The CLI is just a small Go binary – you can install it once via `go install` and then run `templui add icon`.
It helps keep things consistent as the library evolves.
But yeah, I get that some folks prefer manual imports – all good!
It helps keep things consistent as the library evolves.
But yeah, I get that some folks prefer manual imports – all good!
Originally, I had templUI components available via Go module imports, but there were a few real issues:
- Tailwind v4+ with CSS-only config needs hardcoded paths to `.templ` files. That clashed in teams where Go paths differed (e.g. `~/dev`, `~/code`, etc.).
- It made Git diffs messy – you had `.templ` and `.go` files being imported per component.
- Updating components via module versions often led to unwanted breaking changes – not easy to "just use one component" from a newer version.
- Workarounds like Makefile tricks for Tailwind `src` path felt too hacky.
The CLI avoids all that. It copies clean files into your codebase, so it's portable, version-safe, and no import path magic needed.
That said – I’m open to feedback. If there's a solid reason to bring back module imports (optionally), I’m listening!