Templates

The structure for your processes and data.

Templates are the configurable blueprints for your standard processes. Building upon the architectural rules defined in a Type, a Template allows you to design a specific, version-controlled workflow. This ensures that every time a process is run, it is executed consistently and correctly, inheriting the governance and guardrails from its underlying Type while providing a precise, standardized structure for scientists to follow.

Creating templates

Once you have set up your type, you can make templates from the type. These obey all the rules set on the type.

Only managers can create and edit templates. Select ’+ New Entity’ in the change set panel from the top navigation bar, then select ‘Template’.

Configuring your template

On your template, you can then add further customisation that will be applied to all instances of that template:

• Page content
• Fields
• Field values
• Computed titles
• Assignees
• Strict mode
• Review requirements
• Validation checks

Page content, field and field values effectively get copied across to the instance, so templates and instances have exactly the same.

Learn more about content and fields here & here

The rest get set on the template in the ‘Instances’ tab of the sidebar. They apply to instances of the template, not the template itself.

Computed titles

Prefer a title formula for new templates. A formula like title = f"LOT-{entity.index}" is more flexible than computed title expressions and supports full Python logic (conditionals, formatting, field references). The instance title becomes read-only — protected from manual edits. Computed title expressions remain supported but are no longer the recommended approach.

It is possible to set computed title expressions for your instances.

All instances created from this template will have their title automatically generated. When a title is computed (either via an expression or a title formula), it becomes read-only on the instance — users cannot manually edit it.

You can customise computed fields to add specific fields or properties.

Expression	Field / Property
@"Field name"	References a field from the template
@CREATED_AT	Date and Time of instance creation
@CREATED_BY	User that created the instance
@TASK_PROGRESS	Percentage of checklist items checked (e.g., “75%“)
@LAST_PUBLISHED_AT	Date and Time of publication (null if not published)
@LAST_PUBLISHED_BY	User that published the entity (null if not published)
@VERSION	Version number of the entity (null if not published)
@TYPE_NAME	Name of the Type
@INDEX	A running number that increases consecutively, across all entities, irrespective of type, template or instance
@TYPE_INDEX	An index per instance made from the type, increasing for every instance made. Empty on templates, resolves on instances.
@TEMPLATE_INDEX	An index per instance made from the template, increasing for every instance made. Empty on templates, resolves on instances.

When you configure a computed title on a template, the template itself does not have an instance index yet. @TYPE_INDEX and @TEMPLATE_INDEX therefore appear empty on the template and resolve on instances created from that template.

Computed titles, like formulas, are re-calculated every time an edit is made to the entity they belong to.

Assignees

You can assign users to instances — they will be notified via email and an inbox notification in Seal. Default assignees can be added to templates, via the instances tab. When the template is instantiated, default assignees will be notified.

The assignment will be marked as complete when the instance is published.

Strict mode

Strict mode can be used to lock down editability of instances. It limits what users can fill out to the following:

• Title
• Field values
• Task cards
• Checkboxes
• Assignees
• Tags
• Work instructions

This means that the following cannot be edited while Strict Mode is turned on:

• Page content
• Field configuration & names
• Adding / removing fields
• Automation code & triggers

You can clearly see if an instance is in Strict mode by looking at the top bar:

Like Computed Titles and Assignees, Strict Mode can be set on the Instances tab of templates. All instances created from the template will be in Strict Mode.

Strict Mode can be turned on and off on individual instances by those with Manage permissions. See Instances for details.

Review requirements and checks

Like types, you can set mandatory review requirements and checks that must pass for instances to be published.

Learn more about Review Requirements and Checks here