Extensions

What is an extension?

An extension is a self-contained package that adds files, dependencies, and scripts to a scaffolded project. Extensions are composable: you can apply multiple compatible extensions in a single command and they are merged intelligently.

Each extension declares which template types it is compatible with (e.g. react, nestjs-backend), so the CLI only shows you relevant options for your chosen template.

npx create-awesome-node-app my-app --template react-vite-boilerplate --addons react-zustand react-tailwindcss react-testing-library-with-vitest

Extension categories

Extensions are organized into 12 categories covering the most common project needs.

How extensions work

When the CLI applies an extension it performs a deep merge of the extension's files and package.json fields into the scaffolded project:

1. Files — source files from the extension are copied or appended to the project. Filenames ending in .template are processed as EJS templates before being written.
2. Dependencies — package/dependencies.js and package/devDependencies.js entries are merged into the project's package.json.
3. Scripts — any scripts defined by the extension are merged with existing scripts.
4. Incompatibilities — extensions declare incompatibleWith slugs so the CLI prevents conflicting combinations (e.g. two different test runners).

Extension file structure

Extensions live in the extensions/ directory of the cna-templates repository:

extensions/
└── your-extension-name/
    ├── [src]/            # Source files merged into the project's src/
    ├── package/
    │   ├── dependencies.js       # Runtime deps to add
    │   └── devDependencies.js    # Dev deps to add
    ├── package.json      # Extension metadata
    └── README.md

Listing available extensions

npx create-awesome-node-app --list-addons

Or browse the full catalogue on the Extensions page, where you can filter by template type and category.