> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.cipp.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.cipp.app/user-documentation/tools/templatelib.md).

# Template Library

A template library keeps CIPP's stored templates in step with an external source. Point it at one of your tenants and CIPP copies that tenant's live policies into templates on a schedule, so you always hold a current copy. Point it at a community repository and CIPP pulls the templates published there whenever new versions are released.

Tenant-based libraries sync every 4 hours. Community repository libraries sync every 7 days.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Enabling this feature will overwrite templates with the same name.
{% endhint %}

## Choosing a Source

A library draws from either a tenant or a community repository, not both. Select one or the other from the two fields at the top of the page.

### Tenant

Choose a tenant to use as the source. CIPP reads its live policies and turns each one into a template.

{% hint style="success" %}
CIPP recommends using a Customer Development Experience tenant for developing your templates. See Microsoft's [CDX documentation](https://cdx.transform.microsoft.com/) for more information.
{% endhint %}

### Community Repository

Choose a repository registered with your instance. Once selected, a **Repository Branch** field appears, prefilled with the repository's default branch and changeable if the templates you want live elsewhere.

Repositories are managed separately, and you can register your own alongside the built-in ones:

CIPP ships with five repositories registered:

| Repository                                                                         | Contents                                                                                        |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [CIPP Templates](https://github.com/CyberDrain/CIPP-Templates)                     | CyberDrain's own repository, covering standards, groups, policies, Conditional Access and more. |
| [CyberDrain CIS Templates](https://github.com/CyberDrain/CyberDrain-CIS-Templates) | Intune templates aligned to CIS benchmarks.                                                     |
| [Open Intune Baseline](https://github.com/SkipToTheEndpoint/OpenIntuneBaseline)    | A widely used Intune device baseline applying multiple frameworks including CIS and NIS.        |
| [Conditional Access Baseline](https://github.com/j0eyv/ConditionalAccessBaseline)  | A ready-made framework of Conditional Access templates.                                         |
| [Intune Baselines](https://github.com/IntuneAdmin/IntuneBaselines)                 | A further set of Intune baseline templates.                                                     |

{% hint style="info" %}
A repository-based library imports every template file the selected branch contains. The template type switches below apply to tenant-based libraries.
{% endhint %}

## Template Types

Which switches appear depends on the source selected.

For a tenant, choose the policy types to copy:

| Setting                               | Description                                                                                     |
| ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Create Conditional Access Templates   | Copies the tenant's Conditional Access policies, resolving the users and groups they reference. |
| Create Intune Configuration Templates | Copies the tenant's device configuration profiles.                                              |
| Create Intune Compliance Templates    | Copies the tenant's compliance policies.                                                        |
| Create Intune Protection Templates    | Copies the tenant's app protection policies.                                                    |

For the CyberDrain CIPP Templates repository, a different set is offered covering the template kinds that repository publishes:

| Setting                   | Description                   |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Create Template Standards | Standards templates.          |
| Create Group Templates    | Group templates.              |
| Create Policy Templates   | Policy templates.             |
| Create CA Templates       | Conditional Access templates. |

## Setting Up a Template Library

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Select a tenant or a community repository

Choose the source the templates will come from. Selecting a repository also lets you pick a branch.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Select template types

Toggle on the template types you would like copied.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Submit

Saving creates a scheduled task named after the tenant or repository, which performs the sync from then on. A tenant already has a library where the name is rejected as a duplicate, so each source can only have one.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="info" %}
Templates are compared before being written. Where a template already exists, carries the same source, and its content is unchanged, CIPP skips it rather than rewriting it, so a sync that reports no changes is working correctly.
{% endhint %}

***

## Feature Requests / Ideas

We value your feedback and ideas. Please raise any [feature requests](https://github.com/CyberDrain/CIPP/issues/new?template=feature.yml) on GitHub.


---

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