO

Use templates for repetitive code patterns

Generate TypeScript types from schemas

Include tests in generated code

Follow project conventions in templates

Add comments to explain generated code

Version control your templates

Make templates configurable

Generate documentation alongside code

Validate inputs before generating

Use consistent naming conventions

Keep templates simple and maintainable

Provide CLI for easy generation

❌ DON'T

Over-generate (avoid unnecessary complexity)

Generate code that's hard to maintain

Forget to validate generated code

Hardcode values in templates

Generate code without documentation

Create generators for one-off use cases

Mix business logic in templates

Generate code without formatting

Skip error handling in generators

Create overly complex templates

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