diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b66eed5..5f752a3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,4 +7,5 @@ js/node_modules
 go.work
 go.work.sum
 .idea
-!framework/assets/dist
\ No newline at end of file
+!framework/assets/dist
+/**/__htmgo
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cli/htmgo/internal/dirutil/dir.go b/cli/htmgo/internal/dirutil/dir.go
index 466f599..30bd77b 100644
--- a/cli/htmgo/internal/dirutil/dir.go
+++ b/cli/htmgo/internal/dirutil/dir.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 func HasFileFromRoot(file string) bool {
@@ -73,3 +74,65 @@ func CopyFile(src, dst string) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+func DeleteAllExcept(path string, keepDir string) error {
+	// Get the info of the path
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if !info.IsDir() {
+		// We only care about directories
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// If path is the keepDir, do nothing
+	if path == keepDir {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Check if keepDir is under path (path is an ancestor of keepDir)
+	relToKeepDir, err := filepath.Rel(path, keepDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(relToKeepDir, "..") {
+		// keepDir is under path; recurse into subdirectories
+		entries, err := os.ReadDir(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		for _, entry := range entries {
+			entryPath := filepath.Join(path, entry.Name())
+			err := DeleteAllExcept(entryPath, keepDir)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		// Check if path is under keepDir (path is a descendant of keepDir)
+		relFromKeepDir, err := filepath.Rel(keepDir, path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(relFromKeepDir, "..") {
+			// path is under keepDir; do nothing
+			return nil
+		} else {
+			// path is neither keepDir nor related; delete it
+			slog.Debug("Deleting directory:", slog.String("path", path))
+			err = os.RemoveAll(path)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			// Skip further traversal since the directory is deleted
+			return nil
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cli/htmgo/tasks/downloadtemplate/main.go b/cli/htmgo/tasks/downloadtemplate/main.go
index 1e4aa7e..d53c4ea 100644
--- a/cli/htmgo/tasks/downloadtemplate/main.go
+++ b/cli/htmgo/tasks/downloadtemplate/main.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package downloadtemplate
 import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/maddalax/htmgo/cli/htmgo/internal/dirutil"
 	"github.com/maddalax/htmgo/cli/htmgo/tasks/process"
 	"github.com/maddalax/htmgo/cli/htmgo/tasks/run"
 	"github.com/maddalax/htmgo/cli/htmgo/tasks/util"
@@ -13,31 +14,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
-func deleteAllExceptTemplate(outPath string, excludeDir string) {
-	// List all files and directories in the root folder
-	files, err := os.ReadDir(outPath)
-	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Printf("Error reading directory: %v\n", err)
-		return
-	}
-
-	// Iterate through each item in the root folder
-	for _, file := range files {
-		// Skip the excluded directory
-		if file.Name() == excludeDir {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		// Get full path
-		fullPath := filepath.Join(outPath, file.Name())
-
-		err := os.RemoveAll(fullPath)
-		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Printf("Error removing %s: %v\n", fullPath, err)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func DownloadTemplate(outPath string) {
 	cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
 
@@ -69,13 +45,16 @@ func DownloadTemplate(outPath string) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	deleteAllExceptTemplate(outPath, templatePath)
+	dirutil.DeleteAllExcept(outPath, templatePath)
 
 	newDir := filepath.Join(cwd, outPath)
 
+	dirutil.CopyDir(templatePath, newDir, func(path string, exists bool) bool {
+		return true
+	})
+
 	commands := [][]string{
-		{"cp", "-vaR", fmt.Sprintf("%s/.", templateName), "."},
-		{"rm", "-rf", templateName},
+		{"rm", "-rf", templatePath},
 		{"go", "get", "github.com/maddalax/htmgo/framework"},
 		{"go", "get", "github.com/maddalax/htmgo/framework-ui"},
 		{"git", "init"},
diff --git a/templates/starter/.gitignore b/templates/starter/.gitignore
index 864f165..3d6a979 100644
--- a/templates/starter/.gitignore
+++ b/templates/starter/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 tmp
 node_modules
 .idea
+__htmgo
+dist
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/templates/starter/__htmgo/pages-generated.go b/templates/starter/__htmgo/pages-generated.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 7a2c8ad..0000000
--- a/templates/starter/__htmgo/pages-generated.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-// Package __htmgo THIS FILE IS GENERATED. DO NOT EDIT.
-package __htmgo
-
-import "github.com/labstack/echo/v4"
-import "github.com/maddalax/htmgo/framework/h"
-import "starter-template/pages"
-
-func RegisterPages(f *echo.Echo) {
-	f.GET("/", func(ctx echo.Context) error {
-		cc := ctx.(*h.RequestContext)
-		return h.HtmlView(ctx, pages.IndexPage(cc))
-	})
-}
diff --git a/templates/starter/__htmgo/partials-generated.go b/templates/starter/__htmgo/partials-generated.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 4604eec..0000000
--- a/templates/starter/__htmgo/partials-generated.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-// Package __htmgo THIS FILE IS GENERATED. DO NOT EDIT.
-package __htmgo
-
-import "github.com/maddalax/htmgo/framework/h"
-import "github.com/labstack/echo/v4"
-import "starter-template/partials"
-
-func GetPartialFromContext(ctx echo.Context) *h.Partial {
-	path := ctx.Request().URL.Path
-	if path == "CounterPartial" || path == "/starter-template/partials.CounterPartial" {
-		cc := ctx.(*h.RequestContext)
-		return partials.CounterPartial(cc)
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-func RegisterPartials(f *echo.Echo) {
-	f.Any("starter-template/partials*", func(ctx echo.Context) error {
-		partial := GetPartialFromContext(ctx)
-		if partial == nil {
-			return ctx.NoContent(404)
-		}
-		return h.PartialView(ctx, partial)
-	})
-}
diff --git a/templates/starter/__htmgo/setup-generated.go b/templates/starter/__htmgo/setup-generated.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 1bf4b9c..0000000
--- a/templates/starter/__htmgo/setup-generated.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-// Package __htmgo THIS FILE IS GENERATED. DO NOT EDIT.
-package __htmgo
-
-import (
-	"github.com/labstack/echo/v4"
-)
-
-func Register(e *echo.Echo) {
-	RegisterPartials(e)
-	RegisterPages(e)
-}