Welcome to Guide! Unlike Greenhouse, Ashby does not expose email templates via its API - which means Guide is unable to automatically sync your existing Ashby email templates. Instead, you'll build your message template library directly within Guide. The good news: Guide's template library is purpose-built for scheduling communications and gives you full control over every message type your team sends to candidates and interviewers.

This article walks you through everything you need to know to build your template library from scratch.

Message templates can be created, edited, and managed by users with the Admin or Content Manager role in your Guide account.

To access your message template library:

1. From the Guide dashboard, click Settings in the main navigation.

2. Select Templates.

3. Click the Message Templates tab.

This is your central hub for all email templates used throughout the scheduling workflow.

Guide organizes templates into seven categories, each mapped to a specific stage in your scheduling workflow. When you create a template, you assign it one of these types - this determines where it becomes available during scheduling.

1. Candidate Messaging

General-purpose email to candidates. Use this for any outreach that isn't tied to a specific scheduling action - such as a warm intro, a status update, or a check-in.

2. Request Availability

Sent to candidates when you need them to submit their availability for an interview. This email typically includes a link to the candidate availability form.

3. Request Additional Availability

A Guide-native template type (not sourced from any ATS). Used when a candidate's initial availability submission does not work and you need to ask them to submit additional time slots. This is separate from the initial availability request, keeping your communications clear and contextual.

4. Candidate Confirmation

Sent to the candidate once an interview has been scheduled and confirmed. This typically includes the interview date, time, interviewers, and a link to their candidate portal for prep materials.

5. Updated Candidate Confirmation

Another Guide-native type (not sourced from any ATS). Used when a previously confirmed interview has been rescheduled or updated. Keeps this communication separate from the original confirmation so candidates clearly understand their interview details have changed.

6. Self-Schedule Request

Sent to candidates when you want them to self-select an available time from a set of pre-approved slots. This is used in self-scheduling workflows where the candidate picks directly from a booking link.

7. Interviewer Confirmation

Sent to interviewers when they have been added to a scheduled interview. This message populates the calendar invite's custom instructions field and can include details like the candidate's background, interview focus areas, or prep notes.

To create a template:

1. Navigate to Settings > Templates > Message Templates.

2. Click the New template button (button in the upper right).

3. Give your template a descriptive name - something your team will recognize at a glance (e.g., "Onsite Candidate Confirmation - Engineering").

4. Select the appropriate template type from the dropdown (see the descriptions above).

5. Enter your subject line and compose the email body.

6. Use tokens to dynamically personalize the message (see the Tokens section below).

7. Click Save when you're done.

Your new template will now appear in the template library and become available for selection at the appropriate step in the scheduling workflow.

Tokens are placeholders that automatically populate with real data when the email is sent - things like the candidate's name, the job title, the interview date, or the recruiter's name. This lets you write one template that personalizes itself for every candidate.

To insert a token while composing a template, either:

- Type the $ symbol to trigger the token picker, or

- Click the Insert Token button at the bottom of the message editor.

Commonly used tokens include:

For the full list of supported tokens, see the Using Tokens in Guide Email and Calendar Templates article.

Guide automatically appends a "magic signature" to all candidate-facing emails - this includes links to the candidate portal, interview schedule, and interview team. However, it does not include your personal name or sign-off.

To add a personalized signature, include tokens at the bottom of your template body, for example:

This approach lets your whole team share a standardized template while each person's signature auto-populates with their own information.

Guide remembers which template you last used in a specific context - meaning for a given job stage and job combination. The next time you schedule an interview in that same context, Guide will automatically pre-populate your most recently used template. This means you only need to select your preferred template once per stage and job, after which it becomes your default for that workflow.

When sending a Candidate Confirmation email, you are not limited to sending it immediately. Guide gives you the option to:

This is useful if you want to space out communications or time a confirmation to arrive at a specific moment.

When getting started, prioritize creating at least one template for each of these types:

Once your library is built, your team will have a consistent, on-brand set of templates ready to go for every step of the scheduling process - no manual writing required each time.