config.yaml Reference

The config.yaml file is an optional configuration placed alongside your template. It controls the interview experience without modifying the template itself. The Analyzer merges it into the manifest; the Orchestrator reads only the manifest.

Complete example

meta:
  display_name: "Meeting Notes"
  description: "Structured meeting notes with action items and optional sections"

variables:
  meeting_title:
    label: "Meeting Title"
    question: "What is the title of this meeting?"
    required: true
  meeting_type:
    type: choice
    choices: [standup, workshop, review]
    default: "standup"
  include_next_meeting:
    type: boolean
    question: "Is a follow-up meeting scheduled?"
    default: false

groups:
  - name: "Meeting Details"
    variables: [meeting_title, meeting_date, meeting_type]
  - name: "Next Meeting"
    condition: include_next_meeting
    variables: [next_meeting_date, next_meeting_topic]
  - name: "Action Items"
    loop: action_items
    variables: [description, assignee, due_date]

validation:
  - rule: "next_meeting_date > meeting_date"
    message: "The next meeting date must be after this meeting's date"

`meta`

Optional. Metadata about the template.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`display_name`	string	No	Human-readable name shown to the user when Claude confirms the matched template. Defaults to the directory name.
`description`	string	No	Short description of the template’s purpose. Used internally and may appear in future template directory features.

meta:
  display_name: "Meeting Notes"
  description: "Structured meeting notes with action items and optional sections"

`variables`

Optional. A map of variable names to override settings. Only variables that need customization need to be listed here — unlisted variables use defaults inferred from the template.

Each key is a variable name that appears in the template. The value is an object with any combination of the fields below.

Variable fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`label`	string	No	Short label for the variable, shown as a heading for the question.
`question`	string	No	The full question text Claude asks the user. Overrides the auto-generated question.
`default`	any	No	Default value pre-filled during the interview. Use `"today"` for date types to resolve to the current date.
`required`	boolean	No	Whether the variable must be provided. Default: `true`.
`format_hint`	string	No	Additional formatting guidance shown alongside the question.
`type`	string	No	Explicit variable type. See Variable types below. If omitted, the type is inferred from the variable name suffix.
`choices`	list	Conditional	List of valid values. Required when `type` is `choice`. Ignored otherwise.

Variable types

The type field accepts the following values:

Type	Description
`text`	Free text input. The default for most variables.
`date`	A calendar date. The special default `"today"` resolves to the current date.
`number`	A numeric value — currency, quantity, percentage.
`email`	An email address. Validated for email format.
`phone`	A phone number. Accepts international formats.
`boolean`	A yes/no question. Used as the gate for `{% if %}` conditional sections.
`choice`	One of a fixed set of options. Requires the `choices` field.

If type is omitted, it is inferred from the variable name suffix (e.g., *_date becomes date, *_email becomes email). See Variable Type Reference for the full inference table.

Example

variables:
  meeting_title:
    label: "Meeting Title"
    question: "What is the title of this meeting?"
    required: true

  meeting_date:
    question: "When was the meeting held?"
    default: "today"
    format_hint: "DD/MM/YYYY"

  meeting_type:
    type: choice
    choices: [standup, workshop, review]
    default: standup

  include_next_meeting:
    type: boolean
    default: false
    question: "Is a follow-up meeting scheduled?"

`groups`

Optional. Controls interview grouping and ordering. A list of group objects that batch related variables under a heading and present them together.

Without groups, Claude presents variables one at a time in template order. With groups, related variables are collected together.

Group fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`name`	string	Yes	Display name for the group, shown as a heading during the interview.
`variables`	list	Yes	List of variable names to collect in this group.
`condition`	string	No	Name of a boolean variable. The group is only shown when that variable is `true`. The gate variable must be collected before this group.
`loop`	string	No	Name of a loop collection. The group collects items for that `{% for %}` loop. Must match the collection name in the template (e.g., `action_items` for `{% for item in action_items %}`).

Basic group

groups:
  - name: "Meeting Details"
    variables: [meeting_title, meeting_date, meeting_type, facilitator_name, meeting_location]

  - name: "Attendees & Agenda"
    variables: [attendees, agenda]

Conditional group

A group gated on a boolean variable. Claude asks the gate question first; if the answer is no, the entire group is skipped.

groups:
  - name: "Next Meeting"
    condition: include_next_meeting
    variables: [next_meeting_date, next_meeting_topic]

Loop group

A group that maps to a {% for %} loop in the template. Claude collects items one at a time, prompting for the sub-fields on each pass.

groups:
  - name: "Action Items"
    loop: action_items
    variables: [description, assignee, due_date]

`validation`

Optional. A list of cross-field validation rules evaluated after all values are collected but before rendering. If a rule fails, Claude reports the error message and prompts the user to re-enter the offending values.

Validation fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`rule`	string	Yes	A Python-style boolean expression using variable names. Evaluated against all collected values.
`message`	string	Yes	Error message shown to the user when the rule evaluates to `false`.

Example

validation:
  - rule: "next_meeting_date > meeting_date"
    message: "The next meeting date must be after this meeting's date."

Rules have access to all collected variable values and use Python expression syntax.