Templ templates

Use this skill when

• Editing .templ files, regenerating *_templ.go, or wiring handlers to generated render functions.
• Debugging a compile error caused by stale template generation.
• Tightening the boundary between handlers (which compute data) and templates (which render it).

Do not use this skill when

• The work is broader code generation across schema/queries (use code-generation).
• The change is pure CSS/asset work with no template edits.

Inputs to gather

• The path of the .templ file being changed and its consumers.
• The repository's regeneration command (templ generate, make templ-generate, or make generate).
• Any typed data the handler currently passes and what needs to change.

First move

• Locate the target .templ file, make the edit, regenerate, then go build before running tests.

Locate templates

Find .templ files in your project:

find . -name "*.templ" -not -path "*/vendor/*"

Common locations: internal/, templates/, web/, or alongside handlers.

Workflow

1. Edit the .templ file.
2. Regenerate (produces *_templ.go):

templ generate          # or: make templ-generate / make generate

1. Verify:

go build ./...
make test

Handler wiring

• Handlers call generated template render functions.
• Set response Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8.
• Pass data from handler/domain into templates via typed parameters — do not compute data inside templates.

Guardrails

• Never edit *_templ.go files by hand — they are overwritten by templ generate.
• Business logic belongs in handlers or the domain layer, not in templates. Templates receive data; they do not compute it.
• Always set Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 on handler responses rendering templates.

Common pitfalls

Symptom	Fix
Compile errors referencing missing *_templ.go symbols	Run templ generate
Template renders stale output	Rebuild — Go does not auto-detect .templ changes
Logic creep in templates	Move conditions/computations to the handler; pass pre-computed values

Validation

• Run the repository's templ regeneration command after editing .templ files.
• Confirm generated Go output changed only as expected and was not hand-edited.
• Run go build or the repo's narrow build target, then relevant tests for handlers or pages touched.

Support files

• Read references/examples.md when you need concrete user utterances, expected behaviour, or a model answer shape to mirror.
• Read references/edge-cases.md when the request is a near miss, partially matches this skill, or the first attempt fails.