Prefab is a native macOS app that lets you turn any folder structure into a reusable template. You define the structure, add {{variables}} to folder names, file names, and file contents, and optionally run terminal commands after deployment.

I built it because I got tired of the repetitive setup when starting new projects - not just the folders but the boilerplate files, the git init, the dependency installs, etc. Existing solutions were either CLI-only scaffolding tools locked to a specific framework, or way too heavy for what's fundamentally a simple problem.

What it does: - Drag any existing folder in to create a template, or build one visually - Variables support text, dates, drop-downs, and toggles with validation - Post-creation actions run shell commands via NSUserUnixTask (fully sandboxed, no entitlement hacks) - Deploy from the app, a menu bar icon, or a Finder right-click extension - Set Finder tag colours and SF Symbol icons on folders in the template

Technical details for anyone curious: it's Swift/SwiftUI, App Sandbox compliant, uses NSUserUnixTask for shell execution which means scripts run from ~/Library/Application Scripts/ - Apple's sanctioned approach for sandboxed apps that need to run user-defined commands. No temporary exceptions needed.

It started as a developer tool but I ended up using it for all kinds of project organisation, so there's a persona system that adapts the UI language and starter templates depending on your use case. Free, no account, no tracking, no IAP. It's available fore free on the Mac App Store.

Happy to answer any questions about the implementation or take feature suggestions. Still actively developing it.