Kikplate Launches Schema-Driven 'generate' Command for Smarter Project Templates

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Developer tool Kikplate has introduced a new 'generate' feature that allows project templates, called plates, to define typed variables, optional modules, and file mappings through a structured manifest file named plate.yaml. The update replaces the older kikplate.yaml format, which only stored descriptive metadata and relied on simple repository cloning with no support for variables or conditional logic. The new plate.yaml manifest acts as a full generator definition, enabling the CLI to render templated files dynamically based on user-supplied or default values. Existing plate owners are not required to migrate immediately, as Kikplate still supports the legacy format, though that backward compatibility will be dropped in a future release. The nginx HTTP server starter plate has been cited as a real-world example of the new schema-driven format in action.

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