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Templates»

Info

This feature is only available on the Business plan and above. Please check out our pricing page for more information.

Templates provide a self-service approach to infrastructure provisioning, making it easier for application developers to deploy infrastructure without deep IaC or Spacelift knowledge. Templates focus on enabling end users to deploy infrastructure through a simplified, form-based interface.

What is a Template?»

A Template is a reusable infrastructure-as-code configuration that can be deployed multiple times with different inputs. Templates consist of:

  • Template metadata: Name, description, labels, and space assignment
  • Template versions: One or more versions of the template configuration
  • Template body: YAML configuration defining infrastructure resources and inputs
  • Inputs: User-provided values that customize each deployment

Templates vs Blueprints»

While both features enable infrastructure provisioning, they have fundamentally different approaches and serve different use cases:

Key Architectural Differences»

Blueprints are a creation tool that generates stacks which then live independently:

  • Creates stacks that become regular, fully editable Spacelift stacks
  • Once created, stacks can be modified manually like any other stack
  • No ongoing relationship between the blueprint and the created stacks
  • Stacks continue to evolve independently after creation
  • Blueprint changes don't affect previously created stacks

Templates are a lifecycle management tool that maintains control over deployed infrastructure:

  • Creates stacks through deployments that are fully managed by the template
  • Stacks created from templates are immutable - cannot be edited manually, even by admins
  • The only way to modify infrastructure is by:
    1. Updating the template deployment to use a different version
    2. Creating a new template version with changes and update deployment to use it
    3. Modifying deployment inputs
  • Deployments maintain a permanent link to the template version
  • Templates ensure consistency across all deployments

Determinism and Reproducibility»

Templates are deterministic by design:

  • Each published template version is pinned to a specific VCS commit
  • Same template version + same inputs = identical infrastructure every time (if you don't use any random inputs or random resources in terraform)
  • Guarantees reproducibility across deployments
  • Eliminates configuration drift between environments
  • Ensures predictable outcomes

Blueprints offer flexibility:

  • Use the latest code from the VCS branch
  • Stacks can diverge from the original blueprint configuration
  • Allows for manual adjustments and customizations
  • More suitable for one-time stack creation scenarios

Two Interfaces for Different Users»

Templates are accessed through two distinct interfaces designed for different user personas:

Templates Workbench»

The Templates Workbench is designed for platform teams and template authors:

  • Create and manage template definitions
  • Author and edit template versions
  • Configure template body (YAML configuration)
  • Publish template versions
  • View all deployments across the organization
  • Manage template lifecycle

See Templates Workbench for detailed documentation.

Templates List»

The Templates List is designed for application developers and end users:

  • Browse available published templates
  • Deploy infrastructure using simple forms
  • View their own deployments
  • Update deployments
  • Simplified, self-service experience

See Template Deployments for detailed documentation.

Summary»

Templates provide a powerful self-service approach to infrastructure provisioning:

  • ✅ User-Friendly: Form-based interface for non-experts
  • ✅ Reusable: Create once, deploy many times with different inputs
  • ✅ Versioned: Built-in version management for evolution
  • ✅ Deterministic: Same version + inputs = identical infrastructure
  • ✅ Immutable: Deployed stacks cannot be modified manually
  • ✅ Validated: Input validation prevents misconfigurations
  • ✅ Controlled: Permission-based access control