Manage Multiple SKA Configurations in the Same Folder

USE CASE: Manage Multiple SKA Configurations in the Same Folder

It’s common to scaffold more than one SKA template into the same working directory (for example, app code + CI/pipeline template + infra snippets). In this scenario, SKA stores multiple configuration files under the local .ska-config directory—one per template—so each template can be updated independently.

This document shows how to:

Understand how multiple configurations are organized.
List all SKA configurations present in the folder.
Rename a specific configuration for clarity.
Update a specific template by referencing its named configuration.

How multiple configurations work

Each time you scaffold a template into the same root, SKA creates or updates an entry under .ska-config/ dedicated to that template.
Every entry track:
- The upstream blueprint reference (including subfolder path and pinned ref like @v1.2.3).
- The variables which are captured during creation.
- Any behavior settings (e.g., ignore paths) that are carried over from the upstream.

As a result, you can:

Keep multiple templates side-by-side in one project folder.
Update each template independently without affecting the others.

List configurations

Use the config list command to see all template configurations present in the current directory:

ska config list

What you get:

The list of configuration names that identify each template’s state within .ska-config.
A handy reference for which name to target in later commands (e.g., update, rename).

Tip:

If you’ve applied multiple templates, use this command to confirm the exact names before running updates.

Rename a configuration

Give a configuration a clearer name (for example, rename a generic “default” to something meaningful like ci-pipeline):

ska config rename OLD_NAME NEW_NAME

Why rename?

To make updates more explicit and safer, especially when multiple templates coexist in the same folder.
To standardize naming across teams or CI pipelines.

Update a specific template by name

When multiple templates are present, specify which one to update via the named configuration:

ska update --path . --name <CONFIG_NAME>

Examples:

Update a CI/pipeline template only:
Terminal window
```
ska update --path . --name ci-pipeline
```
Update an application runtime template only:
Terminal window
```
ska update --path . --name app-runtime
```

Notes:

Use the long option —name to be explicit.
You can pass variables during the update as needed:
Terminal window
```
ska update --path . --name ci-pipeline
```

Run non-interactively in CI:

ska update --path . --name ci-pipeline --non-interactive -v key=value -v another=value

Practical workflow

Scaffold multiple templates into the same folder (e.g., an app template and a CI template).
Run:
Terminal window
```
ska config list
```
to see all configurations and their names.
Optionally, rename a configuration for clarity:
Terminal window
```
ska config rename default ci-pipeline
```
Update a specific template by name whenever the upstream changes:
Terminal window
```
ska update --path . --name ci-pipeline
```

[!TIP] Tips and good practices
Choose descriptive names (app-runtime, ci-pipeline, infra-shared) to make command intent obvious.

Keep configuration names stable so CI and scripts remain consistent.

Before updating, ensure your working tree is clean to review changes easily.
If a configuration’s upstream reference needs to be pinned to a new version (e.g., @v1.2.0 → @v1.3.0), update that configuration’s upstream reference and then run:
Terminal window
ska update --path . --name <CONFIG_NAME>