fix: clarify amplify create app template

.changeset/amplify-template-guidance.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@aws-blocks/create-blocks-app": patch
+---
+
+Treat Amplify Gen 2 integration as an auto-detected existing-project flow instead of advertising it as a fresh project template, and report clear guidance for `--template amplify`.

packages/create-blocks-app/README.md

@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ Available templates:
 - **backend** - Backend-only (no frontend)
 - **nextjs** - Next.js integration
 - **auth-cognito** - Cognito authentication example
-- **amplify** - Amplify Gen 2 integration
 - **demo** - Demo application
 
 ### Add to Existing Project
@@ -46,6 +45,8 @@ npx @aws-blocks/create-blocks-app .
 
 The CLI detects your Amplify project (`amplify/backend.ts`) and integrates Blocks alongside it — adding a `aws-blocks/` workspace, wiring auth via bearer tokens, and scaffolding npm scripts for deployment. Your existing Amplify auth, data, and hosting stay untouched.
 
+Amplify Gen 2 integration is auto-detected from an existing project and is not selected with `--template`.
+
 ## What Gets Created
 
 ```

packages/create-blocks-app/src/cli.test.ts

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ describe('create-blocks-app CLI argument parsing', () => {
     assert.strictEqual(result.exitCode, 0);
     assert.match(result.stdout, /Usage: create-blocks-app/);
     assert.match(result.stdout, /--template/);
-    assert.match(result.stdout, /Available templates: default, bare, react, backend, nextjs, auth-cognito, amplify, demo/);
+    assert.match(result.stdout, /Available templates: default, bare, react, backend, nextjs, auth-cognito, demo/);
     assert.match(result.stdout, /--help/);
     assert.match(result.stdout, /auto-detected/);
   });
@@ -77,6 +77,14 @@ describe('create-blocks-app CLI argument parsing', () => {
     assert.doesNotMatch(result.stderr, /ENOENT/);
   });
 
+  it('--template amplify exits 1 with existing-project guidance', () => {
+    const result = run(['my-app', '--template', 'amplify']);
+    assert.strictEqual(result.exitCode, 1);
+    assert.match(result.stderr, /Amplify integration is auto-detected/);
+    assert.match(result.stderr, /npx @aws-blocks\/create-blocks-app \./);
+    assert.doesNotMatch(result.stderr, /ENOENT/);
+  });
+
   it('multiple positional args exits 1 with error message', () => {
     const result = run(['my-app', 'extra-arg']);
     assert.strictEqual(result.exitCode, 1);

packages/create-blocks-app/src/index.ts

@@ -173,12 +173,13 @@ async function addBlocksWorkspace(targetDir: string, options: {
   }
 }
 
-const AVAILABLE_TEMPLATES = ['default', 'bare', 'react', 'backend', 'nextjs', 'auth-cognito', 'amplify', 'demo'];
+const FRESH_PROJECT_TEMPLATES = ['default', 'bare', 'react', 'backend', 'nextjs', 'auth-cognito', 'demo'];
+const AMPLIFY_INTEGRATION_TEMPLATE = 'amplify';
 
 function validateTemplateName(templateName: string): void {
-  if (!AVAILABLE_TEMPLATES.includes(templateName)) {
+  if (!FRESH_PROJECT_TEMPLATES.includes(templateName)) {
     console.error(`Error: Unknown template "${templateName}".`);
-    console.error(`Available templates: ${AVAILABLE_TEMPLATES.join(', ')}`);
+    console.error(`Available templates: ${FRESH_PROJECT_TEMPLATES.join(', ')}`);
     process.exit(1);
   }
 }
@@ -295,7 +296,7 @@ async function integrateWithAmplify(targetDir: string, skipConfirm = false, skip
   console.log('\n📦 Scaffolding Blocks...\n');
 
   // 1. Copy aws-blocks/ template
-  const templateDir = join(__dirname, '../templates/amplify');
+  const templateDir = join(__dirname, '../templates', AMPLIFY_INTEGRATION_TEMPLATE);
   const awsBlocksSrc = join(templateDir, 'aws-blocks');
   const awsBlocksDest = join(targetDir, 'aws-blocks');
   await cp(awsBlocksSrc, awsBlocksDest, { recursive: true });
@@ -574,7 +575,7 @@ Options:
                          starter app; when adding to an existing project it
                          selects which aws-blocks/ workspace to copy, e.g.
                          "nextjs" for a Next.js dev server (default: "default")
-                         Available templates: ${AVAILABLE_TEMPLATES.join(', ')}
+                         Available templates: ${FRESH_PROJECT_TEMPLATES.join(', ')}
   -y, --yes              Skip confirmation prompts
   -h, --help             Show this help message
 
@@ -625,6 +626,13 @@ async function create() {
     }
   }
 
+  if (templateName === AMPLIFY_INTEGRATION_TEMPLATE) {
+    console.error('Error: The Amplify integration is auto-detected and is not a fresh project template.');
+    console.error('Run from your Amplify Gen 2 project root without --template:');
+    console.error('  npx @aws-blocks/create-blocks-app .');
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
   validateTemplateName(templateName);
 
   const templatePkgVersion: string = JSON.parse(