# Templates

> Start notes with your headings, tags and properties already in place, fill in placeholders like the date, and make templates of your own.

Source: https://terramd.io/docs/templates

A template is a note you start other notes from: the headings you always write, the tags and [properties](https://terramd.io/docs/properties) you always add, and placeholders such as `{{ date }}` that Terra fills in when you use it. Terra comes with a few, and you can make your own from scratch or from any note.

Templates belong to the [Library](https://terramd.io/docs/libraries). Click **Templates** in the sidebar to see them all.

![The Templates page: a Search templates field, a Create template button, and cards for Book notes, Daily log, Dashboard, Decision, Lecture, Meeting, Project, Recipe and Study note.](https://terramd.io/docs/shots/meta-templates-page.webp "The Templates page. Each card's menu edits, re-covers or deletes the template.")

## Start a note from a template

1. Choose **File › New from Template…** (<kbd>⇧</kbd> <kbd>⌘</kbd> <kbd>N</kbd>), or click **New…** in the toolbar and choose **New from template…**.
2. Click a template. To find one, type in **Search templates…**, or use the arrow keys and <kbd>Return</kbd>. **Group** sorts the cards by category.
3. If the template asks for values, fill in **Template arguments** and click **Apply template**. A field marked **Required** must be filled in first.
4. The new note opens.

![The New from template window: Search templates…, Group and ESC along the top, then cards for Book notes, Daily log, Dashboard and Decision.](https://terramd.io/docs/shots/meta-templates-picker.webp "Pick a template. The selected card has an outline.")

![Template arguments for Book notes: Title (Required) filled in with The Dispossessed, Author with Ursula K. Le Guin, and an Apply template button.](https://terramd.io/docs/shots/meta-templates-arguments.webp "A template can ask for values before it makes the note.")

Where the note goes depends on where you started:

| Started from | The note goes in |
| --- | --- |
| **File › New from Template…** | The folder of the note you have open, or the top of the Library |
| **New…** › **New from template…** | Inbox |
| Right-click a folder in the sidebar › **New from template…** | That folder |
| Right-click a database in the sidebar › **New from template…** | The database's folder, if it collects one folder; otherwise Inbox |

If the template asks for a value named `title`, that becomes the note's title; otherwise the note is named after the template, so a note from **Meeting** starts out called "Meeting". Click the title to rename it.

## Make a template

To start from scratch:

1. Click **Templates** in the sidebar, then **Create template**.
2. Type a **Name**. **Path**, the template's file name, fills itself in; add a folder to it, such as `reading/book-notes`, to keep templates in folders. **Description**, **Category** and **Aliases** (other names to search by, separated by commas) are optional.
3. Click **Create**. The template starts as a heading, `# {{title}}`, and `{{cursor}}`.
4. Click the menu button (**≡**) in the corner of the template's card and choose **Edit template** to write the rest.

To turn a note you've already written into a template, right-click it in the note list and choose **Save as template…**. Type a file name in **Slug or path**, click **Next**, then type a **Template name** and click **Save**. The template keeps the note's text and properties, except its `id`, `created` and `updated`.

## Placeholders

Anything in double braces is filled in when the note is made. Spaces inside the braces are optional.

| Write | You get |
| --- | --- |
| `{{ title }}` | The new note's title |
| `{{ date }}` | Today's date: `2026-10-16` |
| `{{ time }}` | The time: `14:30` |
| `{{ datetime }}` | Both: `2026-10-16T14:30` |
| `{{ "now" \| date:"dddd, MMMM D, YYYY" }}` | Today in your own format: Friday, October 16, 2026 |
| `{{ folder }}` | The folder the note is made in |
| `{{ file }}` | The note's file name, such as `the-dispossessed` |
| `{{ uuid }}` | A new unique ID |
| `{{ cursor }}` | Nothing. It marks where you'll start writing. |
| `{{ author }}` | The value of a [template property](#ask-for-values-template-properties) named `author` |

The `date` format is made of these codes, shown here for Friday, March 6, 2026 at 14:30. Put other words in square brackets, as in `"D MMM [at] h:mm A"`.

| Code | Gives | Code | Gives |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `YYYY` | 2026 | `D`, `DD`, `Do` | 6, 06, 6th |
| `M`, `MM` | 3, 03 | `ddd`, `dddd` | Fri, Friday |
| `MMM`, `MMMM` | Mar, March | `HH:mm`, `h:mm A` | 14:30, 2:30 PM |

To include text only when a value is filled in, wrap it in `{% if %}` and `{% endif %}`; `{% else %}` gives the alternative:

```md
{% if author %}By {{ author }}. {% endif %}Started {{ date }}.
```

If a template has a mistake, **Edit template** marks it, and using the template shows a message such as **This template has an error on line 3:** with what's wrong.

## Ask for values: template properties

A template can declare template properties: named values that fill its placeholders, separate from the properties a note shows under its title. Edit them in the **Properties** panel of **Edit template**. Click **+** (**Add template property**), fill in its fields, then click **Save properties**.

![Edit template for Book notes: the template's text on the left, and on the right the Properties panel with Title and Author, both Ask when applied. Title is selected, with Name, Label, Source, Render as, Fallback and Required argument.](https://terramd.io/docs/shots/meta-templates-editor.webp "Book notes asks for a Title, which must be filled in, and an Author.")

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Name** | The placeholder it fills: `author` fills `{{ author }}` |
| **Label** | What Terra calls it when asking |
| **Source** | Where the value comes from: see below |
| **Render as** | How it's written: **Text** as it is, **Link** as a Markdown link, **Callout** as a [Sprout](https://terramd.io/docs/sprouts) titled with the label, **Numbered section** as a heading over a numbered list, **Centered image** |
| **Fallback** | What to use when it's empty: another property, or `self.title` for the note's title |
| **Required argument** | The note can't be made until it's filled in |

| Source | The value comes from |
| --- | --- |
| **Ask when applied** | You, under **Template arguments**, when you start a note |
| **Note property** | A property of the note being tidied, under the property's name or one of the **Names to try** |
| **Body section** | A section of that note whose heading matches one of the **Section words** |
| **First image** | That note's first image |

**Note property**, **Body section** and **First image** read an existing note, so they fill in only when Terra tidies a capture into the template (see [below](#templates-in-captures)). When you start a new note, only **Ask when applied** values and fallbacks are filled, and an empty property leaves nothing behind.

Here is the **Book notes** template's file, `.terra/templates/notes/book-notes.md` in the Library folder:

```md
---
title: Book notes
description: One page per book, from first impressions to a verdict.
category: Reading
tags:
- books
template:
  properties:
  - name: title
    label: Title
    source: argument
    render: text
    required: true
  - name: author
    label: Author
    source: argument
    render: text
---
# {{ title }}

{% if author %}By {{ author }}. {% endif %}Started {{ date }}.

## First impressions

{{ cursor }}

## Quotes

## Verdict
```

With the arguments in the screenshot above, it makes this note (with its `id`, `created` and `updated` left out here):

```md
---
title: The Dispossessed
tags:
- books
category: Reading
description: One page per book, from first impressions to a verdict.
---
# The Dispossessed

By Ursula K. Le Guin. Started 2026-10-16.

## First impressions

## Quotes

## Verdict
```

Everything else in the template's frontmatter is copied into the note, tags included, except `title`, `type` and the `template:` block. That means a template's own `description` and `category` land in each note too, and a note's type has to be set by hand.

## Templates in captures

Quick capture can shape a capture with a template: choose one under **Template** in the Quick capture card and switch **Enrich** on. Terra fills the template from what you captured (an AI model writes the **Body section** parts), adds the template's tags, and appends the result to the note. See [Capture and classify](https://terramd.io/docs/capture-and-classify).

## Starter templates

Terra adds these to a Library the first time it opens one that has no templates.

| Template | What's in it |
| --- | --- |
| **Daily log** | Today's date as a heading, then Wins, Blockers and Tomorrow |
| **Dashboard** | Four database blocks to point at your data: a count, a chart, a table and a board. See [Dashboards](https://terramd.io/docs/dashboards). |
| **Decision** | Date, a Proposed status, Context, Options considered, Decision, Rationale and Follow-ups |
| **Lecture** | A source link, Summary and Highlights, filled in from a capture |
| **Meeting** | Date and time, Attendees, Agenda, Discussion, Decisions and Action items |
| **Project** | Start date, an Active status, Goals, Milestones, Risks and Links |
| **Recipe** | A picture, a source link, Ingredients and Directions, filled in from a capture |
| **Study note** | Source, date, Key concepts, Important details, Examples, Questions, Summary and Related |

They're yours to change or delete. If you delete every template, Terra adds the starter set again the next time you open the Library.

## Edit or delete a template

On the **Templates** page, click the menu button (**≡**) in the corner of a template's card:

- **Edit template** opens the template's text, with the **Properties** panel beside it. Changes save as you type; click **Close** when you're done.
- **Edit details** changes its name, description, category and aliases.
- **Change cover** picks the card's pattern or a photo.
- **Delete** asks **Delete Book notes?** Click **Delete**. This can't be undone, and version history doesn't cover templates.

**Edit template** shows the template's text, not its frontmatter. To change the properties a template copies into notes, edit its file in another app, or save a new template from a note that has the properties you want.

Below your own templates, **Connectors and imports** lists the templates Terra uses for notes it makes for you, such as **Saved article** for pages saved from the web and **Granola meeting** for meetings from Granola. **Edit template** changes them, and **Reset to default** appears once you have.

## Troubleshooting

> [!NOTE]- The caret doesn't start where `{{ cursor }}` was
> Terra removes `{{ cursor }}` but doesn't move the caret there yet. Click where you want to write.

> [!NOTE]- Inserting a template with /template adds one plain paragraph
> Adding a template to a note you've already started doesn't work yet: the template's Markdown arrives as one paragraph of plain text. Start a new note from the template instead.

> [!NOTE]- New notes in a folder ignore its default template
> **Set default template…** on a folder's right-click menu is saved, but **New note** doesn't use it yet. Terra Agent does when it makes notes in that folder. Right-click the folder and choose **New from template…** instead.

## Related

- [Properties](https://terramd.io/docs/properties): the fields a template can set up for each note.
- [Capture and classify](https://terramd.io/docs/capture-and-classify): tidy captures into a template.
- [Dashboards](https://terramd.io/docs/dashboards): build on the Dashboard template.
- [Meeting notes](https://terramd.io/docs/meeting-notes): a guide to running meetings from a template.