Contributing

Thanks for contributing! This repo powers create-awesome-node-app.

For a full explanation of how templates, extensions, and the file system work, read docs/AUTHORING.md.

Adding an extension

1. Create extensions/<your-slug>/
2. Add a package.json with dependencies and/or devDependencies to merge into the project
3. Add any files to copy (use .template, .append, [bracket]/ as needed — see docs/AUTHORING.md)
4. Register it in templates.json under "extensions":

{
  "name": "My Extension",
  "slug": "my-extension",
  "description": "Adds X to your project",
  "url": "https://github.com/Create-Node-App/cna-templates/tree/main/extensions/my-extension",
  "type": ["react"],
  "category": "UI",
  "labels": ["React", "UI"]
}

Adding a template

1. Create templates/<your-slug>/
2. Set up package/index.js, package/dependencies.js, package/devDependencies.js
3. Add project files with the appropriate suffixes
4. Register it in templates.json under "templates" (same fields as extension, plus optional customOptions)

Commit messages

Use conventional commits: feat:, fix:, docs:, chore:, refactor:.

PR checklist

• Directory name matches the slug in templates.json
• url points to the correct path on the main branch
• slug is globally unique across templates and extensions
• All required fields present: name, slug, description, url, type, category, labels
• Extension type is an array if it supports multiple template types
• Tested locally — see docs/TESTING.md

Questions?

Open an issue or start a discussion.