# Templates & macros

Everything Marginalia sends to the model is built from **templates**: texts with placeholders that are filled in for
each generated part. You can change them all, from the frame of the prompt down to a single lorebook entry.

```handlebars
Write the next section of the story.
{{#povCharacter}}Point of View Character: {{.}}{{/povCharacter}}
{{instructions}}
```

## Where templates are used

| Template | Set in | Becomes |
|---|---|---|
| **Master Template** | book [Prompts](../books/prompts.md), *Settings → Templates* | the system message: role, lore, style, summaries |
| **User Prompt** | book Prompts, *Settings → Templates* | the request for the part being written |
| **Summary Prompt** | book Prompts, *Settings → Templates* | the request for a [summary](../books/summaries.md) |
| **Meta Summary Prompt** | book Prompts, *Settings → Templates* | the request for a [meta summary](../books/summaries.md#meta-summaries) |
| **Lorebook entry content** | [lorebook entries](../lorebooks/entries.md) | the lore inserted into the prompt |

*Point of View*, *Tense* and *Style* are plain text, not templates.

## Two kinds of placeholders

Templates combine two syntaxes:

- **Handlebars** - variables like `{{instructions}}` and sections like
  `{{#sceneSetting}}...{{/sceneSetting}}` that are printed only when the value isn't empty. See
  [Prompt templates](templates.md).
- **SillyTavern macros** - `{{user}}`, `{{random::a::b}}`, `{{setvar::name::value}}`, `{{if ...}}` and the rest of
  the macros SillyTavern users know, so lorebooks and prompts from SillyTavern keep working. See
  [Macro reference](macros.md).

Both work in every template, and they can be mixed freely.

## Help in the editor

Every template field has a hints popover:

- **Insert Default Template** copies the default into the field;
- **Available Template Variables** lists the variables of that template, including those available everywhere;
- **Available Macros** lists all macros with a short description.

![The hints popover of a template field](../../images/template-hints.png)

A template with a syntax error (an unclosed section, for example) can't be saved in the book prompts and Settings; in
lorebook entries it is saved, marked as invalid, and used as plain text until it's fixed.

Unknown variables (usually typos) don't block saving; the field lists them under it as a warning, see
[Typos](templates.md#typos).

**Show Prompt** in the menu of a generated part shows the prompt as it was sent - the best way to check what a
template produced.

## In this section

- [Prompt templates](templates.md) - variables of each template, sections, conditions, evaluation order
- [Macro reference](macros.md) - all macros, variables, conditionals and SillyTavern compatibility