diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cecec98..2e99bcc 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -130,3 +130,4 @@ dmypy.json
 *.png
 *.blend1
 *.avi
+actions-runner/**
diff --git a/scripts/compare_template.py b/scripts/compare_template.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a31e5d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/compare_template.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import filecmp
+import yaml
+import json
+
+config = {}
+sandbox_header_dir = 'sandbox/'
+
+with open ('template_files.yaml', 'r') as template_files:
+    config['template_files'] = yaml.load(template_files)
+
+for file in config['template_files']:
+    if 'blend' in file:
+        continue
+    
+    print('checking for differences in {}{}'.format(sandbox_header_dir, file))
+    areEqual = filecmp.cmp(file, '{}{}'.format(sandbox_header_dir, file))
+    if areEqual:
+        print(' -- good')
+    else:
+        print(' -- not equal')
+
+
diff --git a/scripts/generate_template.py b/scripts/generate_template.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..720a22a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/generate_template.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import yaml
+import json
+import os
+import shutil
+
+config = {}
+sandbox_header_dir = 'sandbox/'
+
+with open ('template_files.yaml', 'r') as template_files:
+    config['template_files'] = yaml.load(template_files)
+
+print(json.dumps(config, indent=3))
+
+print('refreshing sandbox/')
+shutil.rmtree(sandbox_header_dir)
+os.mkdir(sandbox_header_dir)
+os.mkdir(sandbox_header_dir + 'blender/')
+os.mkdir(sandbox_header_dir + 'scripts/')
+os.mkdir(sandbox_header_dir + 'logs/')
+
+for file in config['template_files']:
+    shutil.copy(file, '{}{}'.format(sandbox_header_dir, file))
+    print('file created in sandbox: {}{}'.format(sandbox_header_dir, file))
+
diff --git a/template_files.yaml b/template_files.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..570e00c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template_files.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+- Makefile
+- blender/scene.blend
+- scripts/render.py
+- config.yaml