🚀 Project Creator Script

A simple bash script to quickly create new project directories from a template folder on macOS.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Usage
  • First Time Setup
  • Basic Usage
  • Examples
  • Output Path Options
• Configuration
  • Default Template Folder
  • Using a Different Template Folder Name
• Template Folder Structure
• Safety Features
• Troubleshooting
• Requirements
• License

Features

• 🚀 Quickly scaffold new projects from a base template
• ✅ Validates input and checks for existing directories
• 🎨 Color-coded terminal output (because pretty terminals make us happy)
• 🔒 Safe operation with confirmation prompts (no accidental overwrites!)
• 📝 Easy to customize and extend
• 🎯 Interactive prompts ... just run and answer questions!

Installation

1. Download or copy the entire folder containing:

   • create-project.sh (the script)
   • vscode-cpp-template/ (your template folder with all base files)
   • README.md (this documentation)

2. Make the script executable (required):

   chmod +x create-project.sh

   ⚠️ Important: If you skip this step, you'll get a "permission denied" error!

   and then run the command

   ./create-project.sh

3. (Optional) Move to a directory in your PATH for global access:

   # Note: You'll need to keep the template folder accessible
   sudo mv create-project.sh /usr/local/bin/create-project

   Then you can run create-project from anywhere! 🎉

Usage

First Time Setup

Before running the script for the first time, make it executable (if you have not already done this):

chmod +x create-project.sh

Basic Usage

./create-project.sh

The script will prompt you interactively:

Create new project
Directory name: my-awesome-app
Output path (leave empty for current directory): ~/Projects

This will create a new directory at the specified location, copying all files from the default base template folder.

💡 Tip: Leave the output path empty to create your project in the current directory!

Examples

# Create a new project in current directory
./create-project.sh
# Directory name: my-awesome-app
# Output path: (press Enter for current directory)

# Create a new project in a specific location
./create-project.sh
# Directory name: gameDev
# Output path: ~/Documents/Projects

# Create a new project using a custom template
./create-project.sh ~/templates/web-template
# Directory name: web-project
# Output path: ~/Sites

# If installed globally
create-project
# Then enter your project details when prompted

Output Path Options

• Leave empty: Creates project in current directory
• Relative path: ../projects or subfolder
• Absolute path: /Users/yourname/Projects
• Home directory: ~/Projects (tilde expands to your home directory)

📝 Note: If the path doesn't exist, the script will ask if you want to create it!

⚙️ Configuration

Default Template Folder

The script looks for a vscode-cpp-template folder in the same directory. Your folder structure should be:

CreateNewProjectFolder/
├── create-project.sh          # The script ✨
├── vscode-cpp-template/       # Your template files
│   ├── main.code-workspace
│   ├── libstdc++-6.dll
│   └── ... (all your template files)
└── README.md                  # This file!

The script automatically finds the template folder relative to its own location, so you can move the entire folder anywhere and it will still work.

Using a Different Template Folder Name

If you want to use a different folder name, edit the script and change this line:

DEFAULT_BASE_FOLDER="$SCRIPT_DIR/template"

For example, to use a folder named base-project:

DEFAULT_BASE_FOLDER="$SCRIPT_DIR/base-project"

Template Folder Structure

Your template folder (bundled with the script) should contain all the files and folders you want in every new project:

template/
├── .gitignore
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── src/
│   └── main.js
├── tests/
│   └── test.js
├── package.json
└── .env.example

When you run the script, all of these files and folders will be copied to your new project directory.

Safety Features

• Existence Check: Validates that the template folder exists before proceeding
• Overwrite Protection: Prompts for confirmation if target directory already exists
• Error Handling: Exits on errors to prevent partial copies

Troubleshooting

"Permission denied" error

Make sure the script is executable:

chmod +x create-project.sh

"Base folder does not exist" error

Make sure you have a template folder in the same directory as the script:

ls -la template/

Your folder structure should be:

YourFolder/
├── create-project.sh
└── template/

Script doesn't run

Ensure you're using bash (default on macOS):

bash create-project.sh

Requirements

• macOS (or any Unix-like system with bash)
• Bash 3.0 or higher (included in macOS)

License

Free to use and modify as needed.

Support

If you encounter issues, check that:

1. The script has execute permissions
2. Your template folder path is correct
3. You have write permissions in the current directory

🎉 Congratulations!

When you successfully create a project, you'll see this beauty:

Made with ❤️ and lots of ☕

Report Bug · Request Feature

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