# Getting Started
## Installation
To install this module run:
```bash
npm install @f5devcentral/f5-fast-core
```
## CLI
A command line interface is provided via a `fast` binary.
FAST can render a basic template with the CLI. Here is an example using a template file named hello.yaml:
```yaml
parameters:
message: Hello!
definitions:
body:
template:
{{message}}
template: |
{{> body}}
```
With this command to render the template:
```bash
fast render hello.yaml
```
For help, like the text provided below, is also accessed via `fast --help`:
```
fast
Commands:
fast validate validate given template source file
fast schema get template parameter schema for given template source file
fast guiSchema get template parameter schema (modified for use with JSON Editor) for given template source file
fast validateParameters validate supplied template parameters with given template
fast render [parameterFile] render given template file with supplied parameters
fast validateTemplateSet validate supplied template set
fast htmlpreview [parameterFile] generate a static HTML file with a preview editor to standard out
fast packageTemplateSet [dst] build a package for a given template set
Options:
--help Show help [boolean]
--version Show version number [boolean]
```
For more information on a given command use the `--help` flag combined with a command:
```bash
fast --help
```
The CLI can also be accessed by executing `cli.js`.
For example:
```bash
./cli.js render path/to/template
```
## ContentTypes
When FAST renders it is doing string replacement via Mustache, which is agnostic to the output type. However, specifying a contentType in the template can enable some additional features:
* Post-processing steps (e.g., strip dangling commas for JSON)
* Smarter merges
* Smarter handling of some data types
Here is an example of using application/json for the content type:
Template:
```yaml
title: Members in JSON List
contentType: application/json
template: |
{
"members": [
{{#members}}
{ "ipAddr": "{{ . }}" },
{{/members}}
]
}
```
Parameters:
```yaml
members:
- 10.0.0.1
- 10.0.0.2
- 10.0.0.3
```
Output:
```
{
"members": [
{
"ipAddr": "10.0.0.1"
},
{
"ipAddr": "10.0.0.2"
},
{
"ipAddr": "10.0.0.3"
}
]
}
```