Placeholders

Every {{VARIABLE}} the template uses, where its value comes from, and what it renders into. make check-placeholders fails if any placeholder in template/ is not bound by scripts/bootstrap.sh or by a profile's profile.env.

Substitution replaces only the keys listed here. GitHub Actions expressions such as ${{ github.ref }} share the brace syntax but are never touched, because they do not match a registered key.

Asked for

Placeholder	Prompt	Default	Example
`PROJECT_SLUG`	Repository name	Target directory name	`TransparentTorProxy`
`PROJECT_NAME`	Human-readable name	`PROJECT_SLUG`	`Transparent Tor Proxy`
`PROJECT_SHORT`	Short name / acronym	Capitals of `PROJECT_NAME`	`TTP`
`PROJECT_DESC`	One-line description	`TODO: describe …`	`Routes all system traffic through Tor`
`PROJECT_PKG`	Package / module name	Slug of `PROJECT_SHORT`	`ttp`
`PROJECT_DIST`	Distribution name	Slug of `PROJECT_SLUG`	`transparent-tor-proxy`
`GITHUB_OWNER`	GitHub owner	`git config user.github`	`onyks-os`
`AUTHOR_NAME`	Author name	`git config user.name`	`onyks`
`CONTACT_EMAIL`	Contact email	`git config user.email`	`you@example.com`
`SECURITY_EMAIL`	Security reporting email	`CONTACT_EMAIL`	`sec@example.com`
`LICENSE_ID`	SPDX identifier	`MIT`	`Apache-2.0`
`VERSION`	Initial version	`0.1.0`	`0.4.7`
`DOCS_SLUG`	Documentation path segment	Slug of `PROJECT_SHORT`	`ttp`
`OPENSSF_PROJECT_ID`	Best Practices project ID	`0`	`13164`

Derived

Placeholder	Derived from	Example
`COPYRIGHT_YEAR`	Current year	`2026`
`DATE`	Today, ISO 8601	`2026-09-03`
`DOCS_URL`	`GITHUB_OWNER` + `DOCS_SLUG`	`https://onyks-os.github.io/ttp/`
`DOCS_SITE_DIR`	MkDocs output, matching the GitHub Pages repo layout	`../onyks-os.github.io/ttp`
`PROJECT_ENV_PREFIX`	`PROJECT_SHORT`, upper-cased	`TTP`
`PY_TARGET`	`MIN_LANG_VERSION` without dots — Ruff's `target-version`	`310`
`CRATE_NAME`	`PROJECT_DIST` with `-` → `_` — Rust resolves library crates this way	`transparent_tor_proxy`
`LANG_PROFILE`	`--profile`	`python`

From the profile

Each template/<profile>/profile.env supplies these, and any of them can still be overridden with --set:

Placeholder	Purpose	`python`	`node`	`rust`
`PRIMARY_LANGUAGE`	README badge, docs prose	`Python`	`TypeScript`	`Rust`
`PRIMARY_LANGUAGE_LOGO`	Shields.io logo slug	`python`	`typescript`	`rust`
`MIN_LANG_VERSION`	Minimum supported version	`3.10`	`20`	`1.75`
`CODEQL_LANGUAGE`	CodeQL matrix entry	`python`	`javascript-typescript`	`rust`
`DEPENDABOT_ECOSYSTEM`	`dependabot.yml` ecosystem	`pip`	`npm`	`cargo`
`LINTER_NAME`	Named in `SAST_POLICY.md`	`Ruff`	`ESLint`	`Clippy`

Adding a placeholder

Use {{NEW_KEY}} in the template file.
Bind it in scripts/bootstrap.sh — an ask NEW_KEY … line for a prompted value, or a VARS[NEW_KEY]=… line for a derived one — or in a profile's profile.env.
Run make check-placeholders; it fails on anything unbound.
Document it in the table above.