diff --git a/alpha/template/basic/basic.go b/alpha/template/basic/basic.go
index 18566fbcf2..efc5179917 100644
--- a/alpha/template/basic/basic.go
+++ b/alpha/template/basic/basic.go
@@ -4,22 +4,42 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"slices"
 
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-registry/alpha/action"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-registry/alpha/declcfg"
 	"github.com/operator-framework/operator-registry/pkg/image"
 )
 
+const schema string = "olm.template.basic"
+
 type Template struct {
 	Registry image.Registry
 }
 
 func (t Template) Render(ctx context.Context, reader io.Reader) (*declcfg.DeclarativeConfig, error) {
+
 	cfg, err := declcfg.LoadReader(reader)
 	if err != nil {
 		return cfg, err
 	}
 
+	// declcfg.LoadReader interprets/validates anything behind an fs.FS to a declcfg.DeclarativeConfig,
+	// including any other declcfg.Meta objects (in declcfg.DeclarativeConfig.Others) that may be present,
+	// including our mandatory schema, which we can now validate and remove from the Others slice.
+	validatedSchema := false
+	cfg.Others = slices.DeleteFunc(cfg.Others, func(i declcfg.Meta) bool {
+		if i.Schema == schema {
+			validatedSchema = true
+			return true
+		}
+		return false
+	})
+
+	if !validatedSchema {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("missing/invalid schema. basic template schema must be %q", schema)
+	}
+
 	outb := cfg.Bundles[:0] // allocate based on max size of input, but empty slice
 	// populate registry, incl any flags from CLI, and enforce only rendering bundle images
 	r := action.Render{
diff --git a/alpha/template/composite/builder_test.go b/alpha/template/composite/builder_test.go
index 4a70c30670..ec320738e9 100644
--- a/alpha/template/composite/builder_test.go
+++ b/alpha/template/composite/builder_test.go
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ func TestBasicBuilder(t *testing.T) {
 				defer file.Close()
 				fileData, err := io.ReadAll(file)
 				require.NoError(t, err)
-				require.Equal(t, string(fileData), basicBuiltFbcYaml)
+				require.Equal(t, basicBuiltFbcYaml, string(fileData))
 			},
 			validateAssertions: func(t *testing.T, validateErr error) {
 				require.NoError(t, validateErr)
@@ -283,6 +283,8 @@ func TestBasicBuilder(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 const basicYaml = `---
+schema: olm.template.basic
+---
 defaultChannel: preview
 name: webhook-operator
 schema: olm.package
diff --git a/alpha/template/template.go b/alpha/template/template.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e66f7930d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/alpha/template/template.go
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package template
+
+type Template interface {
+	Identify() []string
+	Render() error
+}
+
diff --git a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/basic.go b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/basic.go
index 5d34ec2cd8..ab013fffbb 100644
--- a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/basic.go
+++ b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/basic.go
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import (
 func newBasicTemplateCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var (
 		template basic.Template
-		output   string
 	)
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use: "basic basic-template-file",
@@ -37,6 +36,10 @@ When FILE is '-' or not provided, the template is read from standard input`,
 			defer data.Close()
 
 			var write func(declcfg.DeclarativeConfig, io.Writer) error
+			output, err := cmd.Flags().GetString("output")
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatalf("unable to determine output format")
+			}
 			switch output {
 			case "yaml":
 				write = declcfg.WriteYAML
@@ -70,6 +73,5 @@ When FILE is '-' or not provided, the template is read from standard input`,
 			}
 		},
 	}
-	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&output, "output", "o", "json", "Output format (json|yaml)")
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/cmd.go b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/cmd.go
index 1c435e6fa2..74fcda1ba1 100644
--- a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/cmd.go
@@ -8,15 +8,27 @@ import (
 )
 
 func NewCmd() *cobra.Command {
+	var output string
+
 	runCmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "render-template",
 		Short: "Render a catalog template type",
 		Args:  cobra.NoArgs,
 	}
 
-	runCmd.AddCommand(newBasicTemplateCmd())
-	runCmd.AddCommand(newSemverTemplateCmd())
-	runCmd.AddCommand(newCompositeTemplateCmd())
+	bc := newBasicTemplateCmd()
+	// bc.Hidden = true
+	runCmd.AddCommand(bc)
+
+	sc := newSemverTemplateCmd()
+	// sc.Hidden = true
+	runCmd.AddCommand(sc)
+
+	cc := newCompositeTemplateCmd()
+	// cc.Hidden = true
+	runCmd.AddCommand(cc)
+
+	runCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&output, "output", "o", "json", "Output format (json|yaml)")
 
 	return runCmd
 }
diff --git a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/composite.go b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/composite.go
index 20c9a1e5c1..fe364131ac 100644
--- a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/composite.go
+++ b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/composite.go
@@ -14,13 +14,11 @@ import (
 
 func newCompositeTemplateCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var (
-		output        string
-		validate      bool
-		compositeFile string
-		catalogFile   string
+		validate    bool
+		catalogFile string
 	)
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use: "composite",
+		Use: "composite [FILE]",
 		Short: `Generate file-based catalogs from a catalog configuration file 
 and a 'composite template' file`,
 		Long: `Generate file-based catalogs from a catalog configuration file 
@@ -28,6 +26,10 @@ and a 'composite template' file`,
 		Args: cobra.MaximumNArgs(0),
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 
+			output, err := cmd.Flags().GetString("output")
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatalf("unable to determine output format")
+			}
 			switch output {
 			case "yaml":
 				// do nothing
@@ -43,18 +45,6 @@ and a 'composite template' file`,
 			}
 			defer reg.Destroy()
 
-			// operator author's 'composite.yaml' file
-			compositeReader, err := os.Open(compositeFile)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("opening composite config file %q: %v", compositeFile, err)
-			}
-			defer compositeReader.Close()
-
-			compositePath, err := filepath.Abs(filepath.Dir(compositeFile))
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("getting absolute path of composite config file %q: %v", compositeFile, err)
-			}
-
 			// catalog maintainer's 'catalogs.yaml' file
 			tempCatalog, err := composite.FetchCatalogConfig(catalogFile, http.DefaultClient)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -62,22 +52,34 @@ and a 'composite template' file`,
 			}
 			defer tempCatalog.Close()
 
-			template := composite.NewTemplate(
-				composite.WithCatalogFile(tempCatalog),
-				composite.WithContributionFile(compositeReader, compositePath),
-				composite.WithOutputType(output),
-				composite.WithRegistry(reg),
-			)
+			for _, contribution := range args {
+				// operator author's 'composite.yaml' file
+				compositeReader, err := os.Open(contribution)
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Fatalf("opening composite config file %q: %v", contribution, err)
+				}
+				defer compositeReader.Close()
 
-			err = template.Render(cmd.Context(), validate)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("rendering the composite template: %v", err)
+				compositePath, err := filepath.Abs(filepath.Dir(contribution))
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Fatalf("getting absolute path of composite config file %q: %v", contribution, err)
+				}
+
+				template := composite.NewTemplate(
+					composite.WithCatalogFile(tempCatalog),
+					composite.WithContributionFile(compositeReader, compositePath),
+					composite.WithOutputType(output),
+					composite.WithRegistry(reg),
+				)
+
+				err = template.Render(cmd.Context(), validate)
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Fatalf("rendering the composite template: %v", err)
+				}
 			}
 		},
 	}
-	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&output, "output", "o", "json", "Output format (json|yaml)")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&validate, "validate", true, "whether or not the created FBC should be validated (i.e 'opm validate')")
-	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&compositeFile, "composite-config", "c", "composite.yaml", "File to use as the composite configuration file")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&catalogFile, "catalog-config", "f", "catalogs.yaml", "File to use as the catalog configuration file")
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/semver.go b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/semver.go
index f67f9596c0..739a3db14f 100644
--- a/cmd/opm/alpha/template/semver.go
+++ b/cmd/opm/alpha/template/semver.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 func newSemverTemplateCmd() *cobra.Command {
-	output := ""
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use: "semver [FILE]",
 		Short: `Generate a file-based catalog from a single 'semver template' file
@@ -35,6 +34,10 @@ When FILE is '-' or not provided, the template is read from standard input`,
 			defer data.Close()
 
 			var write func(declcfg.DeclarativeConfig, io.Writer) error
+			output, err := cmd.Flags().GetString("output")
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatalf("unable to determine output format")
+			}
 			switch output {
 			case "json":
 				write = declcfg.WriteJSON
@@ -79,6 +82,5 @@ When FILE is '-' or not provided, the template is read from standard input`,
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&output, "output", "o", "json", "Output format (json|yaml|mermaid)")
 	return cmd
 }