What is an AI prompt template with variables?
A prompt template is a saved prompt where the parts that change are marked as placeholders — variables — instead of hardcoded text. Written with double curly braces, they look like this:
When you run the template, you fill in tone, recipient and topic, and the completed prompt goes to ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. One template, unlimited uses — and because the fixed part never changes, the quality of the output stays consistent every single time.
Why templates beat rewriting prompts from scratch
- Consistency: the carefully-tuned instructions (length limits, format, constraints) are locked in; only the specifics change.
- Speed: filling three fields takes seconds; re-composing a good prompt takes minutes.
- Improvement compounds: when you refine the template once, every future run benefits.
How to create a prompt template in Vault
- Save a prompt in Vault: AI Prompt Library as usual.
- Replace the parts that change with
{{variable}}placeholders — Vault highlights them automatically as you type. - Tap run. Vault detects every variable, shows a fill-in form, substitutes your answers, and launches the finished prompt in your AI app of choice — or copies it to the clipboard.
{{audience}}, {{deadline}}, {{code}}. Future-you should know exactly what to type into each field without opening the full prompt.Five copy-ready template examples
1. The everyday email
2. Code review
{{code}}
3. Social media captions
4. Explain like I'm new
5. Meeting agenda
Go further: chain templates into workflows
Vault also supports child prompts — follow-up prompts nested under a parent. Pair a "Draft the blog post" template with children like "Tighten the intro", "Write the meta description", "Suggest 5 titles", and you've effectively built your own custom GPT that runs the same multi-step workflow every time.
Build your first template in a minute
Vault highlights {{variables}} as you type and fills them in before every run. Free on iPhone, iPad & Mac.
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