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tdir/README.md
Gregor Lohaus af0c25e64b
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full template restoreablity
2026-05-24 12:17:12 +02:00

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tdir

Treat a directory as a template. File paths and text file contents support conditionals (@if/@elseif/@else) and variable substitution (@var). Provide a Zod schema and tdir validates it matches the template at setup time, then validates context at render time. Binary files are copied through unchanged.

Install

bun add @gregorlohaus/tdir zod

Quick start

Given a template directory:

templates/
  <@if(context.web)>web/
    index.html

Where index.html contains:

<html>
  <@if(context.header.show)>
    <head><@var(context.header.title)></head>
  <@endif>
  <body></body>
</html>

Render it:

import { initRenderer } from "@gregorlohaus/tdir"
import { z } from "zod"

const createRenderer = initRenderer("./templates")

const render = createRenderer(z.object({
  web: z.boolean(),
  header: z.object({
    show: z.boolean(),
    title: z.string()
  })
}))

render("./output", {
  web: true,
  header: { show: true, title: "Hello" }
})
// Creates: output/web/index.html with <head>Hello</head>

Template directives

In file contents

Directive Description
<@if(context.x)> Conditional block — boolean check (must end with <@endif>)
<@if(eq(context.x,"value"))> Conditional block — string equality check
<@elseif(context.y)> Else-if branch (same forms as @if)
<@else> Else branch
<@endif> End conditional block
<@var(context.x)> Substitute with context value (default type: string)
<@var(context.x:number)> Substitute with explicit type

In directory/file names

Directive Description
<@if(context.x)>dirname Conditionally include directory/file (boolean check)
<@if(eq(context.x,"value"))>dirname Conditionally include by string equality
<@var(context.x)> Dynamic directory/file name

These can be combined: <@if(context.web.create)><@var(context.web.dir)> creates a directory named by context.web.dir only if context.web.create is true.

Schema validation

createRenderer validates that your Zod schema matches the template variables. Mismatches throw SchemaMismatchError:

import { initRenderer, SchemaMismatchError } from "@gregorlohaus/tdir"
import { z } from "zod"

const createRenderer = initRenderer("./templates")

// Template uses <@if(context.web)> which requires a boolean,
// but schema declares string -- throws SchemaMismatchError
createRenderer(z.object({
  web: z.string(), // wrong type
  header: z.object({ show: z.boolean(), title: z.string() })
}))
// SchemaMismatchError: Schema doesn't match used template variables: web: expected z.boolean() but schema has z.string()

// Schema is missing fields used in templates -- throws SchemaMismatchError
createRenderer(z.object({
  web: z.boolean()
  // missing header
}))
// SchemaMismatchError: Schema doesn't match used template variables: header: missing in schema

Context validation

At render time, the context is validated by Zod. Invalid context throws z.ZodError:

const render = createRenderer(z.object({
  web: z.boolean(),
  header: z.object({ show: z.boolean(), title: z.string() })
}))

render("./output", {})
// ZodError: required at "web", required at "header"

render("./output", { web: "not a boolean", header: { show: true, title: "Hi" } })
// ZodError: expected boolean, received string at "web"

Re-rendering

render(target, context) clears target before writing, so rendering the same template into the same directory with different contexts always produces a clean result (files/paths excluded by conditionals won't linger from a previous run).

For safety, tdir refuses to render into the filesystem root, the current working directory, the home directory, or any directory that overlaps the template source. Dynamic file and directory names are also resolved against the output directory and cannot write outside it.

Reverse maps

Pass { reverseMap: true } as the third render argument to write .tdir-map.json into the output directory:

render("./output", {
  web: true,
  header: { show: true, title: "Hello" }
}, { reverseMap: true })

Pass a string to choose a custom JSON path inside the output directory:

render("./output", context, { reverseMap: "meta/reverse-map.json" })

The map contains a flat lookup from rendered strings to template tokens, per-file occurrences with path/range context, inline conditional blocks, and template files skipped by path conditionals:

{
  "version": 1,
  "files": [
    {
      "outputPath": "web/index.html",
      "templatePath": "<@if(context.web)>web/index.html",
      "tokens": [
        {
          "kind": "content",
          "result": "Hello",
          "token": "<@var(context.header.title)>",
          "contextPath": "header.title",
          "outputPath": "web/index.html",
          "templatePath": "<@if(context.web)>web/index.html",
          "range": { "start": 16, "end": 21 }
        },
        {
          "kind": "conditional",
          "result": "<head><@var(context.header.title)></head>",
          "token": "<@if(context.header.show)><head><@var(context.header.title)></head><@endif>",
          "outputPath": "web/index.html",
          "templatePath": "<@if(context.web)>web/index.html",
          "range": { "start": 9, "end": 53 },
          "activeRange": { "start": 27, "end": 71 }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "skipped": [
    {
      "kind": "file",
      "templatePath": "<@if(context.docs)>docs/readme.md",
      "encoding": "utf8",
      "content": "# Docs"
    }
  ],
  "tokens": {
    "Hello": ["<@var(context.header.title)>"]
  }
}

Reverse CLI

Use the reverse map to rebuild template files from an edited rendered directory:

tdir reverse ./output ./templates

Without installing the package first, run the published CLI through Bun:

bunx @gregorlohaus/tdir reverse ./output ./templates

By default, the command reads ./output/.tdir-map.json. Use --map for a custom map path relative to the rendered directory:

tdir reverse ./output ./templates --map meta/reverse-map.json
bunx @gregorlohaus/tdir reverse ./output ./templates --map meta/reverse-map.json

The command writes files at their original template paths, restores recorded <@var(...)> tokens, wraps edited inline conditional output back in the original conditional block, and restores template files that were skipped by path conditionals.

Unmatched directives

A <@if> without a matching <@endif> throws when the renderer is initialized:

// If a template file contains <@if(context.x)> with no <@endif>
initRenderer("./templates")
// Error: Unmatched <@if> without <@endif>