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

# Templates

> Build the question sets that evidence reviews check vendor reports against.

A **template** is a question set: the controls you expect a vendor's evidence to cover, grouped into domains. When you run an [evidence review](https://docs.vendexlabs.com/guides/evidence-review.md), every item on the template gets an answer. Find templates under **Assessments → Templates**.

![Templates page listing built-in and custom templates, with one open showing its domains and items](https://mintcdn.com/vendex-labs/TaraXYWE2PbpKXO9/images/templates.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=TaraXYWE2PbpKXO9\&q=85\&s=234c3561a51c89bb4e276a8a40cb3f1c)

## Built-in and custom templates

* **Built-in templates** are maintained by VendexLabs and are read-only. Anyone can preview one or **duplicate** it to customize.
* **Custom templates** belong to your organization and can be fully edited.

Your organization has one **active template**, which evidence reviews use by default. You can still pick a different one for any single analysis.

## Build a template

**1. Start from a copy or from scratch**

Duplicate a built-in template to start from a proven set, or create a blank one.

**2. Add domains**

Group related controls into domains, for example *Access control*, *Encryption*, or *Incident response*.

**3. Add items**

Each item is one question. Give it a short label and, optionally, guidance on what counts as evidence, for example *"A documented policy reviewed in the last 12 months."* Guidance makes the verdicts sharper.

**4. Set it as active**

Make the template active so new evidence reviews use it.

> [!TIP]
>
> Changing a template doesn't rewrite past reviews. Each review records the template it ran against.

## Templates, playbooks, and criteria

These three words mean different things in VendexLabs:

| Term | What it is |
| - | - |
| **Template** | The questions a vendor's evidence is checked against. |
| **Playbook** | How assessment comments are written. See [Playbooks](https://docs.vendexlabs.com/guides/playbooks.md). |
| **Criteria** | The scoring items behind the [risk score](https://docs.vendexlabs.com/concepts/risk-scoring.md). |

A playbook can name the template that usually goes with it. You can also create and edit templates from Claude with the [Claude connector](https://docs.vendexlabs.com/integrations/claude.md).


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