Interactive placeholder replacement

[retlehs]

Summary

Implement automatic placeholder replacement directly in acorn-example-package so packages created via composer create-package roots/acorn-example-package ... can be configured immediately with prompts.

This keeps the template readable in-repo and gives users a deterministic post-create configuration step.

Proposed Implementation

1) Entrypoint

• Add root configure.php as the canonical setup command.
• Intended flow: run after composer create-package.

2) Inputs

Prompt for (with sensible defaults):

• author_name
• author_email
• vendor_slug
• vendor_namespace
• package_slug
• class_name
• package_description

Derived:

• command_signature = package_slug

3) Scope (Manifest-Based)

Transform only these files:

• composer.json
• README.md
• src/Example.php
• src/Providers/ExampleServiceProvider.php
• src/Console/ExampleCommand.php
• src/Facades/Example.php
• config/example.php
• resources/views/example.blade.php

No repo-wide grep/find/replace.

4) Replacement + Rename Rules

Use explicit, context-aware mappings for placeholders and symbols (vendor-name, example-package, VendorName, ExamplePackage, ExampleServiceProvider, etc.) per file.

Deterministic renames:

• src/Example.php -> src/{class_name}.php
• src/Providers/ExampleServiceProvider.php -> src/Providers/{class_name}ServiceProvider.php
• src/Console/ExampleCommand.php -> src/Console/{class_name}Command.php
• src/Facades/Example.php -> src/Facades/{class_name}.php
• config/example.php -> config/{package_slug}.php
• resources/views/example.blade.php -> resources/views/{package_slug}.blade.php

5) composer.json Handling

• Parse/mutate/write as JSON (json_decode/json_encode) rather than raw text replacement.
• Preserve 2-space indentation on write.
• Update:
  • name
  • description
  • authors[0].name
  • authors[0].email
  • PSR-4 namespace key
  • extra.acorn.providers
  • extra.acorn.aliases

6) CLI Behavior

• --dry-run (preview only)
• --no-interaction (requires explicit args)
• Interactive confirmation before writing
• No automatic composer install
• No self-delete behavior

7) Smoke Test

Add tests/smoke/configure_smoke.php and composer script:

• composer test:configure

Test flow:

1. Copy template to temp dir
2. Run non-interactive configure with fixed inputs
3. Assert renamed files exist and originals are gone
4. Assert key namespace/class/config/view/command strings are updated

Acceptance Criteria

• One configure run yields consistent namespace/class/file/config/view/command wiring.
• composer.json metadata is updated from inputs.
• No blind global replacements.
• Works on macOS/Linux/Windows.
• Smoke test passes via composer test:configure.

Notes

• This follows the issue direction to keep it in acorn-example-package first for the create-package flow.
• CLI extraction into Acorn can be a follow-up once the transform logic is proven here.

[QWp6t]

I think we can add this to acorn-example-package and then have users run composer create-package roots/acorn-example-package ... and then have some prompts show up.

Bouncing this back to acorn-example-package, but if you disagree with this approach, feel free to yeet it back to me.

[QWp6t]

pls halp 🥺

[KIKOmanasijev]

Hey @retlehs, I've made a PR regarding this.

Take a look at, and let me know what you think :)