Making a template yours in one sentence: places, timing and where results go
One sentence before you run a template sets its cities, kind of business, timetable and where results go. What it reads, what it leaves alone, how to word it.
Every template in xMap Flows has a Make it yours box. Write one sentence such as independent pharmacies in Pune and Nagpur, every weekday at 7, send it to Slack, and it fills the template's questions for you: the places, the kinds of business, the timetable and where the results go. You see what it understood as small chips before anything runs, and a note for anything it could not change. Then you run it as usual.
This article explains what the sentence can and cannot change, how to word one so it is read the way you meant, a made-up example from a wholesaler, and what to do when one sentence is not enough.
Where the box is
- On a template's own page, as the first step of Use it now, before the questions.
- In the app, at the top of the Hire window that opens from any template card.
- On the gallery, every card has a Make it yours button; if you searched with words, they are already in the box.
It works the same in all three places. Reading the sentence is free and nothing is saved until you run or hire the template.
What one sentence can change
| Part of your sentence | What changes | Example wording |
|---|---|---|
| Places | Every city or area setting in the template, including example points it uses | in Lyon and Marseille |
| Kinds of business | Every kind-of-place setting | bakeries and patisseries |
| Timing | The Schedule's days and time | every Monday at 9, or twice a day |
| Where results go | Adds a Slack or other app step beside the email, or keeps email | send it to Slack, put it in a Google Sheets file |
| Anything else | Not applied; shown as a note so you know | only ones with a rating above 4 |
Questions you answer by hand afterwards always win over what the sentence filled in.
If the app you name is not connected yet, that step is left out of the first run and the results come by email, with a note saying which step waits for a connection. Connect it later and the step is used.
A worked example (made up)
Priya works for a pharmaceutical wholesaler and wants to find independent pharmacies to open as accounts in two cities in Maharashtra. In the gallery she finds the template for independent pharmacies to open, which by default looks at one city every morning and emails the list.
She types: independent pharmacies in Pune and Nagpur, every weekday at 7, send to Slack. The chips read Pune, Nagpur, Pharmacy, Weekdays 07:00, Slack. The template's place question now holds both cities and its schedule says Monday to Friday. Her team's Slack is not connected on this account, so the note says the Slack step will be added once she connects it; for now the list comes by email.
She runs it. The first run is kept small so a new account can afford it, and the email arrives a few minutes later. The next week she connects Slack, and the list starts arriving in the channel as well.
Writing a sentence that is read correctly
- Name real places. Melbourne and Geelong is read; my patch or the north is not.
- Use everyday words for the kind of business. Car washes, vets, dental clinics. If the template is about one kind already, you can leave it out.
- Say the time like a person. Mondays at 8, every weekday morning, every hour. The time is in your own time zone.
- Name one destination. Send to Slack or email it to me. Two destinations in one sentence may leave one out.
- Keep other wishes for later. A rating threshold, a distance or a different AI instruction are noted, not applied. Change those in the editor.
When one sentence is not enough
The sentence is for the four things most people change. For anything about how the employee works, such as keeping only places with a phone number, scoring them against your price list or adding a step, hire the template and choose Change it first. The flow opens in the editor with your sentence already applied, and Ask xMap can make the rest of the changes from plain words before it runs on a timetable.
Mistakes to avoid
- Two jobs in one sentence. Pharmacies in Pune and also clinics hiring nurses in Nagpur is two employees. Hire the template twice.
- A country instead of cities. A whole country gives an enormous list. Name the cities you can actually serve.
- Skipping the chips. Read them before you run. If a city was not recognised, it will not appear as a chip.
- Expecting the sentence to rewrite the AI's instructions. It changes settings, not the wording an xMap LLM block uses to score. Edit that in the block.
What you get afterwards
Once run and deployed, the template is an ordinary AI employee in your account: a card on the Flows page, a thread in the Team inbox with a short note after each morning's run, and the results on the Results page. Nothing about the sentence stays attached to it; the cities, kinds and timetable are simply its settings now, and you can change them like any other.
Questions
Does the sentence cost anything to read?
No. Reading the sentence and showing what it understood is free. Running the template afterwards works as usual.
What if it misreads a city?
Check the chips before running. Remove the wrong one in the place question and type the city there, or reword the sentence.
Can I use it on a template someone in my team shared?
Yes. Template pages made by your team have the same box, applied to the questions the maker chose to ask.
What happens to the part of my sentence it did not apply?
It is shown as a note so you know it was not done. Make that change in the editor with Change it first.
Templates that do this
Read next
More on ai employees and automation · Every article · Templates