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Boiler

Introduction

Boiler is a CLI tool that turns repetitive coding tasks into single commands. Fetch code from anywhere, scaffold full features, and reuse your best work across every project.

What Can You Do With Boiler?

Section titled “What Can You Do With Boiler?”

Fetch From Anywhere - Without git clone

Section titled “Fetch From Anywhere - Without git clone”

Pull individual files, specific folders, or entire repos from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or any direct URL:

Terminal window
bl use alice/snippets:js/errorHandler.js ./src/utils
bl use vercel/next.js:examples/blog ./my-blog
bl use https://gitlab.com/myorg/templates:Dockerfile .

Instant Gitignores for Any Stack

Section titled “Instant Gitignores for Any Stack”

The built-in gi alias connects to 225+ popular templates and 300+ community templates:

Terminal window
bl gi Node
bl gi Python
bl gi Go
bl gi Global/macOS

Store & Reuse Your Own Code

Section titled “Store & Reuse Your Own Code”
Terminal window
bl store utils/debounce.js     # Store once
bl add debounce ./src/utils    # Reuse anywhere

Template variables let you customize snippets on the fly - bl__VAR_NAME placeholders are prompted interactively when you add them.

Automate Full Feature Scaffolding

Section titled “Automate Full Feature Scaffolding”

Write .bl scripts that create multiple files, inject code into existing ones, and run commands - triggered with a single bl new call:

Terminal window
bl new feat user
# Creates: src/routes/user.route.js, src/controllers/user.controller.js
# Injects: imports and app.use() into src/api.js automatically

Core Concepts

Section titled “Core Concepts”
Concept What it is
Snippet A single file stored in your Boiler store
Stack An entire directory/project template
.bl Script An automation script run with bl new
Global Store ~/.boiler/ - shared across all your projects
Local Store bl/ inside your project - project-specific templates
Registry A GitHub/GitLab repo used as a shared snippet library for teams

Language & Platform Agnostic

Section titled “Language & Platform Agnostic”

Boiler works with any file type - JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C++, Dockerfiles, shell scripts, config files, and more. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”