Problem updating a project created from a recursive template

[hribera]

Describe the problem

We have a copier template that has the following structure (simplified):

copier-template/
├── project
│   └── {{ repo_name }}
│       ├── {{ _copier_conf.answers_file }}
│       ├── Dockerfile
│       ├── LICENSE
│       ├── Makefile
│       ├── pyproject.toml
│       ├── tests
│       └── README.md
├── copier.yml
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
└── tests

The copier.yml file is:

# CONFIGURATION -------------------------
_subdirectory: project
_templates_suffix: ""
_jinja_extensions: []

# PROMPT --------------------------------
repo_name:
[and so on...]

We created a project using this template named copier-project.

Then we updated the template to have another file named CONTRIBUTING.md inside the {{ repo_name }} folder, and updated the version of the template with its corresponding tag and all.

We then wanted to update the project copier-project created using this template. So within the folder copier-project we ran:

poetry run copier update --skip-tasks --skip-answered --trust --vcs-ref=HEAD .

Which updated the project with the message Updating to template version 0.2.7 and no errors.

However, we saw that the update command had created a new folder within copier-project named copier-project and had added the CONTRIBUTING.md file within this new folder, which completely breaks the structure of the project:

copier-project/
├── .copier-answers.yml
├── Dockerfile
├── LICENSE
├── Makefile
├── pyproject.toml
├── tests
├── README.md
└── copier-project
    └── CONTRIBUTING.md

Template

The template used is a private template and cannot be shared.

To Reproduce

No response

Logs

No response

Expected behavior

We would have expected that the CONTRIBUTING.md file to be added in the copier-project folder.

Screenshots/screencasts/logs

No response

Operating system

Linux

Operating system distribution and version

20.04

Copier version

9.4.1

Python version

3.11

Installation method

pip+pypi

Additional context

I have found that in here it specifies that for recursive templates one should use the _subdirectory option in configuration. However, we weren't able to add the {{ repo_folder }} as a _subdirectory directly, so we added the project folder to get around the problem. We do need to have tests for the template, have a separate pyproject.toml for the template, among other things, so that is why we can't use the root directly either.

[pawamoy]

Hi @hribera, thanks for the report.

I believe that's the same issue as #1617, and I would therefore characterize it as "misuse". Can you check #1617 and tell us if that helps you solve your problem?

[hribera]

Hi @pawamoy,

Yes it is the same issue. Noted that it is considered a misuse, and so we will drop the {{ repo_name }} folder as advised in #1617.

Thanks for your quick response!