FAQ

FAQ

Common questions and error messages.

General

What is the difference between Tempify and Prebyte?

Tempify manages template packages, questions, hooks, lock/reapply. Prebyte renders individual .pbt text files. See Prebyte Passthrough.

Where do I find templates?

• Workspace: ./templates/<id>/ (searched upward from CWD)
• Shared store: $XDG_DATA_HOME/tempify/templates/
• tempify list shows both

Why can't tempify find my template?

1. tempify list - is the ID visible?
2. Is the template under templates/<id>/ with a valid template.lua?
3. Shared store: run tempify refresh
4. tempify doctor for environment diagnostics

Render

"Target path already exists and overwrite is disabled"

The target directory already exists. Options:

• Choose a different path
• -f / --overwrite-if-exists - overwrite collisions
• -s / --skip-if-file-exists - keep existing files

"Missing answer for key …"

A required question was not answered. Add --set key=value, use --answers, or run interactively/TUI without --non-interactive.

"Unknown key …" with --strict

The answers file contains keys the template does not know. Remove keys or omit --strict.

Hooks

Hooks are not running

• Is --no-hooks or --accept-hooks no set?
• With ask and no TTY: hooks run without prompt (non-interactive pipeline)
• Does the template define hooks at all? tempify info <id>

Hook prompt hangs in tests/CI

Without TTY and with --accept-hooks ask, input may be waited on. In CI: use --accept-hooks yes or no.

Reapply

"REAPPLY_BLOCKED" / origin mismatch

.tempify-lock.json comes from a different template than requested. Reapply only with matching template ID.

Major upgrade blocked

By design - major and certain pre-1.0 transitions require manual review. Use tempify … --diff to analyze.

Reapply finds no lock file

Render normally first (creates .tempify-lock.json), then reapply.

Authors

validate vs. lint vs. test?

Command	Purpose
validate	Structural errors (broken manifest, duplicate keys)
lint	Quality hints (missing prompts, unused files)
test	Fixture-based snapshot tests

See Template Quality.

See also

Getting Started · CLI Reference