Using the CLI

File Architect's core is open-source and available from NPM as a command-line interface.

Installation

npm install -g @filearchitect/cli
# or
pnpm add -g @filearchitect/cli
# or
yarn global add @filearchitect/cli

Quick Start

1. Create a structure file (structure.txt):

src
    components
        Button.tsx
        Card.tsx
    styles
        global.css

2. Create the structure:

filearchitect create structure.txt my-project

CLI Usage

# Create a structure
filearchitect create structure.txt output

# Preview operations without creating
filearchitect show structure.txt output

Syntax Guide

Syntax	Description	Example
name.ext	Creates an empty file	file.txt
name	Creates a directory	folder
[source]	Copies a file or folder with its contents	[~/path/to/config.json]
[souce] > name.ext	Copies and renames a file or folder	[~/path/to/config.json] > config.json
(source)	Moves (imports) a file or folder with its contents	(~/path/to/file.txt)
(source) > name.ext	Moves and renames a file or folder	(~/old.txt) > new.txt

YAML Frontmatter

You can include YAML frontmatter at the start of your structure file to configure replacements:

---
fileReplacements:
  - search: ".js"
    replace: ".ts"
folderReplacements:
  - search: "api"
    replace: "rest"
---
src
api
index.js

Complete Example

---
fileReplacements:
  - search: ".js"
    replace: ".ts"
---
src
    components
        Button.tsx
        Card.tsx
        forms
            LoginForm.tsx
            SignupForm.tsx
    styles
        global.css
        components.css
    utils
        [~/templates/api.js] > api.ts
        helpers.ts
    types
        index.d.ts

# Copy configuration files
config
    [~/configs/base.json] > base.json
    [~/templates/react] > template

# Import existing files
tests
    (~/old-project/components/Button.test.tsx) > components/Button.test.tsx
    (~/old-project/utils/helpers.test.ts) > utils/helpers.test.ts

This creates:

my-project/
├── src/
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── Button.tsx
│   │   ├── Card.tsx
│   │   └── forms/
│   │       ├── LoginForm.tsx
│   │       └── SignupForm.tsx
│   ├── styles/
│   │   ├── global.css
│   │   └── components.css
│   ├── utils/
│   │   ├── api.ts        # Copied and renamed from ~/templates/api.js
│   │   └── helpers.ts
│   └── types/
│       └── index.d.ts
├── config/
│   ├── base.json         # Copied from ~/configs/base.json
│   └── template/         # Copied from ~/templates/react
└── tests/
    ├── components/
    │   └── Button.test.tsx  # Moved from ~/old-project/components/Button.test.tsx
    └── utils/
        └── helpers.test.ts  # Moved from ~/old-project/utils/helpers.test.ts

Practical Examples

Generate a React Component

src
    components
        Button
            Button.tsx
            Button.module.css
            index.ts
            Button.test.tsx

Create a Project Scaffold

---
fileReplacements:
  - search: "MyProject"
    replace: "TaskManager"
---
MyProject
    src
        index.ts
        models
            User.ts
            Task.ts
        services
            api.ts
        components
            layout
                Header.tsx
                Footer.tsx
            shared
                Button.tsx
                Card.tsx
    public
        index.html
        assets
            logo.svg
    tests
        unit
            models
                User.test.ts
    README.md
    package.json
    tsconfig.json

Import from an Existing Project

# Create a new project with files from multiple sources
new-project
    # Copy configuration files
    [~/templates/typescript/tsconfig.json]
    [~/templates/eslint/.eslintrc.js]

    # Import key components from another project
    src
        components
            (~/old-project/src/components/Button.tsx)
            (~/old-project/src/components/Card.tsx)

        # Add new files
        pages
            Home.tsx
            About.tsx
            Contact.tsx

Contributing

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/filearchitect/filearchitect.git
cd filearchitect

2. Install dependencies:

pnpm install

3. Build the packages:

pnpm build

4. Try it out:

pnpm cli create structure.txt output