Custom Template Authoring Guide

This guide explains how to author a custom workspace configuration template for MultiModel Dev OS.

Overview

A template packages a set of boilerplate markdown files (AGENTS.md, MEMORY.md, TASKS.md, RUNBOOK.md), a central .ai/config.yaml file, and stack-specific context files and skills.

Structure of a Template Source

A template resides in the examples/ directory of the project, or can be loaded dynamically from a custom path using --registry if declared in the registry.

examples/my-custom-template/
├── AGENTS.md                   # Core workspace contracts
├── MEMORY.md
├── TASKS.md
├── RUNBOOK.md
└── .ai/
    ├── config.yaml             # Core configuration rules
    ├── context/                # Context templates
    │   ├── project-brief.md
    │   ├── architecture.md
    │   └── context-budget.md
    └── skills/                 # Custom reusable skill files
        └── custom-action.md

Creating a Registry Entry

Add your template metadata to .ai/templates/registry.yaml:

templates:
  my-custom-template:
    name: "my-custom-template"
    description: "My custom framework stack workspace baseline."
    stack: "My Framework, TypeScript, PostgreSQL"
    skill: "custom-action.md"
    skillDesc: "Framework specific secure execution rules."
    category: "Web"
    status: "stable"
    maturity: "production-ready"
    required_files:
      - AGENTS.md
      - MEMORY.md
      - TASKS.md
      - RUNBOOK.md
      - .ai/config.yaml
      - .ai/context/project-brief.md
      - .ai/skills/custom-action.md

Validation Rules

You can validate your template configuration using the CLI:

node bin/multimodel-dev-os.js validate-template my-custom-template

Validation ensures:

1. The template metadata matches the registry schema.
2. The template source directory exists.
3. All files listed in required_files are present.