Using Templates

The template library is your starting point for any new deployment. This guide explains how to navigate the library, understand what a template does before using it, and how to add new templates or modify existing ones in your GitHub repository.

Browsing the Template Library

Navigate to Deploy → Templates in the Amnify sidebar
The library shows all available templates synced from your GitHub repository
Templates are organized by category:
- Infrastructure — networks, compute, clusters, storage
- Application — web services, container deployments, serverless
- Database — managed database services
- Combinations — multi-component stacks

Use the search bar to find templates by name or description. Use the category filter to narrow results.

Understanding a Template Before Using It

Before selecting a template for a new deployment, review its detail:

Description — what the template provisions and what it is designed for
Variables — what inputs you will need to provide: which are required vs optional, which are sensitive (e.g., passwords — you will not be able to see them after submission), and whether any variables have predefined options or link to existing cloud resources

Having this information upfront helps you prepare the values you need before starting the Deployment Creation wizard.

Selecting a Template for a New Deployment

When creating a new Deployment:

In the Deployment Creation wizard, choose Template as the source type
Click Browse Templates
Select the template you want to use
The wizard advances to the variable configuration step

See Creating Deployments for the full walkthrough.

Your Template Repository

Templates live in a GitHub repository owned by your organization. Amnify Deploy syncs from this repository; it does not host or lock your templates internally. Your team has full control: add new templates by adding files to the repository, modify existing templates by editing files in GitHub, and version everything using standard Git workflows (branches, pull requests, tags).

Repository Directory Structure

Your GitHub repository must follow this directory structure for Amnify to discover and sync templates:

your-repo/
└── templates/
    ├── azure/
    │   └── my-template/
    │       ├── template.json      ← manifest (required)
    │       └── main.tf            ← Terraform files
    ├── aws/
    │   └── ec2-instance/
    │       ├── template.json
    │       ├── main.tf
    │       └── outputs.tf
    └── gcp/
        └── compute-instance/
            ├── template.json
            └── main.tf

Rules

The top-level directory must be named templates/
Provider subdirectories must be one of: azure, aws, gcp
Each template is a subdirectory containing a template.json manifest and one or more .tf files
All .tf files in the template directory are downloaded during deployment

The `template.json` Manifest

Every template directory must contain a template.json file with this structure:

{
  "id": "azure-resource-group-v1",
  "name": "Azure Resource Group",
  "description": "Creates a new Azure Resource Group",
  "category": "infrastructure",
  "cloud_provider": "azure",
  "iac_type": "terraform",
  "icon": "cloud",
  "variables": [
    {
      "name": "resource_group_name",
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Name of the resource group",
      "required": true,
      "sensitive": false
    },
    {
      "name": "location",
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Azure region",
      "default": "West Europe",
      "required": false,
      "sensitive": false,
      "options": ["West Europe", "North Europe", "East US"]
    }
  ]
}

Field	Required	Description
`id`	Yes	Unique identifier for the template
`name`	Yes	Display name shown in the UI
`description`	Yes	Brief description of what the template provisions
`category`	Yes	One of: `infrastructure`, `application`, `database`, `combo`
`cloud_provider`	Yes	Must match the parent directory: `azure`, `aws`, or `gcp`
`iac_type`	Yes	Currently only `terraform` is supported
`icon`	No	Lucide icon name for the UI
`variables`	Yes	Array of variable definitions (see below)

Variable Properties

Property	Required	Description
`name`	Yes	Variable name — must match a `variable` block in your `.tf` files
`type`	Yes	`string`, `number`, `bool`, `object`, or `list(object)`
`description`	No	Help text shown in the UI
`required`	Yes	Whether the variable must be filled in before deploying
`sensitive`	Yes	If `true`, the value is masked in the UI and stored encrypted
`default`	No	Default value pre-filled in the form
`options`	No	Array of allowed values — renders as a dropdown in the UI
`resource_type`	No	Terraform resource type (e.g., `azurerm_resource_group`) — enables the cloud resource picker
`condition`	No	`{ "field": "other_var", "equals": "value" }` — shows this variable only when the condition is met

Adding a New Template

To make a new template available in Amnify Deploy:

Author the template in your GitHub repository following the directory structure above
Commit and push the new template to your repository’s main branch (or the branch configured as the sync source)
Trigger a Sync in Amnify Deploy (see Syncing Templates below)
The new template appears in the library immediately after the sync completes

Modifying an Existing Template

To update an existing template:

Edit the template file in your GitHub repository
- You can change the infrastructure definition, update variable labels, add new variables, or change default values
Commit and push the changes
Trigger a Sync in Amnify Deploy

After syncing, the updated template is immediately available. Existing Deployments created from the old version of the template are not automatically affected — they will use the updated template the next time you re-execute them.

Changing a template’s variables (adding required variables or removing existing ones) will affect Deployments that use it. If you add a new required variable, existing Deployments will need to be edited to provide a value for it before they can be executed again.

Syncing Templates

Amnify Deploy does not automatically pull changes from GitHub. To update the template library after changes in your repository:

Navigate to Deploy → Templates
Click Sync Templates
Amnify fetches the latest templates from your configured GitHub repository
New and updated templates appear in the library immediately

The sync is fast — it typically completes in a few seconds.

Next Steps

Creating Deployments — turn a template into a running deployment
Templates concept page — deeper conceptual overview of how templates work

Overview

Core Concepts

Create Custom Templates

First Deployment

How-To Guides

Reference

Using Templates

Browsing the Template Library

Understanding a Template Before Using It

Selecting a Template for a New Deployment

Your Template Repository

Repository Directory Structure

Rules

The `template.json` Manifest

Variable Properties

Adding a New Template

Modifying an Existing Template

Syncing Templates

Next Steps

​Browsing the Template Library

​Understanding a Template Before Using It

​Selecting a Template for a New Deployment

​Your Template Repository

​Repository Directory Structure

​Rules

​The template.json Manifest

​Variable Properties

​Adding a New Template

​Modifying an Existing Template

​Syncing Templates

​Next Steps

Browsing the Template Library

Understanding a Template Before Using It

Selecting a Template for a New Deployment

Your Template Repository

Repository Directory Structure

Rules

The `template.json` Manifest

Variable Properties

Adding a New Template

Modifying an Existing Template

Syncing Templates

Next Steps