Code Snippets

The snippet helper lets you include code from source files in your templates. This is particularly useful for documentation — your code examples stay in sync with actual source files.

Basic Usage

Include the entire contents of a file:

{{ snippet "../src/main.go" }}

The path is relative to the template directory.

Named Snippets

Extract a specific section by marking it in the source file with comments:

Source file (src/handler.go)

package main

// boilerplate-snippet: handler
func handleRequest(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    w.Write([]byte("Hello, World!"))
}
// boilerplate-snippet: handler

// boilerplate-snippet: middleware
func loggingMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
    return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        log.Printf("%s %s", r.Method, r.URL.Path)
        next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
    })
}
// boilerplate-snippet: middleware

Template file

Here's the request handler:

{{ snippet "../src/handler.go" "handler" }}

And the middleware:

{{ snippet "../src/handler.go" "middleware" }}

Snippet Markers

The marker format is a comment containing boilerplate-snippet: <name>:

// boilerplate-snippet: my-section    (Go, JavaScript, C, etc.)

# boilerplate-snippet: my-section     (Python, Ruby, YAML, etc.)

<!-- boilerplate-snippet: my-section --> (HTML, XML)

Note

The snippet markers themselves are not included in the output — only the content between the opening and closing markers.

Use Case: Living Documentation

Combine snippet with Boilerplate to keep documentation examples always up-to-date:

## API Handler

The main handler processes incoming requests:

```go
{{ snippet "../src/api/handler.go" "main-handler" }}

Run the server:

go run cmd/server/main.go --port {{ .Port }}

Every time you regenerate the docs, the code examples reflect the current state of your source code.