rework template list in 'azd init' for usability

cli/azd/pkg/templates/awesome_source.go

@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ type awesomeAzdTemplate struct {
 	Source           string   `json:"source"`
 	Tags             []string `json:"tags"`
 	AzureServiceTags []string `json:"azureServices"`
-	LanguageTags     []string `json:"languages"`
+
+	// A list of languages supported by the template
+	//
+	// As of November 2025, known values include: bicep, php, javascript, dotnetCsharp, typescript, python, nodejs, java
+	LanguageTags []string `json:"languages"`
 }
 
 // newAwesomeAzdTemplateSource creates a new template source from the awesome-azd templates json file.

cli/azd/pkg/templates/template.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ package templates
 
 import (
 	"io"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"text/tabwriter"
 
@@ -73,3 +74,42 @@ func (t *Template) Display(writer io.Writer) error {
 
 	return tabs.Flush()
 }
+
+// DisplayLanguages returns a list of languages suitable for display from the associated template Tags.
+func (t *Template) DisplayLanguages() []string {
+	languages := make([]string, 0, len(t.Tags))
+	for _, lang := range t.Tags {
+		switch lang {
+		case "dotnetCsharp":
+			languages = append(languages, "csharp")
+		case "nodejs":
+			languages = append(languages, "nodejs")
+		case "javascript":
+			if !slices.Contains(t.Tags, "nodejs") && !slices.Contains(t.Tags, "ts") {
+				languages = append(languages, "js")
+			}
+		case "typescript":
+			if !slices.Contains(t.Tags, "nodejs") {
+				languages = append(languages, "ts")
+			}
+		case "python", "java":
+			languages = append(languages, lang)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return languages
+}
+
+// CanonicalPath returns a canonicalized path for the template repository
+func (t *Template) CanonicalPath() string {
+	path := t.RepositoryPath
+	if after, ok := strings.CutPrefix(path, "https://github.com/"); ok {
+		path = after
+	}
+
+	if after, ok := strings.CutPrefix(strings.ToLower(path), "azure-samples/"); ok {
+		path = after
+	}
+
+	return path
+}

cli/azd/pkg/templates/template_manager.go

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/azure/azure-dev/cli/azd/pkg/input"
+	"github.com/azure/azure-dev/cli/azd/pkg/output"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -196,47 +197,41 @@ func PromptTemplate(
 		return Template{}, fmt.Errorf("prompting for template: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	templateChoices := []*Template{}
-	duplicateNames := []string{}
-
-	// Check for duplicate template names
-	for _, template := range templates {
-		hasDuplicateName := slices.ContainsFunc(templateChoices, func(t *Template) bool {
-			return t.Name == template.Name
-		})
+	slices.SortFunc(templates, func(a, b *Template) int {
+		return strings.Compare(a.Name, b.Name)
+	})
 
-		if hasDuplicateName {
-			duplicateNames = append(duplicateNames, template.Name)
+	choices := make([]string, 0, len(templates)+1)
+	for i, template := range templates {
+		choice := template.Name
+		if len(choice) > 70 {
+			choice = choice[0:67] + "..."
 		}
 
-		templateChoices = append(templateChoices, template)
-	}
-
-	templateNames := make([]string, 0, len(templates)+1)
-	templateDetails := make([]string, 0, len(templates)+1)
-
-	for _, template := range templates {
-		templateChoice := template.Name
-
-		// Disambiguate duplicate template names with source identifier
-		if slices.Contains(duplicateNames, template.Name) {
-			templateChoice += fmt.Sprintf(" (%s)", template.Source)
+		for j, otherTemplate := range templates {
+			if i != j && strings.EqualFold(template.Name, otherTemplate.Name) {
+				// Disambiguate duplicate template names with source identifier
+				choice += fmt.Sprintf(" (%s)", template.Source)
+			}
 		}
 
-		templateDetails = append(templateDetails, template.RepositoryPath)
+		languages := template.DisplayLanguages()
+		path := template.CanonicalPath()
 
-		if slices.Contains(templateNames, templateChoice) {
-			duplicateNames = append(duplicateNames, templateChoice)
-		}
+		choices = append(choices, fmt.Sprintf("%s\t%s\t[%s]",
+			choice,
+			path,
+			strings.Join(languages, ",")))
+	}
 
-		templateNames = append(templateNames, templateChoice)
+	choices, err = output.TabAlign(choices, 3)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Template{}, fmt.Errorf("aligning choices: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	selected, err := console.Select(ctx, input.ConsoleOptions{
-		Message:       message,
-		Options:       templateNames,
-		OptionDetails: templateDetails,
-		DefaultValue:  templateNames[0],
+		Message: message,
+		Options: choices,
 	})
 
 	// separate this prompt from the next log