Templates

When you create a brain you pick a template. A template is the brain’s starting structure: the folders it is organised into, the kinds of pages it expects (people, meetings, projects, decisions), and the guidance the filing skills follow when they decide where something belongs. A good structure is what makes filing consistent. When a meeting transcript arrives, the librarian should not have to invent a filing system on the spot: the template already says meetings are filed by date, that attendees get person pages, and that decisions are recorded where the team will look for them.

​

The starter templates

Pick the closest fit rather than the perfect one. A template is a starting point, not a straitjacket: pages and folders can always be added, and the brain grows around what you actually put in it.

​

Bringing an existing brain up to date

A brain copies its template when it is created and does not change when the template does. When a template gains a folder or a kind of page you want, an Owner can re-apply it from Settings, Schema, “Re-apply a template”. Cortex merges in the folders, page types and fields the template has and your brain lacks, creates the folder pages that are missing, and leaves everything your brain already has exactly as it is. The instructions page is replaced only if it is still the untouched starter text and you tick the box for it; a page you have edited is never touched. You type the brain’s slug to confirm, the same as deleting a brain.

​

Try it

1. Create a new brain and browse the template gallery before choosing.
2. Pick Company, then look at the empty folder structure it created.
3. Drop in a meeting transcript and notice it lands where the template says meetings live.