cookiecutter

cookiecutter [OPTIONS] TEMPLATE [EXTRA_CONTEXT]

--output-dir OUTPUT_DIR
    Directory to output generated project

--checkout REV
    Checkout specific template revision

--config-file FILE
    Path to user configuration file

--no-input
    Disable interactive prompts; use defaults

--accept-hooks
    Accept hook config files without validation

--replay
    Replay previous generation from file

--replay-file FILE
    Custom replay file path

--overwrite-if-exists
    Overwrite existing files

--skip-if-file-exists
    Skip generation if files exist

--output-file FILE
    File for replay data output

--debug
    Enable debug logging

-h, --help
    Show help message

--version
    Display version information

Cookiecutter is a versatile command-line utility that creates projects from reusable cookiecutter templates using the Jinja2 templating engine. Templates define a directory structure with placeholders for user input, specified in a cookiecutter.json file. Users provide values via prompts or extra context, generating customized files instantly.

It excels at scaffolding boilerplate code for Python packages, web apps, Docker setups, and more, supporting any language or toolset. Templates are often hosted on GitHub, but local directories work too. Popular in open-source for standardizing project initialization.

Installation requires Python: pip install cookiecutter. Invoke with a template URL, e.g., cookiecutter gh:audreyr/cookiecutter-pypackage. It clones the template, renders files, cleans up, and outputs to the current or specified directory. Features like pre/post hooks (Python scripts) enable automation. Replay mode regenerates projects without reprompting, ideal for CI/CD.

Widely adopted by projects like cookiecutter-django and cookiecutter-hypermodern-python, it saves time on repetitive setup.

Not a standard Linux utility; requires Python/pip installation. Templates must include valid cookiecutter.json. Git needed for remote templates. Potential issues with permissioned repos or large templates.

pip install cookiecutter or pipx install cookiecutter for isolated env.

cookiecutter https://github.com/cookiecutter/cookiecutter-pypackage
Follows prompts for project name, author, etc., generates Python package.

Requires cookiecutter.json with variables; uses {{cookiecutter.var_name}} in files.

Created in 2013 by Audrey Roy Greenfeld as a Django project generator. Evolved into general-purpose tool under cookiecutter-id repo. Maintained by community since 2015; version 2.0+ added replay and improved hooks.

pip(1), git(1)