Project Structure¶

A recommended directory layout for applications using the framework.

Minimal¶

myapp/
├── main.go           # Server setup and app registration
├── go.mod
└── go.sum

For small projects, everything fits in a single main.go.

Recommended¶

myapp/
├── cmd/
│   └── server/
│       └── main.go           # Server setup, app registration, layouts
├── internal/
│   ├── notes/                # Larger app (split by purpose)
│   │   ├── app.go            # App struct, routes, framework wiring
│   │   ├── context.go        # Context helpers
│   │   ├── handlers.go       # HTTP handlers
│   │   ├── models.go         # Domain models
│   │   ├── repository.go     # Data access layer
│   │   └── templates/        # HTML template files
│   │       ├── list.html     # {{ define "notes/list" }}
│   │       └── detail.html   # {{ define "notes/detail" }}
│   └── pages/                # Small app (single file is fine)
│       └── app.go
├── templates/                # Shared layout templates
│   └── layout.html           # {{ define "app/layout" }}
├── static/                   # CSS, JS, images
│   ├── styles.css
│   └── app.js
├── config.toml               # Optional TOML config
├── go.mod
└── go.sum

Key Conventions¶

Apps live in internal/ — each app is a self-contained package with its own documents, repository, handlers, and templates.

One file per app is fine — for small apps, put everything in app.go. Larger apps split files by purpose: context.go, handlers.go, models.go, repository.go, etc. (see the notes example).

Templates are .html files — each app embeds its own templates via //go:embed templates/*.html and implements HasTemplates. Templates use {{ define "appname/templatename" }} to namespace them within the global template set.

Schema is automatic — apps declare their document types via HasDocuments. Den creates tables and indexes on startup. No SQL migration files needed.

Layouts are separate from apps — layout templates live at the project level since they're shared across all apps. Set them via srv.SetLayout() in main.go. The recommended setup for non-trivial apps is a small shell app under internal/app/ that owns the project-level layout and the built Tailwind CSS — see the Tailwind guide for the rationale.

Static files are optional — use the staticfiles contrib app if you need content-hashed URLs and cache headers.