# Templates and presets

> Write a shape once and use it as a note, a checklist, a card, a whiteboard or a set of habits, and start boards from column presets.

A template in Margin is a shape. You write it once, and decide what it
becomes each time you use it: a note, a card, a checklist, a whiteboard or a
set of habits.

## What a template is made of

Open **Templates** in the sidebar and choose **New template**. The form has
five parts:

- **Name**, which becomes the title of whatever you make from it.
- **Body**, in markdown.
- **Steps**, one per line. A line that starts with a hash, like `# Before`,
  is a section heading.
- **Labels**, one per line.
- **Priority**, used when the template becomes a card.

Anything in double braces, like `{{client}}`, becomes a question you answer
when you use the template. A few fill themselves in: `{{date}}`, `{{today}}`, `{{time}}`,
`{{weekday}}`, `{{month}}`, `{{year}}`, `{{me}}` and `{{workspace}}`.

> **Tip: Sections carry across every target** A `# heading` in the steps groups a checklist, becomes a bold sub-heading in
> a note, and becomes a column of sticky notes on a whiteboard. Use sections
> and one template reads well on all of them.

## Use one

Pick a template on the Templates page and choose what to make from it. Margin
only offers the targets the template has material for.

| Target     | What you get                                                  | Needs                               |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Note       | A note, with the steps as checkboxes inside it                | Nothing extra                       |
| Card       | A card on a board you choose, with the steps as its checklist | A board and a column                |
| Checklist  | A standalone checklist, grouped by section                    | At least one step                   |
| Whiteboard | A canvas with a column of sticky notes per section            | Steps, or `##` headings in the body |
| Habits     | One habit per step, ready to track daily                      | At least one step                   |

A new checklist can also start from a template: the create dialog lists your
templates under Your templates, beside the built-in ones.

> **Note: There is no journal target** A journal entry is one note per day, found by its date. A template that wrote
> itself in as a day's entry would hide the reflection you actually wrote.
> Journal-shaped templates, such as Weekly review, apply as notes instead.

## The starter set

There are 23 starters covering what the app is for: a weekly review, meeting
notes, a one-to-one, a project kickoff, a decision record, a bug report, a
retro, a packing list, a house move, the family week ahead and more. Your first
workspace comes with them. In any other workspace the empty Templates page
offers **Load 23 starter templates**, and pressing it twice does not make
duplicates.

With enough templates on the page, a search box and label filters appear. Your
own templates join a filter by carrying the label.

## Save a checklist as a template

Refined a checklist until it is right? Open its menu and choose
**Save as template**. It lands on the Templates page and can then become a note, a card
or a checklist again, which suits packing lists and pre-flight routines.

## Board presets

The new-board dialog offers column presets. There are two today:

- **New Board**: To Do, In Progress, Done.
- **Design Requests**: Inbox, Clarify, In build, Review, Shipped. It is shaped
  for a request pipeline an agent can pull work from.

A preset only sets the starting columns. Rename and rearrange them afterwards
as much as you like.

> **Known limit:** Templates belong to one workspace. There is no shared library across
> workspaces yet, so a template you need in two places has to be made in both.

> **On the phone:** On the phone, a checklist's **Manage** sheet and a card's
> **⋯** menu both have **Save as template**, and ask what to call
> it. Swipe a template left for **Edit** to change its name, body
> and steps. Applying a template opens a sheet that shows what will be created
> before it is. Writing a template from scratch is on the web.

> **For agents:** The assistant and MCP clients can list, create, edit and apply templates, and
> save a checklist as one (`apply_template`, `create_template`,
> `save_checklist_as_template`).

**Where to next**

- [Boards and cards](https://themarginapp.com/docs/boards-and-cards): where card templates land
- [Planner, Today, and Calendar](https://themarginapp.com/docs/planner-today-and-calendar): checklists and the daily routine
- [Whiteboards and Canva](https://themarginapp.com/docs/whiteboards-and-canvases): what a whiteboard template becomes


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Section: Doing the work. Checked against the running product on October 5, 2026.
Web page: https://themarginapp.com/docs/templates. Every docs page: https://themarginapp.com/docs/llms.txt