Using Templates

Templates are ready-made automations that cover common use cases. Instead of describing what you want from scratch, you pick a template, fill in a few details, and it's running.

Think of templates as recipes. The structure is already designed — you just add your ingredients.

The templates available today

Synap ships with three templates to get you started:

File Watchdog

Monitors files you care about for changes. When a file is updated, the watchdog creates a backup and asks Claude to analyze what changed. The analysis is saved to your daily notes.

When to use it: You have important files — quarterly reports, strategy documents, configuration files — that change over time. The watchdog keeps a history and tells you exactly what's different each time.

What you'll fill in: Which files to watch (like all markdown files in a folder) and where to store backups.

Morning Brief

Generates a daily intelligence summary when you open Synap. It reads your pending tasks, checks for overdue items, and creates a prioritized briefing for your day.

When to use it: You want to start each day with a clear picture of what needs attention, without spending time reviewing everything yourself.

What you'll fill in: Nothing — this one works out of the box.

API Data Pipeline

Fetches data from an external API on a schedule, transforms it with a small script, and saves the result as a report in your mind.

When to use it: You want to pull data from a service regularly — analytics, weather, financial data, project updates — and have it processed and stored automatically.

What you'll fill in: The API URL, how often to run (daily, every 6 hours, etc.), and where to save the results.

How to install a template

1. Open the Automations page in the Synap sidebar.
2. Click "Templates" to see the available options.
3. Pick a template and read its description to make sure it fits your need.
4. Fill in the configuration fields — each template will show you exactly what it needs. Fields come with sensible defaults, so you can often just adjust one or two things.
5. Click "Install" and the automation is created immediately.

That's it. The automation is now live in your mind. Depending on the template, it will start working the next time the trigger fires — when a file changes, when you open Synap, or when the schedule hits.

After installation

Once a template is installed, it becomes a regular automation. You can:

• Enable or disable it from the automations page
• View its run history to see what it's done
• Delete it if you no longer need it (deletions are archived, not permanently destroyed)

Templates are a starting point. If you want to modify what a template does after installing it, ask Claude to adjust the automation for you.