chassis

README

Chassis

A lightweight CLI tool to scaffold project directory structures from layout definition files.

Installation

From Source

go install github.com/pyzamo/chassis@latest

Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page.

Usage

Create a project structure in seconds:

chassis build <layout-file> <target-dir>

Arguments

• <layout-file> - Path to layout definition file (or - for stdin)
• <target-dir> - Target directory (defaults to current directory)

Options

• -v, --verbose - Print every path created/skipped
• --indent <int> - Expected space width for plain-text parser (default: 2)

Layout Formats

Plain-Text Tree

project/
  src/
    main.py
    utils/
      helpers.py
      constants.py
  tests/
    test_main.py
  requirements.txt
  README.md

YAML

Use null for files, {} for empty directories

backend:
  cmd:
    server:
      main.go: null
  internal:
    handlers: {}
    models: {}
  go.mod: null
frontend:
  src:
    App.tsx: null
    index.tsx: null
  package.json: null

JSON

{
  "webapp": {
    "client": {
      "src": {
        "App.tsx": null,
        "index.tsx": null
      },
      "package.json": null
    },
    "server": {
      "main.js": null,
      "package.json": null
    }
  }
}

Examples

Basic Usage

# From a file
chassis build layout.txt my-project

# From stdin
cat layout.yaml | chassis build - my-project

# With verbose output
chassis build -v structure.json app

Real-World Examples

Go Microservice

api:
  cmd:
    server:
      main.go: null
  internal:
    handlers:
      auth.go: null
      user.go: null
    models:
      user.go: null
  go.mod: null
  Dockerfile: null
  README.md: null

Save as microservice.yaml and run:

chassis build microservice.yaml my-service

Python Package

{
  "my_package": {
    "src": {
      "my_package": {
        "__init__.py": null,
        "core.py": null,
        "utils.py": null
      }
    },
    "tests": {
      "test_core.py": null,
      "test_utils.py": null
    },
    "setup.py": null,
    "requirements.txt": null,
    "README.md": null
  }
}

Save as python-package.json and run:

chassis build python-package.json