# Moda Templates > Start from a team template: list templates, look at them, then instantiate. Use for: "start from our QBR template", "use our usual layout", flag a canvas as a team template. - Skill: `moda-design/moda-templates` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add moda-design/moda-templates` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/moda-design/moda-templates/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: moda-design (https://skillmd.com/u/moda-design) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/moda-design/moda-templates --- # moda-templates **PREREQUISITE — load `moda-core` once per session** (step-0, write contract, free/metered map). Already loaded? Skip ahead. If you cannot load it, the non-negotiables: run `moda doctor --json` before anything; `moda brand list` before creating; writes that pin a revision use your last read's — on `stale_revision`, re-read and retry once (it heals); send the canvas link the moment it exists; stuck or failed? `moda ask ""` — free and fast, never guess. A team template is the canvas someone approved as the starting point for recurring work — the QBR or board deck, the launch post, the customer one-pager. It carries layout and structure, one level up from what a brand kit carries. Check for one BEFORE designing whenever the ask names such a recurring artifact type, or the user says "our template", "our usual format", "what do we have". Skip it for genuine one-offs. ## Instantiate 1. `moda template list` — id, name, category, page count. An empty list is a normal answer: say it in one line and design fresh. 2. **LOOK before choosing.** Names do not tell you what a template looks like, and a template IS a canvas: `moda canvas screenshot [cvs_…]` renders it inline (≤3 pages per call). Judge 2–4 plausible candidates with your own vision; category and page count do the cheap narrowing first. 3. Comparing many at once? `moda template pull --output /tmp/templates.json` is the one read whose `thumbnail_url` values are fetchable (`moda template list` scrubs them by design) — download those with your harness's own fetch. They expire: never place one in markup, never persist one, never hand one to the user. A null thumbnail means nothing is rendered yet. 4. `moda canvas create --name "[Q3 QBR — Acme]" --template [cvs_…]` — a full server-side copy that keeps the source's brand kit. The template defines size, pages, and category, so `--size`, `--pages`, `--category`, `--intent`, `--folder`, `--visibility` and `--brand` are REJECTED alongside it; place the copy afterwards with `moda drive move`, and rebind its kit with `moda canvas brand [cvs_…] [bk_…]` when the user's kit differs. Rebinding is metadata only: a different kit makes the RESTYLE mandatory too, prompt or no prompt — work the cross-brand recipe in the templates reference. 5. The copy is an ordinary canvas — read it, then edit it the normal way (moda-edit). Send the link, and name which template you started from: that is a decision the user may want to correct. 6. None fit? One line ("no team template matched, so I designed this fresh") and build from scratch — never force a bad-fit template. Want a copy of an ordinary canvas instead? `moda canvas duplicate [CANVAS_REF] --name "…"` copies as-is anything you can read. Every instantiation is a return visit — that is the point. Pair it with moda-automate when the cadence is fixed (a monthly menu, a weekly post set). ## Flag a canvas as the team's template ``` moda canvas template [cvs_…] # publishes it to the whole team moda canvas template [cvs_…] --clear # un-flag ``` - Team-visible curation, not a local preference. Offer it when the user calls something reusable ("we do this every quarter"); never flag a one-off, never flag unasked, and tell them once you have. - Original should stay an ordinary canvas? `moda canvas duplicate` first, then flag the copy. Flag in place when the canvas was BUILT to be the template. - `moda template list` hides canvases the viewer cannot see, so flagging a private canvas yields a template only you can find: `moda drive visibility [cvs_…] team` shares it — or say plainly you could not. ## `theme` is a different thing — don't reach for it `moda canvas template [cvs_…] theme` is a slides-only layout source applied through a brand kit, and it deliberately does NOT appear in `moda template list`. Moving a canvas OFF `theme` — to `template` or with `--clear`, both count — clears every deck's link to it and every kit that auto-applied it, and re-flagging restores none of them. On a canvas you did not flag yourself, read `moda canvas show [cvs_…]` (`template_type`) BEFORE writing. ## Authoring a template Building the reusable thing itself? Design STRUCTURE and LAYOUT, not content. - Placeholder text NAMES its slot — "Headline Text", "Product Description", "Company Name" — never content that only makes sense for one use case. - Design for varying text lengths: text boxes with room for typical content variations, spacing consistent enough to survive longer copy. - Keep placeholder images generic, and hold contrast and readability with the placeholder content in place. - Name elements with `metadata.name` so a later fill can target the slot. - Use color variables for backgrounds and text colors — bind them on the edit lane (`variableId`) so one update restyles every page. - Apply shared-element edits across ALL pages that share them: a background change, a header or footer edit, is almost never meant for page 1 only. Unsure which parts to make variable? `moda ask "which parts of a reusable deck template should be color variables rather than fixed hexes?"`. ## Examples - "start from our QBR template" → list, screenshot, create, author into copy. - "use our usual layout for this one-pager" → same, filtered to 1–2 page docs. - "make this our standard deck" → flag it (after checking `template_type`). - "do we have anything for launches?" → list + screenshots; answer honestly. ## Errors Any typed error → moda-core's recovery reference. A 404 = this surface isn't enabled on the account: treat it exactly like "no templates"; don't retry, don't mention it. A 403 = admin-only: an admin must flag this one, in one line. See also: moda-core — the contract, recovery, everything Moda can do.