Reply templates are saved replies your whole workspace shares. You insert one from the Templates button in the Inbox's email composer, and Kenso fills in the person's details for you. You manage the list in Knowledge › Playbook › Reply templates.
Insert a template in a reply
- Open the Inbox, or press G then I, and open a reply.
- Start your reply, then click Templates in the composer. You can also type / in the reply and pick Insert template.
- To find one, type in Search templates.... It searches each template's name and description.
- Click the template.
In an empty reply, the template becomes the reply. If you already wrote something, the template goes below it, after a blank line. Either way it sits above your signature. Read it, change what you need, and send.
Templates are only in the email composer. LinkedIn replies have no Templates button.
Variables that fill in
When you insert a template, Kenso replaces its variables with this person's details before the text reaches your reply.
| Variable | Fills in with |
|---|---|
{{first_name}} | The person's first name |
{{company}} | Their company |
{{sender_name}} | Your first name, from the inbox the reply goes out from |
On email threads, Kenso also fills the lead and sender variables you use in campaign sequences, when it has a value for this person. Write them with double braces and the same spelling, such as {{lastName}}, {{fullName}}, {{title}}, {{companyDomain}} or {{sender_last_name}}. A misspelled name, such as {{last_name}}, does not fill.
A variable with no value stays in the text as written. Send then stops with a message such as "Fill in {{company}} first", so a placeholder never reaches the person. Type the value in its place, or delete it, and send again.
Save a reply as a template
- Write the reply in the composer.
- Click Templates, then Save as template at the bottom of the list. It is grayed out with "Write a reply first" while the reply is empty.
- Type a Name, such as "Follow-up after no reply".
- Optional: fill in Description (optional), for when a teammate should use it. It shows under the name in the Templates list, and search finds it.
- Click Save template. Kenso confirms with "Template saved".
Kenso saves the reply's text without your signature.
Manage templates in Knowledge
- Open Knowledge, or press G then K.
- Under Playbook, click Reply templates. The line at the top counts them, for example "4 templates · shown in the Inbox composer".
- Click a template to open it, or click New template to add one. A new template is named "New template" and starts with "Hi {{first_name}},".
- Edit the name and the text. To add a variable at the end of the text, click
{{first_name}},{{company}}or{{sender_name}}next to Insert. - Click away from the field. Kenso saves each template when you leave the field or insert a variable. There is no Save button.
To remove a template, open it and click Delete. Kenso shows "Deleted" and the name, with Undo to bring it back.
The description you wrote in Save as template can't be edited here. The Templates list in the Inbox reads the templates again each time you open it, so a teammate's new template shows up without a reload.
Who can use and change templates
- Everyone shares one list. A template belongs to the whole workspace, not to one person. There are no personal templates.
- Admins and Editors can save, edit and delete templates. It takes edit access to the Inbox and the Workspace settings permission.
- Viewers, and client seats that can read replies, can insert templates but can't save or change them.
- Limits: a name can be up to 255 characters, the text up to 65,536 and a description up to 2,000.
To give someone the right to manage templates, change their role or turn on Workspace settings for them. See Invite your team and set roles.
What Ken can do here
Ken can list and read your templates. Ask it, for example, to write a template for "send me more info" replies: it creates the template once you approve it. Ken can edit or delete only templates an agent wrote, never one a person wrote, and it asks you before each change. Agents connected over MCP follow the same rule.
If something goes wrong
"Fill in {{company}} first" (or another variable). Kenso has no value for that variable for this person. Type the value in its place, or delete it.
"Write a reply first" next to Save as template. The reply is empty. Write or insert the text first.
"Template name is required." The name is only spaces. Type a name.
"Give the template a name to save it" in Knowledge. You cleared the name. Type one, then click away.
"Failed to save template", or "Couldn't create the template. Try again." or "Couldn't save" and the name in Knowledge. The save failed. Check that your role can manage templates and that the text is within the limits above, then try again.
There is no Templates button. You're on a LinkedIn thread. Templates work only on email replies.
A template has someone else's name in it. It was saved with a filled-in name. Open it in Knowledge › Playbook › Reply templates and put {{first_name}} back.
Related: Reply from the Inbox, Handle every kind of reply, Teach Ken how you write, Invite your team and set roles