Templates

Templates let you freeze a sandbox's state and reuse it as a starting point for new sandboxes. Instead of configuring the same theme, plugins, and content every time, you set it up once, save it, and let Rudel recreate that starting point on demand.

They work especially well in a multisite-based system because the runtime site creation stays native while the content layer becomes repeatable.

Saving a template

wp rudel template save my-sandbox-a1b2 --name=starter

This copies the sandbox's site data and its environment-local wp-content into a named template. You can optionally add a description:

wp rudel template save my-sandbox-a1b2 --name=starter --description="WordPress with WooCommerce and Storefront theme"

Creating from a template

wp rudel create --name="new-project" --template=starter

The new sandbox starts with the template's site data and copied local wp-content. Rudel rewrites the runtime identifiers for the new environment automatically so you can treat the result as a fresh site rather than a half-cloned artifact.

Managing templates

List all available templates:

wp rudel template list

Delete a template you no longer need:

wp rudel template delete starter --force

Typical workflows

Standardized environments. Set up your preferred theme, plugins, and settings once, then use the template for every new sandbox.

Team onboarding. Share a template so every developer starts from the same baseline.

Testing baselines. Save a known-good state and create sandboxes from it for repeatable, consistent testing.

Client demos. Pre-configure templates for different client scenarios and spin up fresh sandboxes on demand.