Templates Overview

Templates provide reusable defaults and body structure for note creation. They live in .bwrb/templates/.

Template Location

Templates are organized by type path:

my-vault/
└── .bwrb/
    ├── schema.json
    └── templates/
        ├── idea/
        │   └── default.md
        └── objective/
            └── task/
                ├── default.md
                └── bug-report.md

Template Format

Templates are markdown files with special frontmatter:

---
type: template
template-for: objective/task
description: Bug report with reproduction steps
defaults:
  status: backlog
  priority: high
prompt-fields:
  - deadline
---

## Description

[Describe the bug]

## Steps to Reproduce

1.
2.
3.

Using Templates

# Auto-use default.md if it exists
bwrb new task

# Use specific template
bwrb new task --template bug-report

# Skip templates
bwrb new task --no-template

How Templates Are Selected

When you run bwrb new <type>:

1. With --template name — Uses .bwrb/templates/{type}/name.md
2. With --no-template — Skips templates, uses schema defaults only
3. Without flags — Uses .bwrb/templates/{type}/default.md if it exists

If both --template and --no-template are specified, --no-template wins.

Templates use strict type matching—no inheritance. A template for task won’t be found when creating objective/task unless it’s in the correct directory.

Template Workflow Example

Set up templates for a new note type:

# 1. Create a default template for tasks
bwrb template new task

# 2. Create a specialized bug report template
bwrb template new task --name bug-report

# 3. Edit the template to customize it
bwrb template edit task bug-report

# 4. List templates to verify
bwrb template list task

# 5. Use the template
bwrb new task --template bug-report

# 6. Validate templates match current schema
bwrb template validate

Key Concepts

Concept	Description
defaults	Pre-fill field values (skip prompting)
prompt-fields	Always prompt for these fields, even with defaults
Date expressions	Dynamic values like today() + '7d'
Body variables	{fieldName}, {date} replaced at creation

Next Steps

• Creating Templates — Full guide with best practices
• bwrb template command — Command reference