How to Create & Edit Power Tools Templates
Power Tools uses text templates for code generation. Templates are stored in the project's AspNetZeroRadTool/FileTemplates directory.
Default templates are bundled with the global tool and synchronized into the project when Power Tools opens a project or starts generation. User customizations are stored as .custom.txt files and are preserved when default templates are refreshed.
For day-to-day customization, use the Templates page in the Power Tools web UI. You can select an existing template, customize it in the browser, compare it with the default template, and insert placeholders without manually creating .custom.txt files.
Template Files
Each template folder can contain these files:
MainTemplate.txt: Main code generation template.
PartialTemplates.txt: Conditional and looped template fragments used by MainTemplate.txt.
TemplateInfo.txt: Output path and generation condition for the template.
Folder structure
Edit Pre-defined Templates
Do not edit the default .txt files directly. They can be refreshed by newer Power Tools versions.
Open the Power Tools web UI and go to the Templates page. The template tree shows server templates, the client templates for the current project type, test templates, and MAUI templates when they are available.
Select the template you want to change, then choose one of the editor tabs: MainTemplate, PartialTemplates, or TemplateInfo. Default templates are read-only. Click Customize this template to make the selected tab editable.
After editing, click Save. Power Tools writes your change to the matching .custom.txt file, such as MainTemplate.custom.txt, PartialTemplates.custom.txt, or TemplateInfo.custom.txt, and keeps the original .txt file unchanged.
Use Diff to compare your customization with the default template. For MainTemplate, you can also use Code, Split, and Preview modes. Preview uses sample placeholder values for visual review; it is not a replacement for running generation.
Use the placeholders panel on the right side to search placeholders and insert them into the editor.
Revert a Custom Template
To revert a customized template file, select its tab in the template editor and click Revert. Power Tools deletes the related .custom.txt file and starts using the default .txt file again.
You can also revert manually by deleting the related .custom.txt file from the template folder.
Create New Templates
Choose a folder under FileTemplates based on where the generated file belongs:
ServerClient/AngularClient/MvcClient/ReactTestMaui
Then create a new template folder and add MainTemplate.txt, PartialTemplates.txt, and TemplateInfo.txt. New template folders are created in the file system, not from the Templates page.
You can use existing templates as a reference. For guidance on placeholders and template behavior, see Understanding Power Tools Templates.
Power Tools discovers templates in the FileTemplates directory each time generation runs. If the web UI is open while you add new template folders manually, refresh the page if you do not see them immediately.
