diff --git a/src/commands/registry.ts b/src/commands/registry.ts
index b82e188..a51f21b 100644
--- a/src/commands/registry.ts
+++ b/src/commands/registry.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { tableCommand } from "./stdlib/table.js";
 import { whereCommand } from "./stdlib/where.js";
 import { sortCommand } from "./stdlib/sort.js";
 import { dedupeCommand } from "./stdlib/dedupe.js";
+import { templateCommand } from "./stdlib/template.js";
 import { approveCommand } from "./stdlib/approve.js";
 import { clawdInvokeCommand } from "./stdlib/clawd_invoke.js";
 import { stateGetCommand, stateSetCommand } from "./stdlib/state.js";
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ export function createDefaultRegistry() {
     whereCommand,
     sortCommand,
     dedupeCommand,
+    templateCommand,
     approveCommand,
     clawdInvokeCommand,
     stateGetCommand,
diff --git a/src/commands/stdlib/template.ts b/src/commands/stdlib/template.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f857a95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/commands/stdlib/template.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
+
+function getByPath(obj: any, path: string): any {
+  if (path === '.' || path === 'this') return obj;
+  const parts = path.split('.').filter(Boolean);
+  let cur: any = obj;
+  for (const p of parts) {
+    if (cur == null) return undefined;
+    cur = cur[p];
+  }
+  return cur;
+}
+
+function renderTemplate(tpl: string, ctx: any): string {
+  return tpl.replace(/\{\{\s*([^}]+?)\s*\}\}/g, (_m, expr) => {
+    const key = String(expr ?? '').trim();
+    const val = getByPath(ctx, key);
+    if (val === undefined || val === null) return '';
+    if (typeof val === 'string') return val;
+    return JSON.stringify(val);
+  });
+}
+
+export const templateCommand = {
+  name: 'template',
+  meta: {
+    description: 'Render a simple {{path}} template against each input item',
+    argsSchema: {
+      type: 'object',
+      properties: {
+        text: { type: 'string', description: 'Template text (supports {{path}}; {{.}} for the whole item)' },
+        file: { type: 'string', description: 'Template file path' },
+        _: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' } },
+      },
+      required: [],
+    },
+    sideEffects: [],
+  },
+  help() {
+    return (
+      `template — render a simple template against each item\n\n` +
+      `Usage:\n` +
+      `  ... | template --text 'PR {{number}}: {{title}}'\n` +
+      `  ... | template --file ./draft.txt\n\n` +
+      `Template syntax:\n` +
+      `  - {{field}} or {{nested.field}}\n` +
+      `  - {{.}} for the whole item\n` +
+      `  - Missing values render as empty string\n`
+    );
+  },
+  async run({ input, args }: any) {
+    let tpl = typeof args.text === 'string' ? args.text : undefined;
+    const file = typeof args.file === 'string' ? args.file : undefined;
+
+    if (!tpl && file) {
+      tpl = await fs.readFile(file, 'utf8');
+    }
+
+    if (!tpl) {
+      const positional = Array.isArray(args._) ? args._ : [];
+      if (positional.length) tpl = positional.join(' ');
+    }
+
+    if (!tpl) throw new Error('template requires --text or --file (or positional text)');
+
+    return {
+      output: (async function* () {
+        for await (const item of input) {
+          yield renderTemplate(String(tpl), item);
+        }
+      })(),
+    };
+  },
+};
diff --git a/test/template.test.ts b/test/template.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03b6c34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/template.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+import { runPipeline } from '../src/runtime.js';
+import { createDefaultRegistry } from '../src/commands/registry.js';
+import { parsePipeline } from '../src/parser.js';
+
+async function run(pipelineText: string, input: any[]) {
+  const pipeline = parsePipeline(pipelineText);
+  const registry = createDefaultRegistry();
+  const res = await runPipeline({
+    pipeline,
+    registry,
+    stdin: process.stdin,
+    stdout: process.stdout,
+    stderr: process.stderr,
+    env: process.env,
+    mode: 'tool',
+    input: (async function* () { for (const x of input) yield x; })(),
+  });
+  return res.items;
+}
+
+test('template renders fields and nested fields', async () => {
+  const out = await run("template --text 'hi {{user.name}}'", [{ user: { name: 'v' } }]);
+  assert.deepEqual(out, ['hi v']);
+});
+
+test('template renders missing fields as empty', async () => {
+  const out = await run("template --text 'x={{nope}}'", [{ a: 1 }]);
+  assert.deepEqual(out, ['x=']);
+});
+
+test('template supports {{.}} for whole item', async () => {
+  const out = await run("template --text '{{.}}'", [{ a: 1 }]);
+  assert.deepEqual(out, [JSON.stringify({ a: 1 })]);
+});
+
+test('template supports --file', async () => {
+  const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'lobster-template-'));
+  const file = path.join(dir, 'tpl.txt');
+  await fs.writeFile(file, 'hey {{x}}', 'utf8');
+  const out = await run(`template --file ${file}`, [{ x: 'ok' }]);
+  assert.deepEqual(out, ['hey ok']);
+});