create-seed 🌱

Scaffold a new project from a template. Fast, portable, zero config.

Usage

# With bun
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t bun-library

# With npx
npx create-seed@latest my-app -t bun-library

# With pnpx
pnpx create-seed@latest my-app -t bun-library

Options

Usage: create-seed [options] [command] [name]

Scaffold a new project from a template

Arguments:
  name                         Project name

Options:
  -V, --version                output the version number
  -t, --template <template>    Template to use (gh:owner/repo/path, https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/ref/path, or local path)
  --pm <pm>                    Package manager (npm|pnpm|bun, default: auto-detect)
  --allow-missing-tools        Continue when create-seed.tools commands are not installed (default: false)
  --skip-git                   Skip git initialization (default: false)
  --skip-install               Skip installing dependencies (default: false)
  -l, --list                   List available templates (default: false)
  --templates-url <url>        URL or local path to templates.json (default:
                               "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/create-seed/templates/main/templates.json")
  -d, --dry-run                Dry run (default: false)
  -v, --verbose                Verbose output (default: false)
  -h, --help                   display help for command

Commands:
  registry                     Manage template registries
  template                     Manage local templates
  tools                        Inspect tool versions used by template requirements

Templates

Browse available templates at create-seed/templates.

You can also use any GitHub repo, GitHub web URL, subdirectory, or local path as a template:

# Short name (from the default registry)
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t bun-library

# GitHub repo
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t gh:owner/repo

# GitHub repo URL
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t https://github.com/owner/repo

# GitHub subdirectory
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t gh:owner/repo/path

# GitHub branch
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t gh:owner/repo#my-branch

# GitHub tree URL
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/my-branch/path

# GitHub subdirectory on a specific branch
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t gh:owner/repo/path#my-branch

# Local path
bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t ./my-local-template

GitHub tree URLs treat the first segment after /tree/ as the ref. If your branch or tag name contains /, use gh:owner/repo/path#ref/with/slash instead.

Template authors can add create-seed.instructions in package.json to customize the final note:

• Prefix a line with + to render it in bold
• Use a standalone ~ line to insert an empty line

Templates can also declare external CLI requirements with create-seed.tools.

String values are shorthand for "this command must exist and report at least this version":

{
  "create-seed": {
    "tools": {
      "solana": "3.0.0"
    }
  }
}

If you need more control, each tool can also use an object:

{
  "create-seed": {
    "tools": {
      "adb": {
        "args": ["version"],
        "docsUrl": "https://developer.android.com/tools/adb",
        "installHint": "Install Android platform-tools.",
        "minVersion": "37.0.0",
        "versionPattern": "Version\\s+(\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+)"
      },
      "avm": {},
      "node": {
        "minVersion": "24.5.0"
      }
    }
  }
}

Supported object fields:

• args — probe arguments; defaults to ["--version"]
• command — override the executable name; defaults to the tool key
• docsUrl — documentation link appended to the error
• installHint — custom error text shown when the requirement is not met
• minVersion — minimum required x.y.z version; omit it for a presence-only check
• versionPattern — valid and safe regular expression with one capture group for the version to compare; requires minVersion

If a required tool is missing, below the minimum version, or its configured probe does not return a parseable x.y.z version, scaffolding stops before install and tells the user how to fix it. If minVersion is omitted, create-seed only requires the command to exist and the configured probe command to succeed. solana gets a Solana-specific install hint by default; other tools use a generic upgrade message unless you provide installHint or docsUrl.

If you need to scaffold in an environment that intentionally does not have those tools installed yet, pass --allow-missing-tools. That only ignores missing commands; installed-but-too-old tools and other probe failures still stop generation.

If you want to see exactly what create-seed would compare for a command before writing template metadata, use the probe command:

create-seed tools probe node
create-seed tools probe adb --min 37.0.0 --pattern 'Version\s+(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)'
create-seed tools probe avm --presence-only

Probe options:

• --arg <value> — add a custom probe argument; repeatable
• --json — print the structured probe result as JSON
• --min <version> — check a minimum version
• --pattern <regex> — use a custom regex with one capture group
• --presence-only — only verify that the command exists and the probe succeeds

The probe prints the raw output, every detected version-like token, the version create-seed would compare, whether the minimum passes, and a suggested tools config snippet.

If you want to validate the full create-seed metadata for a local template before publishing or adding it to a registry, use:

create-seed template validate
create-seed template validate --dir ./path/to/template

That validates the create-seed object in package.json and prints the normalized instructions and tools metadata that create-seed will use. Generated registries also carry that normalized tools metadata in templates.json.

What it does

1. Clones the template — downloads from GitHub (via giget) or copies from a local path
2. Checks required tools — validates any create-seed.tools requirements from the template before making further changes
3. Configures the package — rewrites package.json and renames in-template references to your new app name
4. Initializes git — runs git init before install so prepare scripts can see the repo (skips gracefully if git is not installed)
5. Installs dependencies — auto-detects your package manager (bun/npm/pnpm)
6. Runs one post-generation setup script — first match wins from create-seed:setup, then setup (skipped if install was skipped or no matching script exists)
7. Runs one post-generation fix script — first match wins from create-seed:fix, lint:fix, then format (skipped if install was skipped or no matching script exists)
8. Creates the initial commit — if git is enabled and available

Package manager detection

create-seed auto-detects which package manager you're using based on how you ran it:

| Command | Detected PM | |---------|-------------| | bun x create-seed@latest | bun | | npx create-seed@latest | npm | | pnpx create-seed@latest | pnpm |

Override with --pm:

bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t gh:owner/repo --pm bun

NO_DNA support

create-seed supports the NO_DNA convention for non-human operators.

When NO_DNA is set to a non-empty value, create-seed will never prompt interactively:

• Project name must be passed as a positional argument
• Template must be passed with --template
• Existing target directories are not overwritten (command fails instead)

Example:

NO_DNA=1 bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t bun-library

Analytics

Anonymous usage statistics are collected via Umami to help improve the tool. No personally identifiable information is collected.

Data collected: OS, architecture, Node version, package manager, template name, and success/failure status.

To opt out, set the DO_NOT_TRACK environment variable:

DO_NOT_TRACK=1 bun x create-seed@latest my-app -t gh:owner/repo

Analytics are also automatically disabled in CI environments.

Agent skill

This repo includes an AgentSkill for consistent usage patterns:

• skills/create-seed/SKILL.md

Install/discover it with the skills CLI:

# Discover skills in this repo
bun x skills add create-seed/create-seed --list

# Install the 'create-seed' skill
bun x skills add create-seed/create-seed --skill create-seed --yes

Development

bun install
bun run build
bun run test
bun run lint

License

MIT – see LICENSE.