cm templates Reference (20260210)

February 15, 2026 · View on GitHub

Manage video render templates (template packs).

A render template is a template.json file that selects a Remotion compositionId and provides render defaults.

A code template is a render template that also ships a Remotion project via template.json -> remotion. Code templates execute arbitrary JS/TS during bundling/rendering and require explicit opt-in (--allow-template-code).

Commands

cm templates list [--source <builtin|user|project>]
cm templates show <idOrPath>
cm templates validate <path>
cm templates new <id> [--root <dir>] [--from <idOrPath>] [--mode <data|code>] [--force]
cm templates import <source> [options]
cm templates pack <path> [-o, --output <path>]
cm templates install <path> [--force]

`cm templates import`

Import a Remotion project/template into a CM code template directory under ~/.cm/templates/<id>/.

Importing does not execute the imported code. Rendering later will require --allow-template-code.

Sources

<source> can be:

local directory
GitHub repo: owner/repo or github:owner/repo or https://github.com/owner/repo[/tree/<ref>/<subdir>]
Remotion gallery page: https://www.remotion.dev/templates/<slug> (CM will resolve the GitHub source link)
direct .zip URL

Options

--root <dir>: destination templates root (default: ~/.cm/templates)
--id <id>: template id (kebab-case). If omitted, derived from the source
--name <name>: template display name override
--description <text>: template description override
--composition <ShortVideo|SplitScreenGameplay>: base CM composition for the generated wrapper (default: ShortVideo)
--ref <ref>: Git ref (branch/tag) for GitHub sources
--subdir <path>: import only a subdirectory inside the repo/zip (relative)
--template-deps <auto|prompt|never>: default dependency install preference written into template.json (default: prompt)
--template-pm <npm|pnpm|yarn>: default package manager preference written into template.json
--force: overwrite the destination template directory if it exists

Output

In human mode, cm templates import prints:

imported template id
install location
resolved source (when known)
a next-step hint

In --json mode, it emits a single JSON envelope with command: "templates:import".

Layout Created

cm templates import produces a directory like:

~/.cm/templates/<id>/
  template.json
  package.json
  public/
    README.txt
  remotion/
    index.ts
    root.tsx
    Main.tsx
    README.txt
  imported/
    ...upstream Remotion project (filtered: no node_modules/.git)

Edit remotion/Main.tsx to customize, and pull animations/components from imported/ as needed.

Examples

# Import from Remotion's template gallery (auto-resolves GitHub source)
cm templates import https://www.remotion.dev/templates/tiktok --id remotion-tiktok

# Import from GitHub shorthand
cm templates import remotion-dev/template-tiktok --id remotion-tiktok

# Import from a GitHub URL with a specific ref/subdir
cm templates import https://github.com/acme/video-templates/tree/v2/templates/tiktok --id acme-tiktok

# Render (code templates require explicit opt-in)
cm render -i visuals.json --audio audio.wav --timestamps timestamps.json \
  --template remotion-tiktok --allow-template-code -o out/video.mp4