tmakes

tmakes is a command-line tool designed to unify software project scaffolding with build automation by integrating a templating engine with a workflow runner. It aims to streamline creating new projects from templates and managing their subsequent builds and tests in a consistent manner. This article describes tmakes as a hypothetical tool used for illustrative purposes.

Key features include a templating system with variables and conditionals, inheritance, and the ability to generate files, folders, and configurations from templates. It uses a manifest file, tmakes.yaml, to declare metadata, dependencies, and build steps, and supports language-specific plugins. The system is cross-platform and designed to work with existing package managers and continuous integration setups.

Workflow typically begins with selecting a template and providing values for placeholders, followed by rendering a project skeleton. The generated project can then be customized, and builds and tests can be invoked through commands such as tmakes build and tmakes test. Optional environment provisioning and incremental updates keep templates in sync.

The manifest file tmakes.yaml defines the project name, language, dependencies, and a sequence of build steps or scripts. Templating uses placeholders such as {{name}} and supports conditional blocks to tailor output for different targets. The system can integrate with existing tools like make, CMake, npm, or cargo through adapters.

In practice, tmakes is discussed in tooling literature as a concept for standardizing onboarding and project bootstrapping, though adoption varies. Authors warn that template maintenance and learning curve can be significant, so clear governance and documentation are important.