Prompt Templates

Prompt Templates let you define a system prompt, base conversation turns, and default inference parameters once — then reference them by name from any chat completion request. Instead of hardcoding the same prompt logic in every client, you manage it centrally and inject runtime values using {{variable}} slots.

Authentication

Template management (create, read, update, delete) accepts either authentication method:

Using a template at inference time always uses your rsk_... key, the same as any other chat completion.

See the Authentication guide for details on key types.

Creating a Template

Send a POST /v1/templates request with a name, an optional system prompt, and any variables you want to parameterize.

$
curl https://api.meshapi.ai/v1/templates \
>
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_RSK_KEY>" \
>
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
  -d '{
>
    "name": "support-agent",
>
    "description": "Customer support assistant with configurable tone",
>
    "system": "You are a {{tone}} support agent for {{company}}. Help users resolve their issues politely and accurately.",
>
    "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
>
    "params": { "temperature": 0.5, "max_tokens": 512 },
>
    "variables": ["company", "tone"]
>
  }'

Response:

1
{
2
  "id": "tmpl_01jt3abc...",
3
  "name": "support-agent",
4
  "owner": "org_xyz",
5
  "description": "Customer support assistant with configurable tone",
6
  "system": "You are a {{tone}} support agent for {{company}}. Help users resolve their issues politely and accurately.",
7
  "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
8
  "params": { "temperature": 0.5, "max_tokens": 512 },
9
  "variables": ["company", "tone"],
10
  "created_at": "2025-06-01T10:00:00Z",
11
  "updated_at": "2025-06-01T10:00:00Z"
12
}

Using Variables

Variables use double-brace syntax: {{ variable_name }}. Whitespace inside the braces is trimmed, so {{company}} and {{ company }} are equivalent. Variable names may contain letters, digits, and underscores.

You can place variables in system and in any message content field:

1
{
2
  "name": "onboarding-guide",
3
  "system": "You are onboarding {{user_name}} to {{product_name}}. Be concise and encouraging.",
4
  "messages": [
5
    {
6
      "role": "assistant",
7
      "content": "Welcome, {{user_name}}! Let's get you set up with {{product_name}}."
8
    }
9
  ]
10
}

The variables field (list of strings) is informational — it documents which slots the template expects. It doesn’t enforce anything server-side, but it helps callers know what to pass.

Using a Template in Chat Completions

Pass template (name or UUID) and variables alongside your messages in a POST /v1/chat/completions request. The template’s system prompt and base messages are prepended to your messages before the request is forwarded to the model.

$
curl https://api.meshapi.ai/v1/chat/completions \
>
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_RSK_KEY>" \
>
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
  -d '{
>
    "template": "support-agent",
>
    "variables": { "company": "Acme Corp", "tone": "friendly" },
>
    "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "How do I reset my password?" }]
>
  }'

The final messages sent to the model look like this:

1
[
2
  {
3
    "role": "system",
4
    "content": "You are a friendly support agent for Acme Corp. Help users resolve their issues politely and accurately."
5
  },
6
  { "role": "user", "content": "How do I reset my password?" }
7
]

Parameter Priority

When a template and a request body both specify inference settings, Mesh resolves them in this order (highest wins):

This means you can define sensible defaults in the template and still override them per-request without changing the template.

Managing Templates

List all templates

$
curl https://api.meshapi.ai/v1/templates \
>
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_RSK_KEY>"

Returns your owned templates plus any global templates, ordered newest first.

Get a single template

$
curl https://api.meshapi.ai/v1/templates/tmpl_01jt3abc... \
>
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_RSK_KEY>"

Update a template

Only the fields you include are changed — everything else stays the same.

$
curl -X PATCH https://api.meshapi.ai/v1/templates/tmpl_01jt3abc... \
>
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_RSK_KEY>" \
>
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
  -d '{ "params": { "temperature": 0.3, "max_tokens": 1024 } }'

Delete a template

$
curl -X DELETE https://api.meshapi.ai/v1/templates/tmpl_01jt3abc... \
>
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_RSK_KEY>"

Returns 204 No Content on success.

Global vs. Owned Templates

Global templates are useful for standard system roles (e.g., a generic coding assistant or translation prompt) that Mesh pre-seeds for all users. If you create a template with the same name as a global one, your owned template takes precedence in name lookups.