Flag-Aware Custom Commands and Dynamic Tables

Custom command steps can now read their own command-line flags through {{ .Flags.<name> }}, and the table step templates its data, columns, and title per-step. Together they let you build flag-driven runbooks — rich, dynamic output assembled declaratively in atmos.yaml, no shell scripting required.

What Changed

Two things came together:

1. Flags are now template variables. When a custom command declares flags, each one is exposed to its steps as {{ .Flags.<name> }}. Step titles, shell commands, working directories, and table data all resolve those values.
2. table steps are fully templated. A table step's title, columns, and every cell in data are rendered as Go templates, so the table content can depend on flags and other step variables.

How to Use It

Here's a real example now shipping in examples/demo-stacks — a platform command group whose subcommands take a --stack flag and build their output from it:

commands:
  - name: platform
    description: Platform team shortcuts for stack discovery and day-two commands.
    commands:
      - name: status
        description: Show stacks, components, and common next actions for one stack.
        flags:
          - name: stack
            shorthand: s
            description: Target stack.
            required: true
        steps:
          - type: stage
            title: Components in {{ .Flags.stack }}
          - type: shell
            command: atmos list components -s {{ .Flags.stack }}
          - type: table
            title: Platform commands
            columns:
              - task
              - command
            data:
              - task: Show variables
                command: atmos list vars myapp -s {{ .Flags.stack }}
              - task: Plan affected
                command: atmos terraform plan --affected

Run it like any other command:

atmos platform status -s plat-ue2-dev

Every {{ .Flags.stack }} resolves to plat-ue2-dev, the stage titles and table rows fill in, and the shell steps run against the right stack.

atmos interactive workflow steps

00:00.0 / 00:00.0

View the full example

Why It Matters

• Build your own shortcuts. Wrap your team's day-two operations — discovery, planning, secret access — into named commands that adapt to their flags.
• Rich output without scripts. Tables, staged sections, and dynamic titles are declared in YAML, not hand-rolled in bash with printf and column.
• Consistent across workflows and custom commands. The same step library powers both, so what you learn in one applies to the other.

For usage and configuration, see flags.

Get Involved

See the workflow step types and the table step reference to start building. Share what you create with the Atmos community.