# Email templates & variables

Learn how ProductiveRecruit email templates work, which {{variable}} tags auto-fill with your profile and a coach's info, and how to create your own.

A template is a message you write once — variables handle the rest. Instead of retyping your grad year, position, and GPA into every email, you write `{{user.grad_year}}` and ProductiveRecruit fills it in automatically for each coach you contact.

## Your default template

As soon as your profile is set up, ProductiveRecruit generates a starter template for you called **Introduction Email**. It's built from your sport and profile info, so a club athlete and a high school athlete get slightly different wording, but both follow the same pattern: a quick intro, your grad year/position/GPA, a link to your profile, and a direct ask about roster fit.

You can send it as-is, edit it, or use it as a starting point for new templates.

## How variables work

Variables are the `{{tag.name}}` tokens inside a template's subject or body. When you send an email, ProductiveRecruit swaps each one for real data: your profile info, and the coach/college you're contacting.

| Variable | Fills in with |
|---|---|
| `{{coach.first_name}}` / `{{coach.last_name}}` | The coach's name |
| `{{college.name}}` | The school you're emailing |
| `{{user.first_name}}` / `{{user.last_name}}` | Your name |
| `{{user.grad_year}}` | Your graduation year |
| `{{user.primary_position}}` | Your position |
| `{{user.gpa}}` | Your GPA |
| `{{user.height}}` / `{{user.weight}}` | Your height/weight |
| `{{user.club_team}}` or `{{user.high_school}}` | Your team |
| `{{user.city}}` / `{{user.state}}` | Your location |
| `{{user.email}}` / `{{user.phone}}` | Your contact info |
| `{{user.profile_url}}` | A link to your recruiting profile |
| `{{organization.name}}` | Your team/organization name, if you're part of one |

If a field is missing from your profile (say you haven't added a GPA), the tag is left showing in the preview instead of going blank, so you always know what to fill in before you send. `{{user.profile_url}}` is optional to include: ProductiveRecruit already appends a clickable link to your profile beneath your signature on every email you send, so most athletes skip adding it a second time in the body.

## Creating a template

Open **Templates** and click **Create**. You'll land on **Create with AI**, which drafts a complete subject and body from what's already on your profile. It's the fastest way to a solid first draft and it's covered in full in [AI email template generator](/docs/email/ai-template-generator).

To write one yourself, switch to the **Create manually** tab:

1. Give the template a **Name**.
2. Write your **Subject** and **Body**. Both have an **Insert template tag** picker, so you can drop in variables without typing them out by hand.
3. Switch to the **Preview** tab to see it rendered with sample values (a placeholder coach at a placeholder school) before it ever reaches a real inbox.
4. Click **Save template**.

## Editing a template

Use the edit action on any row of the Templates list. Editing opens in a modal with the same **Name**, **Editor**, and **Preview** fields, plus its attachment. Nothing is locked in once saved, so a template the AI wrote is just as editable as one you typed yourself.

Organization staff create and edit templates from that same modal rather than the AI flow, and they get an extra **Visibility** setting for sharing a template across the org. See [Shared templates](/docs/team-tools/shared-templates).

How many templates you can keep depends on your plan:

| Plan | Templates |
|---|---|
| Trial | 2 (your default template + 1 you create) |
| No active subscription | 1 |
| Pro | Unlimited |

## Attachments

Each template can carry one attachment: a PDF, image, or highlight reel cover, up to 7MB. It rides along automatically with every email sent from that template, including campaign sends, so you only upload it once. Full rules in [Attachments](/docs/email/attachments).

## What's next

- Connect your inbox in [Connecting your Gmail account](/docs/email/connect-gmail) if you haven't already.
- Try the [AI email template generator](/docs/email/ai-template-generator) for a faster first draft.
- Send your first message in [Sending a single email](/docs/email/send-a-single-email).
- Understand your daily send cap in [Deliverability & sending limits](/docs/email/deliverability-and-limits).

Source: https://productiverecruit.com/docs/email/templates-and-variables