diff --git a/cmd/new.go b/cmd/new.go
index c96096d..d607cf7 100644
--- a/cmd/new.go
+++ b/cmd/new.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 
+	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/scaffold/internal/fetcher"
 	"git.front.kjuulh.io/kjuulh/scaffold/internal/templates"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -14,11 +15,16 @@ func getScaffoldCommands(registryPath *string) ([]*cobra.Command, error) {
 	var (
 		ctx             = context.Background()
 		ui              = slog.New(slog.NewTextHandler(os.Stderr, &slog.HandlerOptions{}))
+		fetcher         = fetcher.NewFetcher()
 		templateIndexer = templates.NewTemplateIndexer()
 		templateLoader  = templates.NewTemplateLoader()
 		fileWriter      = templates.NewFileWriter().WithPromptOverride(promptOverrideFile)
 	)
 
+	if !fetcher.Available(registryPath) {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
 	templateFiles, err := templateIndexer.Index(ctx, *registryPath, ui)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to index templates: %w", err)
diff --git a/internal/fetcher/fetcher.go b/internal/fetcher/fetcher.go
index c8b7f35..6440c39 100644
--- a/internal/fetcher/fetcher.go
+++ b/internal/fetcher/fetcher.go
@@ -19,25 +19,41 @@ func NewFetcher() *Fetcher {
 	return &Fetcher{}
 }
 
-const readWriteExec = 0o644
+const readWriteExec = 0o744
 
 const githubProject = "kjuulh/scaffold"
 
 var (
-	scaffoldFolder = os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.scaffold")
-	scaffoldClone  = path.Join(scaffoldFolder, "upstream")
-	scaffoldCache  = path.Join(scaffoldFolder, "scaffold.updates.json")
+	scaffoldFolder   = os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.scaffold")
+	scaffoldClone    = path.Join(scaffoldFolder, "upstream")
+	scaffoldRegistry = path.Join(scaffoldClone, "registry")
+	scaffoldCache    = path.Join(scaffoldFolder, "scaffold.updates.json")
 )
 
+func (f *Fetcher) Available(registryPath *string) bool {
+	if *registryPath == "" {
+		if _, err := os.Stat(scaffoldClone); err != nil {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		return true
+
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 func (f *Fetcher) CloneRepository(ctx context.Context, registryPath *string, ui *slog.Logger) error {
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(scaffoldFolder, readWriteExec); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create scaffold folder: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	if *registryPath == "" {
+		// update the registry path as it is shared
+		*registryPath = scaffoldRegistry
 		if _, err := os.Stat(scaffoldClone); err != nil {
 			if !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-				return fmt.Errorf("failed to find the upstream folder: %w", err)
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to find the upstream folder: %s, %w", scaffoldClone, err)
 			}
 
 			ui.Info("cloning upstream templates")
diff --git a/internal/templates/templates.go b/internal/templates/templates.go
index 31af2f2..a5358d8 100644
--- a/internal/templates/templates.go
+++ b/internal/templates/templates.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func (t *TemplateIndexer) Index(ctx context.Context, scaffoldRegistryFolder stri
 
 	templateDirEntries, err := os.ReadDir(scaffoldRegistryFolder)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read templates dir: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read templates dir: %s, %w", scaffoldRegistryFolder, err)
 	}
 
 	var (