Articles in this section

See more

Use Templates to Discover and Build Integration and Automation Templates

  • Updated
Follow

Overview

The Templates screen is designed to help you quickly discover, import, and customize prebuilt templates for data integration and automation.

Whether you're moving data from MySQL to Snowflake, syncing APIs, building file pipelines, or automating error handling, Templates helps you get started in a single click.

What is a Template?

A template is a pre-configured, reusable integration or automation unit. It can include:

  • A single flow
  • A workflow (multiple nested flows, or "steps")
  • A collection of flows for different parts of a use case

Templates also include all required components:

  • Connections
  • Formats
  • Schedules (if applicable)

There are two types of templates:

  • System templates: Maintained by Etlworks and visible to all users
  • Custom templates: Created by users within your instance (per-tenant or global)

Some templates are point-to-point integrations with pre-set connections and formats. Others are generic templates, which allow selecting compatible connections and formats during import.

Key Benefits

  • One-click flow creation from thousands of prebuilt templates

  • AI-powered search to quickly find the right template based on your intent

  • Fast onboarding with minimal setup required

  • Continuous value as new system templates are added regularly

  • Custom reuse by creating your own templates to standardize integrations across teams or environments

Discovering Templates 

Templates Screen

Select Templates in the left navigation panel:

You can:

  • Browse from nearly 4,000 templates
  • Filter by category (e.g., API Integrations, CDC & Streaming, File-Based Pipelines)

  • Use keyword search, AI-powered search, and sort options to quickly find the right template

AI-Augmented Template Search

Template search supports both keyword matching and AI-assisted discovery in a single search box. Use keyword search when you know what you are looking for, and switch to AI prompts when you want to describe the goal in natural language.

Read about AI-Augmented Search.

Keyword search examples

  • Searching mysql snowflake returns templates that match both terms in that order (word-start match).

  • Searching "csv to postgres" performs a full substring match.

Supported keyword search modes

  • token1 token2 -> ordered match (word-start)

  • token1+token2 -> unordered, must contain all tokens

  • "full phrase" -> substring match

  • prefix* -> single-word-start match (example: mysql* matches mysql, mysql8, etc.)

AI prompt examples

  • sync HubSpot with MySQL

  • send email with attachment

  • how to convert XML to JSON

AI ranks results by meaning and relevance, not just keyword match. You can keep using filters like categories, tags, and groups to narrow results.

Keyboard tips:

  • Press Ctrl or Command+Enter to search.

Notes:

  • The search box automatically detects whether you entered a keyword query or an AI prompt and runs the appropriate search.

  • Clearing the search resets the screen to the default sorting and filtering view.

Admin Controls for AI Search

Super Admins can configure AI search behavior under Settings > AI.

You can adjust:

  • Maximum number of templates returned

  • Minimum similarity threshold for matches

These controls help you fine-tune how strict or broad the search results should be.

Groups, Quick Filters, Sorting and Tags

The Templates screen provides multiple ways to quickly locate the right template. You can filter by Groups on the left side to narrow templates by category. Use the Tags filter at the top to refine results further using logical conditions (AND/OR). The search box supports both keyword and AI-powered search to find templates by name or intent. On the right side, sorting and visibility options allow you to control the display order and choose whether to show system templates, custom templates, flows only, or connections only. All filters and sorting options work together and update results instantly.

Create Flow From Template

Importing a Template

Click any template to preview and import:

On this screen:

  • Connections and Formats are auto-populated if supported
  • You can replace connection and formats with connection and formats which already exist in your system
  • You can choose whether to import schedules
  • Add tags or override default settings

Click Import Selected to continue.

Read about Importing Flow(s).

Import Success and Next Steps

After import, you'll see a confirmation screen:

On this screen:

  • All related components (connections, formats, flows) are listed
  • Use the Open imported flow button to start refining your flow

Note: Most templates require updating auth, credentials, and references to actual tables, files, or endpoints.

Types Of Templates

Regular Template

A Regular Template is a prebuilt template created either by Etlworks or by users. It contains predefined connections, transformations, and data formats designed for a specific integration scenario.

When you import a Regular Template, a new Flow is created in your account based on that template. After import, you typically need to:

  • Configure or update connection parameters (such as credentials, URLs, or file paths)

  • Adjust mappings and transformations to match your data structure

  • Fine-tune any environment-specific settings

Most templates in the library are Regular Templates and are intended to be customized after import to fit your specific use case.

Generic Templates

Generic templates are special system templates created by Etlworks that allow you to select compatible connections and formats at the time of import. 

These templates define integration logic using general patterns (for example, any "database connection" or "file format") but let you plug in the actual source and destination when you use them. This gives you flexibility to reuse the same structure across different use cases without having to build the flow from scratch.

Note: Only Etlworks can create generic templates. End users can use them but cannot currently create their own.

Example Templates (No Configuration Needed)

Templates under the Examples section are fully configured and production-ready:

  • Designed to teach best practices
  • Include common use cases like: wildcard table migration, error handling, conditional execution,  logging, etc.
  • No additional setup required

These templates replace the onboarding flows that were previously offered during signup.

User Defined Templates

Template Management Tab

Switch to the Templates Management tab to create or edit your own template:

You can:

  • Create new template
  • Edit or Delete exiting template

How to Create a Template

  • Provide a name, group, tags, and description. A clear, detailed Description is essential for AI-powered search to find and recommend this template when users enter prompts. Include key actions, data sources, and use cases.
  • Choose a flow or dump file
  • Pick or generate an icon
  • Control visibility (tenant-only or global)

Only Super Admins can create templates visible across all tenants. All users with at least Editor role can create and manage templates within their own tenant.

Template Form

On this screen:

  • Create templates from an existing flow
  • Or import from a.etld file exported from another tenant or instance (e.g., DEV to PROD)

Icon Generator

You can:

  • Combine source and target icons (e.g., API to PostgreSQL)
  • Add a label (e.g., STREAM, ETL, etc.)
  • Generates a unique, visual identifier for your template

Summary

The Templates screen simplifies how you start building in Etlworks. Instead of creating flows from scratch, you can search, browse, or use AI to find the right template, configure just a few details, and launch in seconds.

For teams looking to standardize integrations across environments or scale internal best practices, templates provide a and reusable foundation.

Related articles