Four additions to the dictionary filesystem layer improve the experience of creating and editing platform objects outside the browser editor. On first sync, each report, virtual table, and table directory receives a _template.xml starter file that demonstrates the correct element structure for that object kind. The rich XML object format gains two optional field groups — color palette configuration and query binding declarations — so UI display preferences and data bindings are colocated with the object definition in the filesystem representation. The MCP filesystem platform snippet includes _template.xml as an enumerated guidance resource.
Template injection
- Per-object-kind starter files. Each directory the sync tool creates for a report, virtual table, or table object receives a
_template.xmlpopulated with the required element skeleton for that kind. Developers editing a new object start from a valid document rather than a blank file. - Non-destructive on re-sync. Template files are written only if no file already occupies the path; a subsequent sync does not overwrite a file a developer has already populated.
- MCP snippet coverage. The MCP filesystem platform snippet enumerates
_template.xmlas a resource, so MCP clients that list platform files expose the template alongside production object files.
Rich XML format extensions
- Color palette configuration. Reports, virtual tables, and table objects can now declare color assignments in the rich XML format, keeping display-layer configuration alongside the object definition rather than in a separate UI properties record.
- Query binding declarations. Input query bindings — the data sources that feed a report or virtual table — can now be declared in the rich XML format, making the full binding topology visible to a developer reading the filesystem representation without opening the browser editor.
Both format extensions are optional and backward-compatible; existing object files without these fields load and sync correctly. Developers who manage object definitions in version control through the filesystem workflow gain a more complete representation of each object's configuration through these additions.