> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dmly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understanding the system templates

> What each dmly_ system template is for and when it is needed, so you know which of the ones in Templates → System actually matter to you.

DMLY ships its own set of WhatsApp templates, all named `dmly_…`. You will find them under **Messaging → Templates → System**, marked **Managed by DMLY**. There are around 43 of them and most workspaces only ever need a handful.

This page says what each one is and, more usefully, **when it is needed**, so you can tell at a glance which ones to care about getting approved.

## The three ways a system template is used

This is the thing to understand first, because it decides whether a template matters to you at all.

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Automatic" icon="bolt">
    DMLY sends it itself when something happens: a booking is confirmed, a payment lands. Nothing to set up beyond having it approved.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automation fallback" icon="diagram-project">
    It only sends as the out-of-window stand-in for a message inside one specific automation template. Never install that automation and the template never sends.
  </Card>

  <Card title="On request" icon="hand-pointer">
    It stands in when a particular feature is used: a portal login code, a satisfaction rating, asking someone for their phone number.
  </Card>
</Columns>

Two more things apply to every one of them:

* **Category matters.** A **utility** template is transactional and can go to any contact. A **marketing** template needs the contact's marketing opt-in and is billed at marketing rates. Meta decides the category in the end, and it holds a few of DMLY's as marketing however they are declared.
* **Nothing sends until Meta approves it.** Submission, approval and what to do about a rejection are all on [Message templates](/broadcasts/message-templates).

<Note>
  **Not every workspace has every template.** A workspace keeps the set it was given when it was created, matched to its business type: a salon is never handed the order-shipping templates. Anything missing is under **Templates → System → Available to install**. See ["A system template I need isn't there"](/broadcasts/message-templates) for the detail.
</Note>

## Appointments and bookings

Installed for businesses that take bookings.

| Template                               | Category | When it is needed                                                                 |
| -------------------------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `dmly_appointment_confirmation`        | Utility  | Automatic, when a booking is confirmed.                                           |
| `dmly_appointment_update`              | Utility  | Automatic, when a booking is rescheduled.                                         |
| `dmly_appointment_cancelled`           | Utility  | Automatic, when a booking is cancelled.                                           |
| `dmly_appointment_reminder`            | Utility  | Automatic, ahead of the appointment, on the service's reminder schedule.          |
| `dmly_appointment_series_confirmation` | Utility  | Automatic, when several sessions are booked at once: a course or a block booking. |
| `dmly_appointment_no_show`             | Utility  | Automation fallback for the no-show follow-up automation. Never sends on its own. |

<Note>
  **The `_link` versions are the same three messages with a join link.** `dmly_appointment_confirmation_link`, `dmly_appointment_update_link` and `dmly_appointment_reminder_link` are utility templates that DMLY picks automatically, instead of the plain version, when the booking has a video or meeting link such as Zoom or Google Meet. You never choose between them. There is no link version of a cancellation. If you run online appointments, install both halves.
</Note>

### Sent to your staff

| Template                           | Category | When it is needed                       |
| ---------------------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------- |
| `dmly_staff_appointment_new`       | Utility  | Automatic, when a booking is made.      |
| `dmly_staff_appointment_update`    | Utility  | Automatic, when a booking is changed.   |
| `dmly_staff_appointment_cancelled` | Utility  | Automatic, when a booking is cancelled. |

## Packages and credits

For bookings businesses selling session packs. All three are automation fallbacks, so they only send if you install the matching automation.

| Template              | Category | When it is needed                                     |
| --------------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| `dmly_package_active` | Utility  | Fallback for the package-purchased automation.        |
| `dmly_credits_used`   | Utility  | Fallback for a session being deducted from a package. |
| `dmly_credits_low`    | Utility  | Fallback for the package balance running low.         |

## Payments, invoices and subscriptions

Installed for businesses that take payment.

| Template                     | Category  | When it is needed                                                                                                                                                                         |
| ---------------------------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `dmly_invoice_sent`          | Utility   | Automatic, when an invoice is sent. Carries the pay link.                                                                                                                                 |
| `dmly_payment_receipt`       | Utility   | Automatic, when a payment is confirmed.                                                                                                                                                   |
| `dmly_payment_request`       | Utility   | Automatic, whenever a pay link goes to someone outside the 24-hour window: the AI agent, a flow's payment node, a booking deposit. **Needed by anyone collecting payment over WhatsApp.** |
| `dmly_bank_transfer_details` | Utility   | Automatic, when bank details are sent for a manual transfer. **Needed by anyone who takes bank transfers.**                                                                               |
| `dmly_payment_failed`        | Utility   | Automatic, when a payment fails.                                                                                                                                                          |
| `dmly_renewal_reminder`      | Utility   | Automatic, ahead of a subscription renewal.                                                                                                                                               |
| `dmly_subscription_started`  | Utility   | Automation fallback for the subscription-started automation.                                                                                                                              |
| `dmly_refund_processing`     | Utility   | Automation fallback for the refund automation.                                                                                                                                            |
| `dmly_gift_card`             | Marketing | Automatic, when a gift card is bought for someone. Meta classifies this one as marketing however it is declared.                                                                          |

## Orders and delivery

Installed for businesses that sell products, or that have a Shopify or WooCommerce store connected.

| Template               | Category  | When it is needed                                   |
| ---------------------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `dmly_order_confirmed` | Utility   | Automatic, on a paid store order.                   |
| `dmly_order_shipped`   | Utility   | Automatic, when the order ships. Carries tracking.  |
| `dmly_cart_reminder`   | Marketing | Automatic abandoned-cart nudge.                     |
| `dmly_cart_discount`   | Marketing | The follow-up cart nudge, carrying a discount code. |

<Warning>
  `dmly_order_out_for_delivery`, `dmly_order_delivered` and `dmly_cod_confirmation` are available, but **nothing sends them automatically today**. They exist so you can pick them as the out-of-window fallback on a message node in your own automation. Installing them alone changes nothing.
</Warning>

## Win-back and loyalty

None of these are installed by default. Every one is the out-of-window fallback for one specific automation template, so it only ever sends if you install that automation. All of them are **marketing** category too, so they need the contact's marketing opt-in and bill at marketing rates.

| Template               | Automation it belongs to                                                                |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `dmly_rebook_nudge`    | Win back lapsed clients.                                                                |
| `dmly_back_in_stock`   | Back in stock.                                                                          |
| `dmly_vip_perk`        | VIP customer thank you, which triggers when a store customer crosses a spend threshold. |
| `dmly_birthday_offer`  | Birthday.                                                                               |
| `dmly_referral_invite` | Referral.                                                                               |

## Team and conversations

Both go to your staff, not to customers.

| Template                     | Category | When it is needed                                                  |
| ---------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `dmly_new_conversation`      | Utility  | Automatic, when a new conversation arrives and nobody has replied. |
| `dmly_conversation_assigned` | Utility  | Automatic, when a conversation is assigned to a teammate.          |

## Everything else

| Template              | Category       | When it is needed                                                                                                                   |
| --------------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `dmly_otp`            | Authentication | Automatic, when a client signs in to the client portal with a one-time code.                                                        |
| `dmly_csat`           | Utility        | The satisfaction-rating ask, used when a CSAT request lands outside the window. Carries tap-to-rate buttons.                        |
| `dmly_review_request` | Marketing      | Automatic review request, from Reputation. Meta holds this as marketing whatever it is declared as.                                 |
| `dmly_letter_link`    | Utility        | Automatic, when a generated letter or document is sent to a contact.                                                                |
| `dmly_request_phone`  | Utility        | Used by the request-phone-number automation node, when asking a username-only WhatsApp contact for their number outside the window. |

<Note>
  `dmly_otp` is the only **authentication** template. Meta requires that category for login codes (it cannot be a utility one), and Meta fixes its wording rather than DMLY authoring it.
</Note>

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Message templates" icon="file-lines" href="/broadcasts/message-templates">
    How approval works, and what to do when a template is missing or rejected.
  </Card>

  <Card title="WhatsApp rules and limits" icon="whatsapp" href="/broadcasts/whatsapp-rules-and-limits">
    Why a template is needed outside the 24-hour window at all.
  </Card>
</Columns>