SLOP ✦ CTL
ReleasesGitHub
01/11Command
Set up

templates

Manage the global template catalog.

All commandsGitHub ↗

Download, update, or browse the global template catalog.

Usage

slopctl templates --update [--from <PATH or URL>] [--dry-run]
slopctl templates --verify [--from <PATH or URL>]
slopctl templates --list
slopctl templates --update --verify --list

Options

  • --update / -u — download or update global templates from source
  • --verify / -V — validate the local template catalog (YAML structure, local file integrity, source freshness). Returns a non-zero exit code if any issue is found (useful for CI)
  • --list / -l — show available agents, languages, and skills
  • --from / -f — path or URL used by --update (download source) and --verify (freshness check)
  • --dry-run / -n — preview what would be downloaded (requires --update)

At least one of --update, --verify, or --list is required. All three can be combined; execution order is --update → --verify → --list.

Examples

# Update global templates from the default repository
slopctl templates --update

# Update from a custom URL
slopctl templates --update --from https://github.com/user/repo/tree/branch/templates

# Update from a local path
slopctl templates --update --from /path/to/templates

# Preview what would be downloaded
slopctl templates --update --dry-run

# Validate local catalog (YAML structure, file integrity, source freshness)
slopctl templates --verify

# Validate against a specific source (for freshness check)
slopctl templates --verify --from https://github.com/user/repo/tree/branch/templates

# Browse available agents, languages, and skills
slopctl templates --list

# Update, validate, and then show what is available
slopctl templates --update --verify --list

Behavior

  • Downloads templates from the specified source or the default GitHub repository
  • If --from is not specified, downloads from https://github.com/heikopanjas/slopctl-templates/tree/develop/templates
  • Downloads templates.yml and all template files
  • Stores templates in the global cache directory: $HOME/.cache/slopctl/templates ($XDG_CACHE_HOME/slopctl/templates if XDG_CACHE_HOME is set) — same on all platforms
  • With --dry-run, shows the source URL and target directory without downloading
  • Overwrites existing global templates with new versions
  • Does not modify any files in the current project directory

--verify checks three things in sequence:

  • YAML structure — parses templates.yml, checks version, checks for duplicate targets
  • Local file integrity — every non-URL source referenced in templates.yml must exist in the local cache
  • Source freshness — fetches templates.yml from the configured source and compares it with the local copy; a mismatch recommends slopctl templates --update

Run templates --update first to download templates before using init to set up a project.

GitHub rate limits

slopctl does not use GitHub authentication tokens. Unauthenticated access is subject to GitHub limits (~60 REST API requests/hour per IP, plus throttling on raw.githubusercontent.com). During templates --update, URL-based skill repositories are fetched with one tarball download per repository instead of recursive Contents API listing. HTTP 429/503 responses are retried with backoff. If limits are still exceeded, wait and retry. Use update to refresh workspace files from the local cache without additional network calls.