Template

Base for reusing and distributing Processes and ideas.

Templates give your Processes a reusable, shareable structure. Whether you want to roll out the same integration logic across many Processes, distribute ready-made integrations to other teams via the Business Automation Portal, or share your work between Frends Tenants, Templates are the mechanism that ties it all together. This article covers what Templates are, how the Templates list works, how to create and manage Templates, and how versioning and Process Variables factor into the picture.

What are Templates?

A Template is a snapshot of a Process — its flow, shapes, configuration and Process Variables — that can be used as a baseline for creating new Processes. Rather than building a new Process from scratch each time, you or another developer can start from a known-good Template and only fill in the environment-specific details.

Templates serve two distinct purposes in Frends. In the Frends Control Panel they act as a development aid: a single Template can be the source of truth for many similar Processes, and when the Template changes, all Processes derived from it can be updated in one operation. In the Business Automation Portal (BAP) they appear as entries in the Integration Catalogue, where business users can deploy and run integrations without touching the Process Editor at all.

Both Processes and Subprocesses can be turned into Templates and managed the same way.

Templates in the Business Automation Portal

When a Template is listed in the Integration Catalogue of the Business Automation Portal, a business user can select it, supply the required Process Variable values through a guided wizard, run a test execution in a dedicated test environment, and then deploy to production — all without any low-code or developer involvement. The complexity of the integration is fully encapsulated in the Template; the Portal only exposes the inputs the end user needs to provide.

Execution details are available in BAP just as they are in the Control Panel, so users can review what ran and what the results were, without being exposed to the broader technical context of your Frends Tenant.

The Templates List

The Templates list is the central place for managing all Templates in your Tenant. You can reach it from the main navigation in the Frends Control Panel under Templates.

Each row in the list represents one Template and shows its name, description, current version, tags, modification date and modifier, and whether the Template is listed (visible in the BAP Integration Catalogue). The Template used in column shows how many Processes are currently based on this Template — a number that links to a breakdown of which Processes are on the current version, which are on older versions, and which have diverged.

The list can be filtered by free text and by tags, making it practical to find a specific Template even in larger Tenants.

Actions

Each Template row has an actions menu that exposes the following operations.

Copy creates a duplicate of the Template.

Delete removes the Template. This does not delete Processes that were created from it.

Export to file downloads the Template as a .json file, which can be imported into another Tenant or kept as a backup.

Save as .csv allows exporting the Template row entry in CSV format.

Tag allows defining Tags for the Template, making it possible to control the use and visibility of the template in Frends Control Panel and in Business Application Portal.

Pin places and holds the Template at the top of the list.

Show change log shows the version history of the Template, including the version number, the date of each change, and the change description provided when the version was created.

Edit button, and the Default action for the Template row by clicking on the Template name, opens a modal view for creating a new Process from the Template, or to edit an existing Process based on this Template.

Create Process from Template from the modal view opens the Process creation modal pre-filled with the Template's configuration, letting you immediately name the new Process, set its tags, and provide values for the Template's Process Variables.

Edit button within the modal opens the Process Editor on a new draft of the Template. Changes made here are not saved back to the Template automatically — you need to explicitly publish a new version when you are done.

Update Processes lets you propagate the latest Template version to the Processes that are still based on it. This feature is accessible by clicking on the Template used in column values, if there are Processes that deviate from the Template.

Usage

How to create and use Templates in Frends.

Creating a Template from a Process

Templates are always created from an existing Process or Subprocess. The Process itself is what you develop and test; the Template is the published, versioned form of it.

Navigate to the Process list, find the Process you want to turn into a Template, and open its action menu using the … button. Select Update or Create a Template from Process. A modal opens where you configure the Template.

The modal contains the following fields.

Template name is the display name for the Template in the Templates list and, if listed, in the BAP Integration Catalogue.

Major version and Minor version together form the version identifier for this Template. A major version change signals a breaking change; a minor version change indicates a backward-compatible update.

Template description is shown in the Templates list and in the BAP Integration Catalogue entry for this Template. A clear description helps both developers and business users understand what the Template does and when to use it.

Template tags are used to categorise the Template in the Templates list and to control which organisations in BAP can see the Template in their Integration Catalogue.

Process tags sets the tags that will be applied to any new Process created from this Template, giving you a consistent tagging convention across all derived Processes.

Process Variables shows the variables defined on the source Process. You can set default values for each variable here. These defaults are presented to the user when they create a new Process from the Template, giving them a clear starting point and a hint about what value is expected.

After filling in the details, click Create to publish the Template. It will appear immediately in the Templates list.

Importing a Template from a File

If you have received a Template as a .json export — for example from another Tenant or from the public library at templates.frends.com — you can bring it into your Tenant through the Templates list. Click Import from file at the top of the list and select the .json file. Once imported, the Template appears in the list and is ready to use.

Creating a Process from a Template

To create a new Process from an existing Template, go to the Templates list, find the Template you want to use, and select Create Process from Template from its action menu. A modal opens where you provide a name, a description, tags, and values for the Template's Process Variables. After clicking Create, the Process appears in the Process list with the Template recorded as its source.

Managing Template Versions

When a Template needs to change — because the integration logic has evolved or a new system version requires different configuration — you update the Template by modifying one of the Processes derived from it and then publishing a new Template version.

Updating a Template

Edit one of the Processes that is based on the Template in the Process Editor. Saving changes to a Process that is based on a Template will mark the Process as diverged from the Template, and Frends will warn you of this when saving. Once you are satisfied with the changes, open the action menu on the Process row in the Process list and select Update or Create a Template from Process, then choose Update Template. You can adjust the version numbers, description and change description in the configuration modal before confirming with Update.

After updating, the Template version in the Templates list increments and the change log records the new entry.

Updating Derived Processes

When a new Template version is available, the Template used in column in the Templates list shows how many Processes are on older versions. Click that number to open the update modal. Select the Processes you want to bring up to the latest version and click Update. Processes that have diverged from the Template — meaning they have been edited independently since they were created — are listed separately, and updating them will overwrite their diverged state with the Template's current version.

Process Variables and Templates

Process Variables deserve special attention in the context of Templates. In a regular Process, connection strings, API keys and similar configuration values are often stored in Environment Variables specific to a given Agent Group. This works well in a single Tenant but breaks down when a Template is exported to another Tenant, which may not have the same Environment Variables defined.

The recommended approach is to store these configurable values as Process Variables on the Process, and then set their defaults in the Template creation modal. When another developer (or a business user in BAP) creates a Process from the Template, they are prompted to fill in those values for their specific environment. They can then promote the values to Environment Variables on their Tenant, and the Template's default values signal that this is the expected practice.

This pattern makes Templates self-contained and portable across Tenants.

Examples

The public Template library at templates.frends.com contains ready-made Templates organised by target system. Each Template page documents the Process Variables required, the Tasks used, and any prerequisites such as API credentials or database access. You can import any Template from the library directly into your Tenant and use it as-is or as the foundation for your own customisations.