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; every write carries the latest revision — on

stale_revision

, re-read and retry once (it heals); send the canvas link the moment it exists; stuck or failed?

moda ask "<question>"

— free and fast, never guess.

A team template is the canvas someone approved as the starting point for recurring work — the QBR deck, the launch post, the customer one-pager. It carries layout and structure, one level up from what a brand kit carries.

Check before designing (one cheap read)

The ask names a recurring artifact type (QBR or board deck, launch post, customer one-pager) or the user says "our template", "our usual format", "what do we have" → check first. Skip it for genuine one-offs.

Instantiate

```
moda template list
```
— id, name, category, page count. An empty list is a normal answer: say it in one line and design fresh.
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.
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.
```
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.
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.
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 of a template?

moda canvas duplicate [CANVAS_REF] --name "…"

is the as-is copy of anything you can read.

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.

Examples

"start from our QBR template" → list, screenshot the QBR candidates, create with
```
--template
```
, then author into the copy.
"use our usual layout for this one-pager" → same flow, filtered to 1–2 page document templates.
"make this our standard deck" → flag it (after checking
```
template_type
```
).
"do we have anything for launches?" → list + screenshots, answer honestly if the answer is no.

Errors

Any typed error → load moda-core and read its recovery reference. A 404 here means the surface is not enabled on this account: treat it exactly like "no templates" — do not retry it, and do not mention it. A 403 means template management is admin-only: say an admin has to flag this one, in one line.

Make it recurring

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).

See also: moda-core — the contract, recovery, everything Moda can do.

moda-templates

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

moda-templates

Check before designing (one cheap read)

Instantiate

Flag a canvas as the team's template

`theme`
is a different thing — don't reach for it

Examples

Errors

Make it recurring