create-genuary

A standalone npm package that scaffolds a complete Genuary folder with all daily prompts as individual folders with starter code, ready to use!

The project uses create-p5js under the hood to generate each daily sketch.

Alternatively, you can provide a custom template repository to use your own starter code for each sketch.

It also generates an interactive gallery to showcase all your sketches with the corresponding prompts.

About Genuary

Genuary is a month-long creative coding challenge that happens every January since 2021. Each day has a unique prompt to inspire generative art and creative coding experiments.

Learn more at genuary.art

Quick Start

npm create genuary

This will create a genuary-2025/ folder with all 31 daily p5.js sketches pre-generated based on the official Genuary prompts.

Usage

npm create genuary [folder] [options]

Examples

# Create genuary-2025/ with latest p5.js
npm create genuary

# Create my-genuary/ folder
npm create genuary my-genuary

# Create genuary-2024/ with 2024 prompts
npm create genuary -- --year 2024

# Custom name, 2024 prompts
npm create genuary my-2024 -- --year 2024

# Use specific p5.js version
npm create genuary -- --p5-version 1.11.1

# Use --outputDir instead of positional folder
npm create genuary -- --outputDir my-genuary

# Use a local folder as template for each sketch
npm create genuary -- --sourceDir ./path/to/local/template-folder

# Use a custom template repository from GitHub
npm create genuary -- --templateRepo user/repository-name

# Use a custom template repository from GitLab
npm create genuary -- --templateRepo gitlab:user/repository-name

# Use a custom template repository from Bitbucket
npm create genuary -- --templateRepo bitbucket:user/repository-name

# Customize the sketches folder name
npm create genuary -- --sketchesDir projects

Options

folder (optional)

The target folder name for the project.

• Default: genuary-<year>
• Examples: my-genuary, genuary-2025, art-challenge

--outputDir (optional)

Alias for the folder argument.

• Examples: --outputDir my-genuary, --outputDir genuary-2025

--year (optional)

Genuary year to use for prompts.

• Default: Current year (2025)
• Fetches from: https://genuary.art/<year>/prompts.json
• Examples: --year 2024, --year 2025

--p5-version (optional)

p5.js version to use in all sketches.

• Default: latest
• Passed to: npm create p5js@<version>
• Examples: --p5-version 1.11.1, --p5-version latest

--sourceDir (optional)

Path to a local folder to use as a template for each sketch instead of running create-p5js.

• Examples: --sourceDir ./my-p5-template, --sourceDir ../shared/p5-starter
• When provided, any options meant for create-p5js (like --p5-version) are ignored and a warning will be shown.
• --sourceDir is not compatible with --templateRepo and an error will be shown if both are provided.
• Deprecated alias: --source (use --sourceDir)

--templateRepo (optional)

Clone a custom template repository (via degit) instead of running create-p5js.

• Examples: --templateRepo user/genuary-template, --templateRepo user/genuary-template#branch
• When provided, any options meant for create-p5js (like --p5-version) are ignored and a warning will be shown.
• --templateRepo is not compatible with --sourceDir and an error will be shown if both are provided.
• Deprecated alias: --git (use --templateRepo)

--sketchesDir (optional)

Folder name for all generated sketches inside the project.

• Default: sketches
• Examples: --sketchesDir sketches, --sketchesDir projects

Generated Project Structure

If you use --sketchesDir, the sketches/ folder name will reflect that value.

genuary-2025/                   # Project root (customizable with --outputDir or folder argument)
├── sketches/                   # All daily sketches (customizable with --sketchesDir)
│   ├── 01_particles/           # p5.js sketch
│   ├── 02_no_palettes/         # p5.js sketch
│   ├── 03_droste_effect/       # p5.js sketch
│   └── ...                     # (31 total sketches)
├── index.html                  # Gallery view of all sketches
├── config.json                 # Project configuration (title, artist name, etc.)
├── prompts.json                # Cached prompts used by the gallery
├── README.md                   # Project documentation with prompt list
├── package.json                # Basic package manifest (includes server script)
└── .gitignore                  # Standard ignores

Interactive Gallery

The generated project includes an index.html file that serves as an interactive gallery to navigate and showcase all daily sketches. Each sketch is linked with its corresponding Genuary prompt for easy reference.

Configuration

The generated folder includes a config.json file in the project root. Edit this file to set your name, override the gallery title, or tweak other presentation settings without touching index.html. The gallery also ships with a prompts.json file so the HTML bundle stays light and can be updated independently of the UI. Browsers block loading JSON when a page is opened straight from the filesystem, so make sure to start a local server (e.g. npm run serve) to see changes coming from config.json or prompts.json.

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or higher (for native fetch support)
• Internet connection (for fetching prompts and running create-p5js)

License

MIT