Lean baseline plus compose

The acme-vue-encore generator materializes applications using a model called "lean baseline plus compose." It clones a lean baseline application and composes declarative modules into it at generation time. The result is a complete, standalone application with no generator dependency.

The model

1. Clone the baseline: setup-app.ts copies the template-encore lean baseline into the destination, excluding template-governance machinery (specs, scripts, standards, tools, .derived/, .claude/).
2. Select the auth driver: the profile sets AUTH_DRIVER in the destination's .env.example and binds the matching secrets.
3. Compose modules: for each selected module, the composition engine copies service directories, merges migrations, binds secrets, merges CORS entries, and updates package dependencies.
4. Regenerate the typed client: when the Encore CLI is available, the generator invokes encore gen client against the destination.

Why compile-time composition

Encore's service model is compile-time and filesystem-based. Services are discovered from encore.service.ts files in the directory tree; there is no equivalent of a runtime app.use(...) chain or a priority-sorted driver registry to populate. Generating a runtime loader would produce a non-Encore artifact.

Instead, the generator copies service directories and merges declarative config files. The Encore compiler sees a complete, static tree and resolves the graph without any generated intermediary. This also means the generated application has no generator dependency: it is a plain Encore app that boots and builds on its own.

There is no registerAllModules(app) call to generate. The copied service directories are the composition.

The born-with policy

The carry-forward policy (scripts/lib/born-with.ts) decides what a produced app is born with and what stays behind:

Born with (travels to the app)	Stays behind (generator-only)
The governance kernel (spec-spine config)	The generator scripts
The application code and services	The module catalog
The spec corpus relevant to the app	The generator meta-specs

A generated application is self-sufficient: it carries its own governance surface and can be developed independently of the factory.

Profiles

The generator supports three single-app profiles and one dual-app mode:

Profile	Auth driver	Modules	Use case
minimal	mock	none	Local development; mock login only
public	rauthy OIDC	none	External-facing application
internal	rauthy OIDC	user-management	Staff-facing application
dual	rauthy OIDC	none	Two independent apps (public + internal)

The dual profile runs setup-dual-app.ts, which produces two independent Encore applications with separate databases, deployments, and scale boundaries. It does not compose --with modules.

Cross-repo lockstep

Because the generator clones an external baseline, it must not drift from the app invariants frozen there. A committed lockfile (baseline.lock.json) pins the template-encore ref, the baseline core services, the module catalog membership, and the SHA-256 of the frozen app-invariant specs. The lockstep gate (npm run lockstep) and the ci-lockstep workflow fail visibly on any upstream drift.