strapi/docs/1.x.x/customization.md

# Customization

In keeping with the Node.js philosophy, Strapi aims to keep its core as small
as possible, delegating all but the most critical functions to separate modules.

Generators are designed to make it easier to customize the `$ strapi new`
and `$ strapi generate` command-line tools, and provide better support
for different user features, custom admin panel, configuration options,
view engines, etc.

Custom generators are linked to your machine aiming to have your personal
configuration and features at any time, for every application.

You can edit your custom generators inside the `.strapirc` file at `$HOME`.

First, make sure you this file exists:

```bash
$ strapi config
```

This file should look like this:

```js
{
  "generators": {

  }
}
```

At this time, you don't have any custom generators on your machine.

In your `.strapirc` file, a custom generator is an object with three keys:

- `repository`: the Git repository to clone.
- `remote`: the current remote to pull updates from.
- `branch`: the branch you want to pull updates from.

For example, to add a custom `blog` generator, follow this:

```js
{
  "generators": {
    "blog": {
      "repository": "git@github.com:username/strapi-generate-blog.git",
      "remote": "origin",
      "branch": "master"
    }
  }
}
```

Once you have updated your `.strapirc` file, you need to clone and/or update your
generators. To do so, just execute:

```bash
$ strapi update
```

This command will clone every new repository written in your configuration file
and pull the latest updates for the other ones.

Then, you can generate your `blog` files inside your project with:

```bash
$ strapi generate blog
```