diff --git a/.changeset/beige-papayas-relax.md b/.changeset/beige-papayas-relax.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9fb6fc1c12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/beige-papayas-relax.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend': patch
+---
+
+created an action to write a catalog-info file
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/api-report.md b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/api-report.md
index 69c54343e3..792913749b 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/api-report.md
@@ -124,6 +124,9 @@ export function createCatalogRegisterAction(options: {
     integrations: ScmIntegrations;
 }): TemplateAction<any>;
 
+// @public (undocumented)
+export function createCatalogWriteAction(): TemplateAction<any>;
+
 // @public
 export function createDebugLogAction(): TemplateAction<any>;
 
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/index.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/index.ts
index 45d0a18787..1cd683dcf5 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/index.ts
@@ -15,3 +15,4 @@
  */
 
 export { createCatalogRegisterAction } from './register';
+export { createCatalogWriteAction } from './write';
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/write.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/write.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0af6822ccf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/write.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2021 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+
+jest.mock('fs-extra');
+
+const fsMock = fs as jest.Mocked<typeof fs>;
+
+import { PassThrough } from 'stream';
+import os from 'os';
+import { getVoidLogger } from '@backstage/backend-common';
+import { ORIGIN_LOCATION_ANNOTATION } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { createCatalogWriteAction } from './write';
+import { resolve as resolvePath } from 'path';
+import * as yaml from 'yaml';
+
+describe('catalog:write', () => {
+  const action = createCatalogWriteAction();
+
+  const mockContext = {
+    workspacePath: os.tmpdir(),
+    logger: getVoidLogger(),
+    logStream: new PassThrough(),
+    output: jest.fn(),
+    createTemporaryDirectory: jest.fn(),
+  };
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.resetAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('should write the catalog-info.yml in the workspace', async () => {
+    const entity = {
+      apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1alpha1',
+      kind: 'Component',
+      metadata: {
+        name: 'n',
+        namespace: 'ns',
+        annotations: {
+          [ORIGIN_LOCATION_ANNOTATION]: 'url:https://example.com',
+        },
+      },
+      spec: {},
+    };
+
+    await action.handler({
+      ...mockContext,
+      input: {
+        entity,
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(fsMock.writeFile).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(fsMock.writeFile).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      resolvePath(mockContext.workspacePath, 'catalog-info.yaml'),
+      yaml.stringify(entity),
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/write.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/write.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d7f302031e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/catalog/write.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2021 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import { createTemplateAction } from '../../createTemplateAction';
+import * as yaml from 'yaml';
+import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+
+export function createCatalogWriteAction() {
+  return createTemplateAction<{ name?: string; entity: Entity }>({
+    id: 'catalog:write',
+    description: 'Writes the catalog-info.yaml for your template',
+    schema: {
+      input: {
+        type: 'object',
+        properties: {
+          entity: {
+            title: 'Entity info to write catalog-info.yaml',
+            description:
+              'You can provide the same values used in the Entity schema.',
+            type: 'object',
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    },
+    async handler(ctx) {
+      ctx.logStream.write(`Writing catalog-info.yaml`);
+      const { entity } = ctx.input;
+
+      await fs.writeFile(
+        `${ctx.workspacePath}/catalog-info.yaml`,
+        yaml.stringify(entity),
+      );
+    },
+  });
+}
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/createBuiltinActions.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/createBuiltinActions.ts
index 3ca627475a..598d36938e 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/createBuiltinActions.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/createBuiltinActions.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ import { UrlReader } from '@backstage/backend-common';
 import { CatalogApi } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
 import { ScmIntegrations } from '@backstage/integration';
 import { TemplaterBuilder } from '../../stages';
-import { createCatalogRegisterAction } from './catalog';
+import {
+  createCatalogRegisterAction,
+  createCatalogWriteAction,
+} from './catalog';
 import { createDebugLogAction } from './debug';
 import { createFetchCookiecutterAction, createFetchPlainAction } from './fetch';
 import {
@@ -64,5 +67,6 @@ export const createBuiltinActions = (options: {
     }),
     createDebugLogAction(),
     createCatalogRegisterAction({ catalogClient, integrations }),
+    createCatalogWriteAction(),
   ];
 };
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/tasks/TaskWorker.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/tasks/TaskWorker.ts
index ed58e8a739..d6067280c3 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/tasks/TaskWorker.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/tasks/TaskWorker.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@ export class TaskWorker {
       return JSON.stringify(parseRepoUrl(repoUrl));
     });
 
+    this.handlebars.registerHelper('projectSlug', repoUrl => {
+      const { owner, repo } = parseRepoUrl(repoUrl);
+      return `${owner}/${repo}`;
+    });
+
     this.handlebars.registerHelper('json', obj => JSON.stringify(obj));
 
     this.handlebars.registerHelper('not', value => !isTruthy(value));