cyan.yaml Reference

The cyan.yaml file defines template metadata and declares dependencies on processors, plugins, and other templates.

Basic Structure

username: myorg
name: my-template
description: A template description
project: https://example.com/my-project
source: https://github.com/myorg/my-template
email: [email protected]
tags: []
readme: README.md
processors: []
plugins: []
templates: []

Fields Reference

username

Required. The organization or user name that owns this template.

username: myorg

• Use lowercase letters
• Use hyphens for separation
• Must match the registry user/organization

name

Required. The template identifier within the organization.

name: my-template

• Use lowercase letters
• Use hyphens for separation
• Must be unique within the organization

description

Required. Brief description of what the template provides.

description: A modern Node.js project template with TypeScript support

project

Required. URL to the project documentation or website.

project: https://docs.myorg.io/templates/node-service

source

Required. URL to the source code repository.

source: https://github.com/myorg/my-template

email

Required. Contact email for the template maintainer.

email: [email protected]

tags

Required. Tags for template discovery. Can be an empty array.

tags:
  - nodejs
  - typescript
  - react
  - starter

readme

Required. Path to the template's README file.

readme: README.md

processors

Required. Array of processor dependencies. Can be empty.

processors:
  - myorg/my-processor
  - atomi/typescript:3

Format: username/processor-name[:version]

plugins

Required. Array of plugin dependencies. Can be empty.

plugins:
  - cyan/init-git
  - atomi/npm-install:2

Format: username/plugin-name[:version]

templates

Required. Array of other templates to compose with. Can be empty.

templates:
  - myorg/base-node
  - myorg/typescript:2
  - myorg/docker:1

Format: username/template-name[:version]

Version Management

Template versions are auto-incrementing integers managed by the registry, not semantic versions. When you push a template to the registry, it automatically receives the next available version number (1, 2, 3, ...).

This means:

• No version field exists in cyan.yaml
• Versions are tracked internally by the registry
• Reference specific versions using the :version suffix (e.g., myorg/template:3)

Complete Example

# Organization and identity
username: myorg
name: node-service
description: Production-ready Node.js microservice template
email: [email protected]

# Links
project: https://docs.myorg.io/templates/node-service
source: https://github.com/myorg/node-service-template
readme: README.md

# Discovery
tags:
  - nodejs
  - microservice
  - typescript
  - grpc

# Processor dependencies
processors:
  - myorg/base-processor

# Plugin dependencies
plugins:
  - cyan/init-git
  - cyan/npm-install

# Compose with other templates
templates:
  - myorg/base-node:3
  - myorg/typescript:2
  - myorg/docker:1
  - myorg/grpc:1

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