From 603c429f5312fb41943e1e66cb03a532aea1ba3f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Octi Zhang <zhengyuz@nvidia.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:28:11 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] disables internal selection when detect isaaclab
 installed via pip

---
 .../overview/developer-guide/template.rst     |  6 ++--
 tools/template/cli.py                         | 32 ++++++++++++-------
 2 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst b/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst
index 7c75d27179e2..30dbdcad65e0 100644
--- a/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst
+++ b/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ The template generator enables you to create an:
 
   .. warning::
 
-    If you installed Isaac Lab via pip, any task generated by template outside of the pip-installed environment may not
-    be discovered properly. We are working on better support, but please prefer external projects when using
-    isaac lab pip installation.
+    Pip installations of Isaac Lab do not support *Internal* templates.  
+    If ``isaaclab`` is loaded from ``site-packages`` or ``dist-packages``, the *Internal* option is disabled 
+    and the *External* template will be used instead.
 
 Running the template generator
 ------------------------------
diff --git a/tools/template/cli.py b/tools/template/cli.py
index f9480b461d84..f24c02bc34d9 100644
--- a/tools/template/cli.py
+++ b/tools/template/cli.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 
 import enum
+import importlib
 import os
 from collections.abc import Callable
 
@@ -147,18 +148,25 @@ def main() -> None:
     """Main function to run template generation from CLI."""
     cli_handler = CLIHandler()
 
-    # project type
-    is_external_project = (
-        cli_handler.input_select(
-            "Task type:",
-            choices=["External", "Internal"],
-            long_instruction=(
-                "External (recommended): task/project is in its own folder/repo outside the Isaac Lab project.\n"
-                "Internal: the task is implemented within the Isaac Lab project (in source/isaaclab_tasks)."
-            ),
-        ).lower()
-        == "external"
-    )
+    lab_module = importlib.import_module("isaaclab")
+    lab_path = os.path.realpath(getattr(lab_module, "__file__", "") or (getattr(lab_module, "__path__", [""])[0]))
+    is_lab_pip_installed = ("site-packages" in lab_path) or ("dist-packages" in lab_path)
+    
+    if not is_lab_pip_installed:
+        # project type
+        is_external_project = (
+            cli_handler.input_select(
+                "Task type:",
+                choices=["External", "Internal"],
+                long_instruction=(
+                    "External (recommended): task/project is in its own folder/repo outside the Isaac Lab project.\n"
+                    "Internal: the task is implemented within the Isaac Lab project (in source/isaaclab_tasks)."
+                ),
+            ).lower()
+            == "external"
+        )
+    else:
+        is_external_project = True
 
     # project path (if 'external')
     project_path = None

From b11fbba28149862fdadb989766d613188a13dd46 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Octi Zhang <zhengyuz@nvidia.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2025 23:00:02 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] pass precommit

---
 docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst | 4 ++--
 tools/template/cli.py                             | 2 +-
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst b/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst
index 30dbdcad65e0..f9d954acdf4f 100644
--- a/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst
+++ b/docs/source/overview/developer-guide/template.rst
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ The template generator enables you to create an:
 
   .. warning::
 
-    Pip installations of Isaac Lab do not support *Internal* templates.  
-    If ``isaaclab`` is loaded from ``site-packages`` or ``dist-packages``, the *Internal* option is disabled 
+    Pip installations of Isaac Lab do not support *Internal* templates.
+    If ``isaaclab`` is loaded from ``site-packages`` or ``dist-packages``, the *Internal* option is disabled
     and the *External* template will be used instead.
 
 Running the template generator
diff --git a/tools/template/cli.py b/tools/template/cli.py
index f24c02bc34d9..013519f2a89e 100644
--- a/tools/template/cli.py
+++ b/tools/template/cli.py
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ def main() -> None:
     lab_module = importlib.import_module("isaaclab")
     lab_path = os.path.realpath(getattr(lab_module, "__file__", "") or (getattr(lab_module, "__path__", [""])[0]))
     is_lab_pip_installed = ("site-packages" in lab_path) or ("dist-packages" in lab_path)
-    
+
     if not is_lab_pip_installed:
         # project type
         is_external_project = (