Quick Start

Learn the basics of Boiler in just a few minutes.

1. Store Your First Snippet

Create and store a simple error handler:

# Create a file
echo "function handleError(err) { console.error(err); }" > errorHandler.js

# Store it
bl store errorHandler.js

Output: ✓ Snippet stored: errorHandler@1.js

2. List Your Snippets

View all your stored snippets:

bl ls --snippets

Output:

📄 Snippets:
  • errorHandler@1.js

📦 Stacks:
  No stacks found

3. Use the Snippet in Another Project

Navigate to a different directory and add the snippet:

cd ../my-other-project
bl add errorHandler

Output: ✓ Snippet added: errorHandler@1.js → boiler/errorHandler.js

The snippet is copied to the default boiler/ directory.

4. Store a Project Stack

Store an entire project directory as a stack:

# First, initialize stack config (required before storing a directory)
cd my-express-app
bl init
# Prompts for stack name, description, author, and files to ignore

# Then store it
bl store

Output: ✓ Stored stack 'express-starter@1' at /path/to/store/stacks/express-starter@1

5. Initialize a New Project from Stack

Start a new project using your stack:

mkdir new-project
cd new-project
bl add express-starter

Output: ✓ Stack added: express-starter@1 → boiler/express-starter

Your stack is copied to ./boiler/express-starter by default.

Common Commands

Store Resources

bl store <file>              # Store a snippet
bl store <folder> --stack    # Store a stack

Add Resources

bl add <name>                # Add snippet/stack into ./boiler
bl add <name> <path>         # Add to a specific relative/absolute path
bl add <name> --spread       # Spread stack contents into destination
bl add <name@version.ext>    # Add specific version
bl add <name> -r             # Fetch from remote registry and save locally
bl use <url-or-repo>         # One-shot fetch from anywhere (no local store)

List Resources

bl ls                        # List all
bl ls --snippets             # List only snippets
bl ls --stacks               # List only stacks

Get Information

bl info <name>               # Show resource details
bl path                      # Show store location

Search and Clean

bl search <query>            # Search by name
bl clean <name>              # Remove a resource

What You've Learned

• ✓ Store files as snippets with bl store
• ✓ Store directories as stacks with bl store --stack
• ✓ List resources with bl ls
• ✓ Add resources with bl add (auto-detects single versions)
• ✓ Get info with bl info

You're now ready to use Boiler in your daily workflow!