Templates

Templates define reusable setup steps. Bivvy ships dozens of built-in templates covering system package managers, version managers, language-specific dependency tools, database migrations, containers, infrastructure as code, and monorepo tools. You can also create your own.

Using Templates

Reference a template in your step configuration by its name:

steps:
  deps:
    template: yarn-install

When you run bivvy init, templates are auto-detected based on files in your project (e.g. Gemfile triggers bundle-install, package-lock.json triggers npm-install, yarn.lock triggers yarn-install).

Template names are the long form, like yarn-install, bundle-install, cargo-build, mise-tools, nextjs-build. There is no alias mechanism — short names like yarn or cargo will not resolve.

Available Built-in Templates

Category	Templates
System	`brew-bundle`, `apt-install`, `yum-install`, `pacman-install`
Windows	`choco-install`, `scoop-install`
Version managers	`mise-tools`, `asdf-tools`, `volta-setup`, `fnm-setup`, `nvm-node`, `rbenv-ruby`, `pyenv-python`
Ruby	`bundle-install`, `rails-db`, `ruby/version-bump`
Node.js	`yarn-install`, `npm-install`, `pnpm-install`, `bun-install`, `nextjs-build`, `vite-build`, `remix-build`, `prisma-migrate`, `node/version-bump`
Python	`pip-install`, `poetry-install`, `uv-sync`, `django-migrate`, `alembic-migrate`, `python/version-bump`
PHP	`composer-install`, `laravel-setup`, `php/version-bump`
Rust	`cargo-build`, `diesel-migrate`, `rust/version-bump`
Go	`go-mod-download`, `go/version-bump`
Swift	`swift-resolve`, `swift/version-bump`
Java	`maven-resolve`, `java/version-bump`
Kotlin / Gradle	`gradle-deps`, `spring-boot-build`, `kotlin/version-bump`
Elixir	`mix-deps-get`, `elixir/version-bump`
.NET	`dotnet-restore`, `dotnet/version-bump`
Dart / Flutter	`dart-pub-get`, `flutter-pub-get`
Deno	`deno-install`
Database migrations	`rails-db`, `prisma-migrate`, `diesel-migrate`, `alembic-migrate`, `django-migrate`
Containers	`docker-compose-up`, `helm-deps`
Infrastructure as Code	`terraform-init`, `cdk-synth`, `pulumi-install`, `ansible-install`
Artifact audits	`node-artifact-audit`, `rust-artifact-audit`, `python-artifact-audit`, `go-artifact-audit`, `java-artifact-audit`, `dotnet-artifact-audit`, `docker-artifact-audit`, `ruby-artifact-audit`, `php-artifact-audit`, `elixir-artifact-audit`, `swift-artifact-audit`
Cross-cutting	`env-copy`, `pre-commit-install`
Monorepo / Workspace	`nx-build`, `turbo-build`, `lerna-bootstrap`

See Built-in Templates for full details on each template.

Several languages define their own version-bump template. When referencing one, qualify it with the category (e.g. template: rust/version-bump) so the registry resolves the correct one. An unqualified version-bump returns the first match across categories.

Template Resolution Order

Templates are resolved in this order (first match wins):

Project templates — .bivvy/templates/steps/
User templates — ~/.bivvy/templates/steps/
Remote templates — fetched from configured sources
Built-in templates — bundled with Bivvy

References can be unqualified (yarn-install) or qualified by category (node/yarn-install). A qualified reference must match both the name and the category.

Overriding Template Values

Override any template field in your step config:

steps:
  deps:
    template: yarn-install
    command: "yarn install --frozen-lockfile"  # overrides the template's default command

Template Inputs

Some templates accept inputs for customization. Inputs are case-sensitive map keys under inputs::

steps:
  release:
    template: rust/version-bump
    inputs:
      bump: minor

Inputs can also be supplied interactively by adding a prompts: block to the step (see the version-bump example in Built-in Templates).

Creating Custom Templates

Create .bivvy/templates/steps/<name>.yml:

name: my-template
description: "My custom setup step"
category: custom

inputs:
  env:
    description: "Environment name"
    type: string
    default: development

step:
  title: "Run my setup"
  command: "my-setup --env ${env}"
  check:
    type: presence
    target: ".setup-complete"

See the annotated template reference YAML for every available field.