Working with templates
Create, duplicate, reorder, edit, and delete templates. Plus what every field actually means.
Templates are the heart of the extension. Each one is a chunk of text (or rich content) that you reuse across tickets. This chapter covers everything you can do with them.
Anatomy of a template
Every template has these fields:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | The label shown in dropdowns, buttons, and the context menu. Keep it short. |
| Issue type | The Jira issue type or Azure DevOps work item type the template targets (e.g. Bug, Story, Task). Used for autofill matching. |
| Projects | Comma-separated project keys (e.g. ABC, BCS). Leave blank to apply the template to every project. |
| Platform | One of: All, Jira Server, Jira Cloud, Azure DevOps. Lets you have platform-specific templates. |
| Target field (Azure DevOps only) | The work item field to inject into. A dropdown offers well-known fields (Description, Repro Steps, Acceptance Criteria, System Info) plus a Custom option for any field matched by aria-label. See Azure DevOps. |
| Format (Azure DevOps only) | Markdown or HTML. Controls which editor opens in the options page and how the content is stored. The extension converts between formats automatically at injection time. See Azure DevOps. |
| Content | The actual template body (rich text + tables, or wiki markup). |
| Quick-access toggles | Whether the template appears in the dropdown / button row / context menu. |
Creating templates
Three ways:
- Add new template at the bottom of the list — start from blank.
- Duplicate an existing template — click the copy icon on any card. Useful for branching off a working template.
- Import from a JSON file or a shared URL — see Import / Export.
The editor
Click on any template card (name or badges area) to open it for editing. You can also use the pencil icon in the card’s action bar.
The editor splits into name + metadata at the top and a rich text area below.
The editor component depends on platform and format:
- Jira Cloud / ADO (HTML) — the TipTap rich text editor with tables, links, headings, lists, and formatting.
- Jira Server — switch to wiki mode to author legacy wiki markup directly. The right pane shows a live HTML preview that supports common macros like
{panel},{code},{quote}, and{noformat}. - ADO (Markdown) — a dedicated Markdown editor with a formatting toolbar (bold, italic, headings, lists, code, links) and an Edit/Preview toggle.
Note: All three editors show an approximate rendering. The output in the live system (Jira, Azure DevOps) may differ slightly.
Reordering, duplicating, deleting
- Move up / Move down buttons reorder templates within their project tab. Order matters because autofill uses the first match when several templates qualify.
- Duplicate copies the entire template (including content and toggles) under a new name with ” (copy)” appended.
- Delete removes the template. An Undo toast appears for ~10 seconds — click it to bring the template back.
Search
The search bar above the list filters templates by name, content, and issue type. It searches across all project tabs simultaneously.
Project tabs
An All tab is always shown first and lists every template — including the universal ones (where the projects field is blank). Beyond that, every distinct project key from your templates becomes its own tab.
Clicking a project tab filters the list to templates that explicitly target that project. Universal templates appear only under All, not under each individual project tab. That way the project tabs stay focused on overrides instead of repeating the universal set everywhere.
Saving
Saves are automatic and debounced at 250 ms — there is no Save button. A small toast appears in the bottom-right after each successful save.
You can force a flush with Ctrl+S (Cmd+S on macOS). This is useful if you want explicit reassurance that the latest change was persisted.
Undo
The extension keeps the last 20 snapshots of your template list in memory. Ctrl+Z undoes the last destructive change (delete, reorder, edit). Use it freely — saves still happen, but the previous state can be restored.
Tip: Undo only covers template list changes. Settings changes are not undoable from the keyboard, but you can change them back manually.