diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1c746c28..5b0aa922 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     "build": "tsc --build tsconfig.build.json",
     "build:watch": "tsc --build --watch tsconfig.build.json",
     "build:logos": "npm run build:logos -w resources/logos",
-    "create-package": "./scripts/create-package.js",
+    "create-package": "./scripts/create-package/execute.ts",
     "lint": "npm run lint:biome && npm run lint:tsc",
     "lint:biome": "biome check",
     "lint:tsc": "tsc",
diff --git a/resources/logos/package.json b/resources/logos/package.json
index 73039fa5..881adcdd 100644
--- a/resources/logos/package.json
+++ b/resources/logos/package.json
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
     "node": "^22.12 || ^24"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "build:logos": "./scripts/build.js"
+    "build:logos": "./scripts/build.ts"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "sharp": "^0.34.4",
diff --git a/resources/logos/scripts/build.js b/resources/logos/scripts/build.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from resources/logos/scripts/build.js
rename to resources/logos/scripts/build.ts
diff --git a/scripts/create-package.js b/scripts/create-package.js
deleted file mode 100755
index 26b3e69a..00000000
--- a/scripts/create-package.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,117 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env node
-// biome-ignore-all lint/suspicious/noConsole: only used in local dev
-
-import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
-import path from 'node:path';
-import releasePleaseManifest from '../.release-please-manifest.json' with { type: 'json' };
-import rootManifest from '../package.json' with { type: 'json' };
-import releasePleaseConfig from '../release-please-config.json' with { type: 'json' };
-
-// Get the package name
-const name = process.argv[2];
-if (!name) {
-	throw new Error('No package name provided');
-}
-
-// Create the package directory
-const packagePath = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', 'packages', name);
-console.log(`📂 creating package directory "packages/${name}"`);
-await fs.mkdir(packagePath);
-
-// Create a package manifest
-const manifest = {
-	name: `@dotcom-reliability-kit/${name}`,
-	version: '0.0.0',
-	type: 'module',
-	description: 'TODO',
-	repository: {
-		type: 'git',
-		url: 'https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit.git',
-		directory: `packages/${name}`
-	},
-	homepage: `https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit/tree/main/packages/${name}#readme`,
-	bugs: `https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit/issues?q=label:"package: ${name}"`,
-	license: rootManifest.license,
-	scripts: {
-		test: 'npm run test:unit && npm run test:end-to-end',
-		'test:unit':
-			"node --test --experimental-test-module-mocks --experimental-test-coverage --test-coverage-exclude='**/*.spec.js' --test-coverage-branches=100 --test-coverage-functions=100 --test-coverage-lines=100 'test/unit/**/*.spec.js'",
-		'test:end-to-end': "node --test 'test/end-to-end/**/*.spec.js'"
-	},
-	engines: rootManifest.engines,
-	exports: {
-		'.': {
-			types: './types/index.d.ts',
-			default: './lib/index.js'
-		}
-	}
-};
-console.log('📦 initialising "package.json"');
-await fs.writeFile(path.join(packagePath, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify(manifest, null, 2));
-
-console.log('📖 writing "README.md"');
-await fs.writeFile(
-	path.join(packagePath, 'README.md'),
-	`
-# @dotcom-reliability-kit/${name}
-
-This module is part of [FT.com Reliability Kit](https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit#readme).
-`
-);
-
-// Create an npm ignore file
-console.log('📄 adding ".npmignore"');
-await fs.writeFile(
-	path.join(packagePath, '.npmignore'),
-	['CHANGELOG.md', 'docs', 'test'].join('\n')
-);
-
-// Bootstrap base JavaScript files
-console.log('🏗  adding "lib/index.js"');
-const libPath = path.join(packagePath, 'lib');
-await fs.mkdir(libPath);
-await fs.writeFile(
-	path.join(libPath, 'index.js'),
-	`export {};
-`
-);
-console.log('🏗  adding "types/index.d.ts"');
-const typesPath = path.join(packagePath, 'types');
-await fs.mkdir(typesPath);
-await fs.writeFile(
-	path.join(typesPath, 'index.d.ts'),
-	`declare module '@dotcom-reliability-kit/${name}' {}
-`
-);
-
-// Bootstrap test JavaScript files
-console.log('🏗  adding "test/unit/lib/index.spec.js"');
-const testPath = path.join(packagePath, 'test', 'unit', 'lib');
-await fs.mkdir(testPath, { recursive: true });
-await fs.writeFile(
-	path.join(testPath, 'index.spec.js'),
-	`import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
-import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
-
-describe('@dotcom-reliability-kit/${name}', () => {
-	it('has some tests', () => {
-		assert.strictEqual(true, false);
-	});
-});
-`
-);
-
-// Add package to Release Please config
-console.log('🚢 adding package to Release Please config');
-releasePleaseConfig.packages[`packages/${name}`] = {};
-await fs.writeFile(
-	path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', 'release-please-config.json'),
-	JSON.stringify(releasePleaseConfig, null, '\t')
-);
-
-console.log('🚢 adding package to Release Please manifest');
-releasePleaseManifest[`packages/${name}`] = '0.0.0';
-await fs.writeFile(
-	path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', '.release-please-manifest.json'),
-	JSON.stringify(releasePleaseManifest, null, '\t')
-);
diff --git a/scripts/create-package/execute.ts b/scripts/create-package/execute.ts
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..19e57e08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/create-package/execute.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// biome-ignore-all lint/suspicious/noConsole: only used in local dev
+
+import { glob, mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import releasePleaseManifest from '../../.release-please-manifest.json' with { type: 'json' };
+import releasePleaseConfig from '../../release-please-config.json' with { type: 'json' };
+import typeScriptBuildConfig from '../../tsconfig.build.json' with { type: 'json' };
+
+// Get the package name
+const name = process.argv[2];
+if (!name) {
+	console.error('❌ No package name provided');
+	process.exit(1);
+}
+if (!/^[a-z][a-z0-9-]+$/.test(name)) {
+	console.error('❌ Package name must be lowercase and alphanumeric with dashes');
+	process.exit(1);
+}
+
+// Get other package details
+const year = new Date().getFullYear();
+
+// Create the package directory
+const packagePath = resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', '..', 'packages', name);
+console.log(`📂 creating package directory "packages/${name}"`);
+await mkdir(packagePath, { recursive: true });
+
+// Copy across all template files
+const templatePath = join(import.meta.dirname, 'template');
+for await (const template of glob('**/*.*', { cwd: templatePath })) {
+	const inputPath = join(templatePath, template);
+	const outputPath = join(packagePath, template);
+	await mkdir(dirname(outputPath), { recursive: true });
+
+	const input = await readFile(inputPath, 'utf-8');
+	const output = input.replaceAll('{{name}}', name).replaceAll('{{year}}', `${year}`);
+
+	console.log(`📝 writing "${template}"`);
+	await writeFile(outputPath, output);
+}
+
+// Add package to Release Please config (re-ordering the packages)
+console.log('🚢 adding package to Release Please config');
+releasePleaseConfig.packages[`packages/${name}`] = {};
+releasePleaseConfig.packages = Object.fromEntries(
+	Object.entries(releasePleaseConfig.packages).toSorted(([a], [b]) => (a > b ? 1 : -1))
+) as typeof releasePleaseConfig.packages;
+await writeFile(
+	resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', '..', 'release-please-config.json'),
+	`${JSON.stringify(releasePleaseConfig, null, '\t')}\n`
+);
+
+console.log('🚢 adding package to Release Please manifest');
+releasePleaseManifest[`packages/${name}`] = '0.0.0';
+const sortedReleasePleaseManifest = Object.fromEntries(
+	Object.entries(releasePleaseManifest).toSorted(([a], [b]) => (a > b ? 1 : -1))
+) as typeof releasePleaseManifest;
+await writeFile(
+	resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', '..', '.release-please-manifest.json'),
+	JSON.stringify(sortedReleasePleaseManifest, null, 2) // Must be two spaces because Release Please sets it to this
+);
+
+// Add package to TypeScript build config
+console.log('🏗️ adding package to TypeScript build config');
+if (!typeScriptBuildConfig.references.find(({ path }) => path === `packages/${name}`)) {
+	typeScriptBuildConfig.references.push({ path: `packages/${name}` });
+	typeScriptBuildConfig.references = typeScriptBuildConfig.references.toSorted(
+		({ path: a }, { path: b }) => (a > b ? 1 : -1)
+	);
+	await writeFile(
+		resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', '..', 'tsconfig.build.json'),
+		`${JSON.stringify(typeScriptBuildConfig, null, '\t')}\n`
+	);
+}
diff --git a/scripts/create-package/template/README.md b/scripts/create-package/template/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4e5ff3e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/create-package/template/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+
+# @dotcom-reliability-kit/{{name}}
+
+This module is part of [FT.com Reliability Kit](https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit#readme).
+
+* [Usage](#usage)
+* [Contributing](#contributing)
+* [License](#license)
+
+
+## Usage
+
+Install `@dotcom-reliability-kit/{{name}}` as a dependency:
+
+```bash
+npm install --save @dotcom-reliability-kit/{{name}}
+```
+
+TODO write a usage guide.
+
+
+## Contributing
+
+See the [central contributing guide for Reliability Kit](https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit/blob/main/docs/contributing.md).
+
+
+## License
+
+Licensed under the [MIT](https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit/blob/main/LICENSE) license.<br/>
+Copyright &copy; {{year}}, The Financial Times Ltd.
diff --git a/scripts/create-package/template/index.ts b/scripts/create-package/template/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb0ff5c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/create-package/template/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export {};
diff --git a/scripts/create-package/template/package.json b/scripts/create-package/template/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..af49f477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/create-package/template/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+{
+  "name": "@dotcom-reliability-kit/{{name}}",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "type": "module",
+  "description": "TODO write a description",
+  "repository": {
+    "type": "git",
+    "url": "https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit.git",
+    "directory": "packages/{{name}}"
+  },
+  "homepage": "https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit/tree/main/packages/{{name}}#readme",
+  "bugs": "https://github.com/Financial-Times/dotcom-reliability-kit/issues?q=label:\"package: {{name}}\"",
+  "license": "MIT",
+  "scripts": {
+    "test": "npm run test:unit && npm run test:end-to-end",
+    "test:unit": "node --test --experimental-test-module-mocks --experimental-test-coverage --test-coverage-exclude='**/*.spec.ts' --test-coverage-branches=100 --test-coverage-functions=100 --test-coverage-lines=100 'test/unit/**/*.spec.ts'",
+    "test:end-to-end": "node --test 'test/end-to-end/**/*.spec.ts'"
+  },
+  "engines": {
+    "node": "^22.12 || ^24"
+  },
+  "exports": {
+    ".": {
+      "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
+      "default": "./dist/index.js"
+    }
+  },
+  "files": [
+    "dist",
+    "!*.tsbuildinfo"
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/scripts/create-package/template/test/unit/index.spec.ts b/scripts/create-package/template/test/unit/index.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3e80f180
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/create-package/template/test/unit/index.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
+
+describe('@dotcom-reliability-kit/{{name}}', () => {
+	it('has some tests', () => {
+		assert.strictEqual(true, false);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/scripts/create-package/template/tsconfig.json b/scripts/create-package/template/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8a27d081
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/create-package/template/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+	"extends": "../../tsconfig.json",
+	"compilerOptions": {
+		"noEmit": false,
+		"outDir": "dist"
+	},
+	"exclude": ["dist", "test"]
+}