How to Set Up Message Templates in Front (2026)

What a message template actually is

A message template in Front is a reusable, pre-written message — Front calls them "predetermined answers to common questions" that let you respond faster and cut the repetitive nature of replying to FAQs. If you've used canned responses or saved replies in another tool, it's the same idea, with two features that make Front's version worth setting up properly: folders to keep a growing library organized, and dynamic variables that swap in real customer data at send time so a template never reads like a form letter.

Two facts up front, because they shape everything below. First, per Front's guide to message templates and folders, message templates are available on every Front plan — the base feature isn't gated. Second, the dynamic variable behavior (auto-populating replies from third-party data) is the part that sits on the Enterprise plan, which we'll flag clearly when we get there.

Step 1 — Create your first template

You can build a template from two places, and it's worth knowing both.

1. From the composer (fastest for capturing a good reply). When you've just written a reply you'll want again, click the template icon in the composer toolbar and choose New from draft. Front lifts your draft into the template editor so you don't re-type it.
2. From settings (best for building a library deliberately). Go to Settings → Templates, open the Messages tab, and click Create. You get a blank editor with a name, an optional subject, and a body.
3. Name it for how people will search. Templates are searchable in the composer, so a clear name — "Refund — approved," "Order status request," "Password reset steps" — matters more than you'd think when the library grows.
4. Save. The template is immediately available to insert (we'll cover insertion in Step 5).

Both admins and regular members can create templates, so you don't need elevated permissions just to save your own.

Step 2 — Organize with folders

A handful of templates is fine loose. A hundred is chaos. Folders are how Front keeps a real library usable.

Create a folder under Settings → Templates → Create → Folder, then move templates into it by selecting them with the checkboxes and clicking Move. Front lets you nest folders up to five layers deep, which is plenty to model a team structure — for example a top-level Support folder, a Billing sub-folder inside it, and Refunds inside that.

A sensible starting taxonomy:

Folders show up in the composer's template menu and are searchable, so the structure you build in settings is exactly what your team navigates while replying. There's no hard limit on the number of templates you can create, so the constraint is your own discipline, not the tool.

Step 3 — Add dynamic variables

A static template is fine for "here's our refund policy." But "Hi there, your order is on its way" reads better as "Hi Sarah, your order #10432 is on its way" — and that's what variables do.

While editing a template, type two open curly brackets {{ and Front opens a menu of available variables. Per Front's guide to variables and application objects, the common built-ins include:

{{recipient.first_name}}      → the contact's first name
{{recipient.name}}            → full name
{{recipient.email}}           → email address
{{account.name}}              → the associated account/company
{{user.first_name}}           → the replying teammate's first name
{{conversation.id}}           → the Front conversation ID

You can also pull custom fields with {{recipient.custom.field_name}} (say, a Customer ID) and {{account.custom.field_name}}. And because a real name won't always be on file, add a fallback with the pipe syntax so the reply never renders blank:

Hi {{recipient.first_name | 'there'}},

If the contact's first name is missing, Front substitutes there instead of leaving an awkward gap. Two honest caveats from Front's docs: when a conversation has multiple recipients, variables populate from the first recipient only; and {{user...}} variables come back blank in automatic replies, because no teammate is assigned to an auto-sent message.

Application object variables — pulling third-party data attached to the conversation via {{app.}} — are the most powerful case, but they carry two limits: a template can only use variables from one application object at a time, and the auto-populating dynamic variable behavior requires the Enterprise plan. On lower tiers you still get the full set of native contact, account, and user variables; you just don't get automated replies driven by app data.

Step 4 — Personal vs shared, and which inboxes

When you save a template, Front asks two questions that decide who can use it and where.

Personal (individual) vs shared. An individual template is private — visible only to you. A shared template is visible to teammates at the inbox level, so the whole team replies with the same approved wording. The rule of thumb: personal templates for your own productivity shortcuts, shared templates for anything that represents the company's voice.

Which inboxes. The "Make available for any inbox" toggle controls scope. Leave it off and you assign the template to specific inboxes; turn it on and it's available everywhere. A teammate needs access to the inbox to use a shared template in the composer — with one exception: anyone holding the "Shared message templates and folders" permission can view every shared template in workspace settings regardless of inbox access, which is how admins audit and maintain the library.

This is also the mechanism behind tone consistency. When your refund reply, your escalation note, and your "we're looking into it" holding message all live as shared templates, everyone sends the same measured, on-brand wording — the difference between a team that sounds like one company and one that sounds like ten different people having a bad day.

Step 5 — Insert a template in a reply

Saving templates is only half the value; inserting them fast is the other half. Front gives you two ways:

1. Template menu. In the composer, click the template icon, browse or search your folders (each template previews before you insert), and click to drop it in.
2. Quick insert. Type /template followed by the template's name, then press Enter — the reply fills in without leaving the keyboard. This is the one power users live in.

Once inserted, any variables render against the current conversation — so {{recipient.first_name}} becomes the actual contact's name — and you can edit the text before sending like any normal reply. For teams that also lean on Front's rule engine, a template can even be sent automatically as a rule action; our Front rules explainer covers how that wiring works.

The honest limits — and where an AI layer picks up

Front's message templates are genuinely good at what they do, and the feature is refreshingly ungated at the base level. Credit where it's due: a well-organized template library with variables and shared folders eliminates an enormous amount of repetitive typing, and it keeps a team's voice consistent. For the full conceptual model, see Front message templates explained.

But a template is still fixed text with a few merged fields. It can greet Sarah by name and slot in her order number, but it can't read Sarah's actual message, understand that she's asking about a delay rather than a cancellation, check her real order status, and compose an answer specific to her situation. Every recipient who trips the same template gets the same paragraph. And the genuinely dynamic behavior — replies that populate automatically from live application data — is Enterprise-gated, as Front's docs make clear, so the smartest version of the feature is also the most expensive tier. Front's pricing tiers lay out exactly what unlocks where.

That's the seam where an AI agent layer fits — not to replace templates, but to do the reasoning a merge field structurally can't. The broader category of AI agents for customer service exists precisely for the work that "insert canned text" can't cover. Macha is one such layer: it runs on top of the Front you already use through the live Macha–Front connector — it does not replace Front, your shared inboxes, or your templates. Keep your templates for the fixed stuff. Then, for the questions that need an actual answer, Macha's agent reads the conversation, understands intent, pulls the customer's real order or account status through a custom tool that turns your REST API into something the agent can call, and drafts or sends a grounded reply on any plan — not just Enterprise. A template says "Hi {{recipient.first_name}}, we've received your request"; an agent actually resolves the request. If you want the mechanics, connecting Front to Macha to route conversations to AI walks through it, and Macha's credits are consumed per AI action, never per resolution.

The clean division of labour: let Front templates carry your standard, repeatable wording, and layer an agent on top for the replies that need reading and reasoning. For how templates sit inside the wider workflow, see the Front shared inbox model.

FAQ

Where do I create a message template in Front? Two places. From the composer, click the template icon and choose New from draft to save the reply you've just written. Or go to Settings → Templates → Messages tab → Create to build one from scratch with a name, subject, and body.

What's the difference between a personal and a shared template? An individual (personal) template is private and visible only to you. A shared template is visible to teammates at the inbox level, so the whole team can reply with the same approved wording. Use the "Make available for any inbox" toggle to control which inboxes a template appears in.

How do I add a customer's name or order number to a template? Type {{ while editing the template to open the variable menu, then pick a variable like {{recipient.first_name}} or a custom field. Add fallback text with the pipe syntax — {{recipient.first_name | 'there'}} — so the reply never renders blank when a value is missing.

Are Front message templates free on all plans? The base feature is available on every Front plan, with no hard limit on how many you can create. The auto-populating dynamic variables that pull from third-party application objects require the Enterprise plan.

How do I insert a template while replying? Either click the template icon in the composer and pick from your folders (each previews before insert), or type /template followed by the template name and press Enter to drop it in without leaving the keyboard.

Ready to turn "insert canned text" into "actually answered"? Start a free trial of Macha and connect it to your Front in minutes.