Make It Yours: One Command, One Q&A
pnpm apply-template asks one question at a time and rewrites every config. Full 15-question answer table, a 2-minute favicon swap, and the acceptance checklist.
A true scene first
The store is copied — still wearing someone else’s sign. This lesson swaps the sign with one command: pnpm apply-template interviews you like a bank clerk, one question at a time, and rewrites every config file for you — you never open a config file by hand.
What you’ll have when this lesson is done
- A site entirely yours: game name, theme color, categories, languages, icon
- A config-consistency green light:
pnpm check-configreads ✅
Step 1: run the rebrand command, answer from the table
Type pnpm apply-template; it asks question by question, Enter after each; unsure? Enter takes the default:
CLI language: the command prompts in English by default and opens with a language question (“选择界面语言 / Select CLI language”) — answer
1for a Chinese UI, or skip the question withpnpm apply-template --lang zh. Non-interactive runs (--answers) never ask and stay English unless--langis passed.
| It asks | You answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full game name | The game’s full English name, e.g. Blade Ball |
Used in the site title and search results |
| Short name | Enter (auto-shortened) | The compact name on phones |
| Domain | Your domain, or your-username.pages.dev if none (the address doesn’t exist yet — deploying creates it) |
Tells the site its official address; change it after buying a domain |
| Hero tagline | One-line pitch, e.g. Your home for everything Blade Ball |
The line under the homepage headline |
| Site description | A 40-165 character description including the game name | The blurb shown in Google results |
| Legal notice | Enter (default) | Disclaimer: unofficial, unaffiliated |
| Official game URL | The game’s site or store page | Used in site metadata |
| Theme color | A # hex code, e.g. #7c3aed |
The site-wide accent; light and dark sets generated |
| Platform / Developer / Genre | Fill in facts; unknown → Enter | Display only |
| Release date | e.g. 2026-01-15; unknown → Enter |
Display only |
| Locales | How many languages. English only → Enter (en); English+Chinese → en,zh. First entry is the default; en is required |
English has the largest search volume — lead with it |
| Categories | Your site sections, lowercase comma-separated, e.g. codes,guides,bosses. Common: codes / guides / bosses / items / tier-list / characters |
The top navigation is built from this |
| Clear demo content? | Enter (default no) | Keep sample articles as reference; clear before launch |
| Homepage preset | Enter (pick 1) | 1 = codes-style homepage (most people), 2 = guides-style, 3 = keep the sample |
| Remove landing page? | Enter (default yes) | /landing is the template project’s own pitch page — your game site doesn’t need it |
You’ll see: the command rewrites files one by one, a green ✅ per line, a completion note at the end.
Check: run pnpm check-config — it prints “✅ Config is consistent”.
Two tips: to preview first, run
pnpm apply-template --dry-run(prints the plan, changes nothing). And the Initialize AnvilWiki button on the repo’s Actions tab only does final cleanup — it will not swap your game name, color, or languages; the full rebrand lives only in this local command.
Step 2: swap the icon (2 minutes, strongly recommended)
The command rewrites all the text, but the icon is an image no machine can draw for you — skip it and your site launches wearing the template’s anvil. Two roads:
- Easy: run
pnpm gen-assets— it generates the full icon set and homepage image from your theme color. - Custom: open favicon.io/favicon-converter → upload a square image of your game → generate and download → drag all the icon files into
public/overwriting the same names; while there, replacepublic/images/hero.webp (the homepage image) with yours.
You’ll see: refresh localhost:4321 — the tab icon is yours.
Step 3: verify with your own eyes
Start pnpm dev, open localhost:4321, and check:
- ☐ Homepage title is your game (no more Anvil Quest)
- ☐ Accent color is yours (no more orange)
- ☐ Tab icon is yours (no more anvil)
- ☐ Navigation shows only your categories
- ☐ Normal at phone width (F12 → device icon)
Then run pnpm build once — no red error on the last line, and this lesson is done.
Three classic mistakes (made for you in advance)
- Wrong answer mid-run: press
Control + C, run again — it overwrites with the new answers; nothing corrupts. - check-config glows red: nine times in ten a category is inconsistent across the three places (config, locale files, content folders) — the red lines point at the exact spot; fix what they name, don’t guess.
- Skipping the icon: every word rebranded but the anvil still in the tab screams “template shell”. Two minutes; don’t skip.
Three words to know (just these)
- Rebrand: swapping the template’s sample identity for your game — this whole lesson.
- Placeholder domain: the temporary address (
username.pages.dev) you enter before buying a domain; it works after deploy, changeable later. - Verify: checking against a list with your own eyes, not “looks fine”.
Going deeper: non-interactive mode (
--answers answers.json— for batch sites or AI-driven runs), re-run safety rules, and a field-by-field reference live in the repo doc docs/apply-template.md.
✅ Acceptance (all must hold)
- ☐
pnpm check-configshows ✅ andpnpm buildruns red-free - ☐ At localhost:4321 the game name, color, categories, and icon are all yours
- ☐ You remember what you put in the domain field (pages.dev placeholder is fine; change it after buying)
Next lesson
The store is yours — one last look at the storefront? Next lesson covers the recolor rule (why all 8 lines move together) and the right way to edit homepage copy — or skip straight to content production. Go to Lesson 12 · Theme & Homepage