Write a custom template¶

Create your own template — a prompt and a layout — starting from a built-in one, adjust where the title and badge sit and what the provider is asked to paint, and import it so runs can use it. Every import of a changed template becomes a new version, so earlier runs stay reproducible. See Templates.

Start from a built-in¶

thumbforge template list
thumbforge template new my-series --from series-parts

template list shows every stored version and whether it is built in. template new copies the stored template (minimal unless you pass --from NAME or --from NAME@VERSION) to my-series.toml and my-series.j2 in the templates folder next to your configuration file (thumbforge config path shows where that is) and prints both paths. template show NAME prints a stored template's prompt and layout if you want to read one first.

You can also write both files by hand; Getting started has a complete example.

Edit and check¶

Edit the two files: the layout (.toml) holds the canvas, the title box and the badge; the prompt (.j2) holds what the provider is asked to paint. Then check the layout:

thumbforge template validate <config-dir>/templates/my-series.toml

validate lists every layout error at once, and checks the sibling .j2 for Jinja syntax.

Fonts¶

font in [title] and [part] is the name of a TrueType file without its extension. To use your own, copy MyFont.ttf into the fonts folder of your per-user configuration directory (the folder that holds the default config.toml; create fonts if it is missing) and set font = "MyFont". A font of that name there wins over a bundled one, and a name Thumbforge cannot find falls back to Inter Bold with a fonts.fallback warning.

Two fonts are bundled, both under the SIL Open Font License 1.1: Inter-Bold for Latin and NotoSansDevanagari-Bold for Devanagari. Latin and Devanagari titles are supported out of the box: whatever your layout's font cannot draw, Hindi for instance, is drawn with Noto Sans Devanagari Bold and shaped correctly, so a bilingual title such as Bhag 01 | भाग 01 renders in one line. Keep font = "Inter-Bold" (or your own Latin font) for the title; NotoSansDevanagari-Bold is the fallback and is not meant to be picked directly. Other scripts still fall back with a fonts.uncovered warning and may show empty boxes. See Templates.

Import, preview and use¶

thumbforge template import <config-dir>/templates/my-series
thumbforge template render my-series --video <video-id> --var key=value
thumbforge thumb generate <video-id> --template my-series --var key=value

template import takes the layout file, its stem, or a folder holding one pair, and stores the pair as my-series@1. render prints the prompt for a stored video and calls no provider; --part N overrides the part number it uses. Both render and thumb generate read the template from the database, so a custom template is not used until it has been imported: --template my-series before that exits 3.

Versions¶

Importing the same content again changes nothing (it reports already stored). Importing changed content stores my-series@2 and leaves @1 as it was, so --template my-series@1 still reproduces an earlier run exactly, while --template my-series always means the latest version. After editing the files, import again before you render or generate.