Install and manage Catalog items

Install Templates And Mixins

Installing copies an Atomize YAML File into your personal or project Catalog, so you can use it by name. Your source file stays where it is. Atomize detects whether the file is a Template or a Mixin from its root keys.

# Install into the default scope (project when the Workspace Root has its own .atomize folder)
atomize template install ./templates/mobile-feature.atomize.yaml

# Choose the scope, or install a file published at an HTTPS URL
atomize template install ./templates/release-checks.atomize.yaml --scope user
atomize template install https://example.com/templates/security-review.yaml --scope project

In VS Code, run Atomize: Install to Catalog from the CodeLens on a Template, or from the Command Palette for a Mixin. VS Code asks before it overwrites an item with the same name, and the CLI refuses unless you pass --overwrite.

Update An Installed Item

A Catalog item is a copy, so changing your source file doesn't change it. To update it, either:

• install the changed source again: atomize template install <file> --overwrite, or Atomize: Install to Catalog again in VS Code; or
• edit the installed file itself, at the path atomize template list shows. Personal and project items are ordinary Atomize YAML Files; built-in items are read-only.

Templates that extends the item, and Templates that list a Mixin, use the new content the next time they're resolved. A flat copy keeps its own content and only records where it came from.

Remove Items

atomize template remove deletes a personal Catalog item:

atomize template remove template:my-api-template
atomize template remove mixin:security-tasks --force

Built-in items can't be removed. Project items are files in the repository, so the command refuses them:

Cannot remove "mobile-feature": it is a project template and is not user-installed.

Delete a project item's file through your team's usual review instead. Removing an item that wins a Catalog Override makes the overridden item active again.

Move Legacy Catalog Folders

Earlier versions kept Catalog items in .atomize/templates. Atomize still reads that folder, and atomize template migrate moves its items into .atomize/catalog:

atomize template migrate --dry-run
atomize template migrate --scope all --cleanup-dirs

Items whose names already exist in the current Catalog are skipped and reported.

In VS Code

Atomize: Install to Catalog

Installs the open Template or Mixin into a Catalog, so you can run and compose it by name, such as atomize generate template:backend-api or extends: template:backend-api. Run it from the Atomize: Install to Catalog CodeLens on a Template, or from the Command Palette for a Mixin.

1. If the file has unsaved changes, choose whether to save them first or install the saved version. An unsaved AI draft installs straight from the editor.
2. Choose Personal Catalog (~/.atomize/catalog, available in every folder) or Project Catalog (.atomize/catalog in the project the file belongs to: the nearest folder with a .atomize folder, otherwise its git repo's root). Each shows the file it would write, and Project names the project. Project comes first when the project already has its own .atomize folder. An unsaved draft belongs to the first open workspace folder's project. Outside any project, including your home folder, only Personal is offered.
3. A saved file installs under its own file name, and a copy goes into the Catalog while your file stays where it is. An unsaved draft installs under its Template name, and installing saves it there: its untitled tab closes without asking and the installed file opens in its place. If the name is taken, you're asked before it's overwritten.

Installing is always your choice: saving a file never adds it to a Catalog.

To find an item’s ref, run Atomize: Browse Catalog: see Browse the Catalog.

Command reference

template list, template install, template remove, and template migrate list every option.