ansible-scaffold-role

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Ansible Scaffold Role

Create a new Ansible role that fully complies with every rule in CLAUDE.md.

Gather inputs

If $ARGUMENTS is provided, use it as the role name. Otherwise ask the user.

Ask the user for:

1. Role name (snake_case, no dashes) — required (may come from $ARGUMENTS)
2. Target path — where to create the role (default: ./roles/<role_name>)
3. Collection context — is this role inside an existing collection? If a galaxy.yml exists in the project root or a parent directory, assume yes.
4. Brief description — what the role does (for README and argument_specs)
5. Platform support needed — which OS families/distributions (optional)
6. Provider support — does the role need a provider pattern? (optional)
7. What does the role manage? — Ask what the role actually does to drive variable and task generation. Common patterns:
   • Packages — installs/removes packages → generates <role_name>_packages list variable, install tasks
   • Services — manages systemd/init services → generates <role_name>_service_name, <role_name>_service_state, <role_name>_service_enabled variables, service tasks, restart/reload handlers
   • Configuration files — manages config via templates → generates <role_name>_config_* variables, template tasks with backup: true and notify: handler, config file templates with {{ ansible_managed | comment }}
   • Users/groups — manages system users → generates <role_name>_users list variable, user/group tasks
   • Firewall rules — manages firewall ports → generates <role_name>_firewall_ports list variable, firewall tasks
   • Storage/mounts — manages filesystems or mounts → generates appropriate variables and tasks
   • Custom — let the user describe freely, then derive variables and tasks from their description The user can select multiple patterns. Use their answers to pre-populate defaults/main.yml, meta/argument_specs.yml, tasks/, handlers/, and templates/ with realistic, role-specific content instead of empty placeholders.

Scaffolding strategy

If inside a collection

Use ansible-creator add resource role <role_name> <collection_path> to generate the skeleton, then modify the generated files to comply with all rules below.

If ansible-creator is not installed, fall back to creating the directory structure manually (same as standalone below) and inform the user they can install it with pip install ansible-creator or use the ansible-dev-tools devcontainer for future use.

If standalone

Create the role directory structure manually with all required files.

Required files and content

After scaffolding (or instead of it for standalone), ensure every file meets these requirements:

defaults/main.yml

• All user-facing variables with sensible defaults, prefixed with the role name: <role_name>_variable_name
• Variables without safe defaults: present but commented out with a description
• If provider pattern is used: <role_name>_provider variable

vars/main.yml

• Internal constants and magic values only, prefixed with __<role_name>_
• NEVER user-facing defaults here
• Platform-specific variable files if requested (RedHat.yml, Debian.yml, etc.)

tasks/main.yml

• Include the platform-specific variable loading pattern from CLAUDE.md
• Include the platform-specific task loading pattern if platform tasks needed
• Use {{ role_path }}/vars/ and {{ role_path }}/tasks/ absolute paths
• All tasks named in imperative form
• All modules use FQCN
• Use loop: not with_*

Task componentization

If the role manages multiple concerns (e.g., packages + config + service), split tasks into separate component files under tasks/:

• tasks/main.yml — includes component files using ansible.builtin.include_tasks with {{ role_path }}/tasks/ paths
• tasks/install.yml — package installation tasks
• tasks/configure.yml — configuration/template tasks
• tasks/service.yml — service management tasks
• Other component files as needed based on what the role manages

Name tasks in component files with a prefix matching the file name: install | Install required packages, configure | Deploy configuration file, service | Ensure service is running.

Only create component files that are relevant to what the role manages — do not generate empty component files. If the role is simple enough for a single task file, keep everything in tasks/main.yml.

meta/argument_specs.yml

• Define all role arguments with types, descriptions, required flags, and choices where applicable
• Match the variables defined in defaults/main.yml

meta/main.yml

• Role metadata: author, description, license, min_ansible_version, platforms

handlers/main.yml

Generate actual handlers based on what the role manages, not just placeholders. Common patterns:

• Service roles — create Restart <role_name> and Reload <role_name> handlers using ansible.builtin.systemd_service or ansible.builtin.service
• Configuration roles — create handlers that validate config before restarting (e.g., Validate <role_name> configuration followed by Restart <role_name>)
• Roles with no handlers needed — leave handlers/main.yml with a comment explaining no handlers are required

All handler names MUST be prefixed with the role name. Wire up notify: in the corresponding tasks (e.g., template tasks notify restart handler).

templates/

• If any templates are created, include {{ ansible_managed | comment }} header and use backup: true in the corresponding task

README.md

• Role description
• Requirements
• Role variables (all from defaults/main.yml, documented)
• Example playbook
• Idempotency designation
• Check mode support statement
• Rollback capabilities
• License and author

Post-scaffold validation

After creating all files, verify:

• No dashes in the role name
• All variables are role-name prefixed
• Internal variables use __ prefix
• argument_specs.yml matches defaults/main.yml
• All task names are imperative
• All modules use FQCN
• YAML uses 2-space indent and true/false booleans
• ansible_facts['...'] bracket notation is used everywhere

Rules fallback

If the rules are not available locally (no CLAUDE.md with Ansible rules or redhat-cop-automation-good-practices-*.md), fetch them from https://github.com/redhat-cop/automation-good-practices as a fallback.