Create custom templates in Fliki for AI video automation
A custom template turns one of your finished videos into a reusable blueprint. Fliki's AI then writes new content into it - keeping your layout, fonts, colours and branding - through workflows like Idea to Video, Script to Video, URL to Video, Bulk Create, Zapier and Make.
Custom templates are available on paid plans. On a free plan the Template option still appears in the file menu, but selecting it prompts you to upgrade. A file that has already been made a template keeps working on any plan.
Who custom templates are for
Businesses and brands
Keep layouts, colours, fonts and logos identical across every video while the script changes.
Content creators
Reuse your intro, outro, caption styling and avatar placement instead of rebuilding them each time.
Agencies and video teams
Build one template and produce many client videos from it with Bulk Create or an automation. Templates are shared with your team automatically.
Before you start
You need a paid plan.
You need a finished video file to template. Folders cannot be templated.
Start small - 3 to 5 scenes is enough to test the whole loop.
Step 1: Turn a file into a template
Open your Files page, hover the video you want to reuse, click the ⋮ menu on the card, and choose Template.
Why this matters: templating is what makes a file available to Fliki's automated workflows. You are turning a finished meal into a reusable recipe.
Step 2: Fill in the template details
Set Template to Yes, then fill in the fields below and click Save.
Template ID
Appears once the file is saved as a template. Copy it - you need it when you drive Fliki from outside the app:
Description
A short note on what the template is for. This is what you will read when your library grows, and it also helps Fliki decide when the template fits a brief.
Tags
Pick from the suggested list or type your own - for example promo, listicle, faceless, ai avatar. Tags are how you filter your own templates later.
Category
What the template is for: Product Demo, How-To Tutorial, Explainer Video, Social Media Story, Educational Lesson, Breaking News, Real Estate Tour, Event Promo, and more.
Thumbnail time (in seconds)
The second Fliki grabs the template's preview frame from. Point it at a strong visual - if your best frame lands at 3 seconds, enter 3. The frame is captured the next time the file is exported (see Step 6).
Gender
The narrator this template is written for: Default (let the workflow decide), Male or Female.
Step 3: How Fliki reads your template
Fliki only rewrites the parts of a template you have labelled. Everything else is copied through exactly as you built it. You label things with two fields:
Key - the slot's name (
intro,heading,photo). It identifies the slot.Prompt - what should go in the slot, and when the slot applies.
No key means locked. A scene or layer with no key keeps its existing content in every video generated from the template. That is the simplest way to pin a logo, a fixed outro or a brand colour bar.
Step 4: Set a scene key
Open the template in the editor. In the Script panel, click the scene to select it, then click the ⋮ on the scene row and choose Set key.
The ⋮ only appears once the scene row is selected.
The dialog has three fields:
Field | What it does |
|---|---|
Key | Names the layout. A key containing intro is used at the start, one containing outro at the end, and anything else is treated as a repeatable body scene. |
Scene brief | Describes the layout so Fliki can decide when to use it. Written per aspect ratio - the label shows which one you are editing (for example Scene brief (Landscape)). Briefs for the other sizes are kept as they are. |
Prompt | Extra direction for the content generated into this scene. |
A good scene brief answers three questions
What does the scene show? Layout and design.
Where does it belong? Opening, repeated middle, closing.
When should Fliki pick it? Any condition that has to hold.
Repeatable body scene with three captions on the left and an avatar on the right. Use only when there are exactly three distinct points to present together.
Heading on the left, avatar on the right. Use at the start only, where the main topic is first introduced.
Both work because they name the layout, state where it belongs, and set a condition. If Fliki keeps misusing a scene, tighten the condition rather than rewriting the whole brief.
Step 5: Set layer keys
Open the Layers panel and pick a scene. Each layer that can be keyed shows a key icon on its row - click it to open Layer key. Once a layer has a key, the key is shown as a small tag on the row, and the icon is highlighted.
Not every layer type can be keyed:
Layer | Can be keyed? |
|---|---|
Text, Media, Graphic, Audio, Watermark | Yes |
Avatar | Yes - by picking a male and a female avatar instead of typing a key |
Voiceover | Only on plans with API access |
Shape, Effect | No - these always carry through unchanged |
Text layer
A text layer adds a Max length field. Fliki suggests a value based on the text already in the layer; keeping the generated copy near that length is what stops a headline overflowing your design.
Field | Example |
|---|---|
Key | heading |
Max length | 50 |
Prompt | "A short, clear heading that summarises this scene's main point" |
Media layer
The media layer holds the images and video in a scene. Key it and give it a prompt, and Fliki sources or generates the visual for you.
It also has a Broll checkbox:
Unchecked - the slot holds a single visual for the whole scene.
Checked - the slot becomes a sequence of cutaways. Fliki works out how many from the length of that scene's narration, so a long scene cuts several times and a short one stays on a single shot. You do not need to add extra media layers to get multiple visuals.
To lock a visual, leave the media layer with no key and no prompt. It will appear in every generated video exactly as it is - which is what you want for a logo or a product shot.
Graphic layer
Usually an icon sitting beside a text layer. Name it after the text it belongs to - if the text layer is card_1, use card_1_icon.
Key | Prompt example |
|---|---|
card_1_icon | "A single keyword that represents what card_1 is about, for icon selection." |
Audio layer
Used for sound effects.
Key | Prompt example |
|---|---|
sound_effect | "A sound effect in 2-3 words that matches the mood or action of this scene." |
Avatar layer
An avatar slot is keyed differently: instead of typing a key, you pick a Male avatar and a Female avatar. Fliki then uses whichever matches the narrator's voice in the generated video. If you only pick one, the other falls back to the presenter already on the layer.
Step 6: Export once, then test
Export the template once. Click Download > Start Export. The preview frame is captured from that export at the Thumbnail time you set, so until you export, the template has no proper thumbnail.
Use it in a workflow - Bulk Create, Idea to Video, Script to Video, or a Zapier / Make automation.
Review the result and adjust:
A scene never used? It probably has no key, or its brief is too restrictive.
The same scene used over and over? Tighten its condition.
Copy overflowing? Set or lower Max length on that text layer.
Visuals you wanted kept got replaced? Remove the key from that media layer.
Where your templates appear
Once saved, your template shows under My templates - separately from Fliki's own catalogue - in the template picker when you create a video, on the Templates page, and in the Templates panel inside the editor.
Your templates are private to you and your team. They are never added to Fliki's public catalogue, and no one outside your workspace can use them.
Common mistakes to avoid
Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
Keying duplicate scenes | Only key unique layouts |
Never exporting the template | Export once after saving, so the thumbnail is generated |
Vague scene briefs | Describe the layout and say when to use it |
No key on the media layer | Key it so Fliki fills it - or leave it unkeyed on purpose, to lock the visual |
Text layers with no max length | Set one so generated copy fits the design |
Writing the scene brief for one size only | Switch aspect ratio and write the brief again if you publish the template in more than one size |
Final tips
Start small - 3 to 5 scenes is enough to begin testing.
Use consistent keys - stick to a system such as
intro,body,outro.Only key what should change. Anything you leave unkeyed stays exactly as you designed it.
Refine prompts after you see output - the first pass is rarely the last.
With custom templates you are not making one video - you are making a production system that keeps your design and lets Fliki do the writing.
