Create the template structure

  • 6 minutes

The Azure Developer CLI (azd) assists you with building new templates for your apps using the azd init command and starter templates. In this unit, you'll create the basic scaffolding or structure of a new template that you'll build on for the rest of the module.

  1. In an empty directory on your local machine, run the azd init command.

    azd init

  2. The command output displays three different choices for initializing an azd template:

  • Use code in the current directory: Analyzes your app code to create and configure certain template assets for you.

  • Select a template: Choose an existing starter template that includes the essential folder structure, starter infrastructure as code files, and other boilerplate configuration files to streamline building templates.

  • Create a minimal project: Generates the minimum configuration files to get started.

    Read more about these different choices in the Create Azure Developer CLI templates overview documentation.

  1. Choose the Select a template option and azd displays a pre-configured list of available templates.

  2. Search for Starter and then select the Starter - Bicep option from the results list. The Azure Developer CLI also supports using Terraform if you prefer that option. Terraform support is currently in alpha and must be manually enabled.

  3. When prompted for an environment name, enter azdlearn or a name of your choosing. The environment name influences the naming of provisioned resources in Azure.

  4. A set of folders is created inside of the current directory:

    The starter template structure.

Note

You may have noticed the azd init command also provides a project template called Minimal, which contains the simplest possible template structure. However, the Starter - Bicep template you selected includes additional scaffolding code that is very useful but still technology agnostic, so it's often a great choice for getting started.

The generated folders provide all of the essential building blocks of an azd template:

  • .azure - A folder containing essential settings for the template's Azure environment, such as the environment name.
  • .devcontainer - A folder containing configuration files used to run the template in a dev container environment.
  • infra - A folder containing starter Bicep files for the template's infrastructure as code. If you selected the Terraform starter template, this folder contains Terraform files instead.
  • azure.yaml - A file that describes how the parts of your application map to services in Azure.
  • .gitignore - A starter .gitignore file for excluding unwanted files from git version control.
  • README.md - A starter README file that provides general guidance for the end user of the template.

This starter template contains most of what you need to create your own azd template. Over the next several units, you'll learn how to update these existing files and add new assets to build a complete template.