DavidROliverBA/customize-templates

/customize-templates

Manage custom template overrides for vault skills. Copies default templates to Templates/Custom/ where they can be modified without touching the original.

Usage

/customize-templates                        # List all templates and override status
/customize-templates <skill-name>           # Copy default template to Custom/ for editing
/customize-templates reset <skill-name>     # Remove custom template (revert to default)
/customize-templates diff <skill-name>      # Show differences between custom and default

Examples

/customize-templates                        # Show which skills have templates and which are overridden
/customize-templates adr                    # Copy Templates/ADR.md to Templates/Custom/adr-template.md
/customize-templates meeting                # Copy Templates/Meeting.md to Templates/Custom/meeting-template.md
/customize-templates diff adr              # Show what changed in the custom ADR template
/customize-templates reset meeting         # Delete custom meeting template, revert to default

Skill-to-Template Mapping

| Skill | Default Template | Custom Override Path | |-------|-----------------|---------------------| | /adr | Templates/ADR.md | Templates/Custom/adr-template.md | | /meeting | Templates/Meeting.md | Templates/Custom/meeting-template.md | | /daily | Templates/Daily.md | Templates/Custom/daily-template.md | | /task | Templates/Task.md | Templates/Custom/task-template.md | | /person | Templates/Person.md | Templates/Custom/person-template.md | | /system | Templates/System.md | Templates/Custom/system-template.md | | /email | Templates/Email.md | Templates/Custom/email-template.md | | /incubator | Templates/Incubator.md | Templates/Custom/incubator-template.md | | /project | Templates/Project.md | Templates/Custom/project-template.md | | /trip | Templates/Trip.md | Templates/Custom/trip-template.md | | /dataasset | Templates/DataAsset.md | Templates/Custom/dataasset-template.md | | /book | Templates/Book.md | Templates/Custom/book-template.md |

Instructions

List Mode: /customize-templates

When invoked without arguments, show the override status of all templates.

1. Read the skill-to-template mapping table above
2. For each entry, check whether the custom override file exists at Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md
3. Display a status table:

| Skill | Default Template | Custom Override | Status |
|-------|-----------------|----------------|--------|
| adr | Templates/ADR.md | Templates/Custom/adr-template.md | default |
| meeting | Templates/Meeting.md | Templates/Custom/meeting-template.md | customised |
| daily | Templates/Daily.md | Templates/Custom/daily-template.md | default |

Use customised when the custom file exists, default when it does not.

4. Summarise: "X of Y templates have custom overrides. Use /customize-templates <skill> to create an override."

Customise Mode: /customize-templates <skill-name>

Copy a default template to the custom override location.

1. Look up <skill-name> in the mapping table
2. If not found, report the error and list valid skill names
3. Check if a custom override already exists at Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md
   • If it exists, inform the user: "Custom template already exists at Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md. Edit it directly, or use /customize-templates reset <skill> to start fresh."
   • Stop
4. Read the default template from Templates/<Type>.md
5. Copy it to Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md
6. Confirm to the user:

Copied default template to: Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md

You can now edit this file to customise the template.
The original at Templates/<Type>.md remains unchanged.

Skills that support template loading will check for custom
templates first. See the "Template Loading" section below
for the pattern other skills should follow.

Reset Mode: /customize-templates reset <skill-name>

Remove a custom template to revert to the default.

1. Look up <skill-name> in the mapping table
2. Check if Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md exists
   • If it does not exist, inform the user: "No custom template found for <skill>. Already using the default."
   • Stop
3. Confirm with the user: "Remove custom template at Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md? This will revert to the default template. (Y/n)"
4. If confirmed, delete the file
5. Confirm: "Removed custom template. /<skill> will now use the default at Templates/<Type>.md."

Diff Mode: /customize-templates diff <skill-name>

Show differences between the custom and default templates.

1. Look up <skill-name> in the mapping table
2. Check if Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md exists
   • If it does not exist, inform the user: "No custom template for <skill>. Nothing to diff."
   • Stop
3. Run a diff between the two files:

   diff -u "Templates/<Type>.md" "Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md"
   

4. Display the diff output to the user
5. If the files are identical, report: "Custom template is identical to the default. No changes detected."

Template Loading

This is the pattern that other skills should adopt to support custom templates.

When a skill creates a new note from a template, it should check for a custom override first:

1. Check for custom template at Templates/Custom/{skill-name}-template.md
2. If found, use it instead of the default template in Templates/
3. If not found, use the default template

Example Implementation (for skill authors)

In a skill's SKILL.md instructions, add before the template-reading step:

Check for a custom template override:
- If `Templates/Custom/<skill>-template.md` exists, read and use that template
- Otherwise, use the default `Templates/<Type>.md`

Skills are not required to adopt this pattern immediately. It is opt-in and backwards-compatible -- skills that do not check for custom templates will continue to work with their defaults.

Notes

• Custom templates live in Templates/Custom/ which is tracked by git, so overrides are version-controlled
• The naming convention <skill>-template.md avoids conflicts with the default templates
• Obsidian's Templater plugin will also pick up templates from Templates/Custom/ if the folder is configured
• Only the templates listed in the mapping table above are supported; other templates in Templates/ can be edited directly