Templates

Learn about Dakora template structure and features

What is a Template?

A template in Dakora is a YAML file that defines:

• A unique identifier and version
• A Jinja2 template string
• Input specifications with types and validation
• Optional metadata

Template Structure

id: unique_template_id          # Required: Template identifier
version: 1.0.0                  # Required: Semantic version
description: Template purpose   # Optional: Human-readable description
template: |                     # Required: Jinja2 template string
  Your template content here
  {{ variable_name }}
inputs:                         # Optional: Input specifications
  variable_name:
    type: string                # Type: string|number|boolean|array<string>|object
    required: true              # Default: true
    default: "default value"    # Optional: Default value
metadata:                       # Optional: Custom metadata
  tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
  author: "Your Name"

Template ID

The template ID is used to retrieve templates from the vault:

template = vault.get("my_template_id")

Template IDs must be unique within a vault. Use descriptive names like blog-post-generator or email-summarizer.

Jinja2 Templating

Dakora uses Jinja2 for template rendering. All Jinja2 features are supported:

Variables

template: |
  Hello {{ name }}!

Conditionals

template: |
  {% if premium %}
    Welcome, premium user!
  {% else %}
    Welcome!
  {% endif %}

Loops

template: |
  Your tasks:
  {% for task in tasks %}
  - {{ task }}
  {% endfor %}

Built-in Filters

Dakora includes custom Jinja2 filters:

default Filter

Provide fallback values:

template: |
  {{ message | default("Hello!") }}

yaml Filter

Convert objects to YAML format:

template: |
  Configuration:
  {{ config | yaml }}

File Location

Templates are stored in the directory specified in dakora.yaml:

prompt_dir: ./prompts

Each template is a separate .yaml file:

prompts/
├── greeting.yaml
├── summarizer.yaml
└── email-generator.yaml

Best Practices

Use Descriptive IDs

Choose clear, descriptive template IDs:

• ✅ customer-email-template
• ❌ template1

Version Semantically

Follow semantic versioning:

• Major: Breaking changes to inputs or output format
• Minor: New features, backward compatible
• Patch: Bug fixes, typos

Document Inputs

Use descriptions to explain what each input does:

inputs:
  tone:
    type: string
    description: "The tone of the response (formal, casual, friendly)"

Provide Defaults

Make templates easier to use with sensible defaults:

inputs:
  max_length:
    type: number
    default: 100

Next Steps

Input Types

Learn about input validation and types

Versioning

Understand template versioning